Over the last two and a half years, a team of students from ETH Zurich has been busy creating a unique robot named SpaceHopper. This three-legged, insect-like machine is engineered to navigate the microgravity environments of small celestial bodies like asteroids and moons. Its purpose is to gather data that could shed light on the origins of life and water on Earth, as well as explore asteroids for valuable resources.
SpaceHopper is designed without a specific orientation, allowing it to leap in any direction. It is equipped with nine motors that enable it to jump great distances in low-gravity conditions. Additionally, it can self-correct its position after landing to protect any scientific instruments it might be carrying. The low-gravity conditions of moons and asteroids mean that testing SpaceHopper on Earth poses a challenge.
To simulate these conditions, the students and the European Space Agency recently took SpaceHopper on a parabolic flight. This type of flight mimics zero gravity by allowing the aircraft to freefall. The students were initially unsure if SpaceHopper would perform as expected under zero gravity, but seeing it successfully operate was a “massive weight off [their] shoulders.”
Below is a video of SpaceHopper’s test on the parabolic flight:
