Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!cat.cis.Brown.EDU!agate!ames!kronos.arc.nasa.gov!doctor
From: doctor@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Terry Fong)
Subject: Dante II - Mt. Spurr Expedition Status (12-Jul-94)
Message-ID: <1994Jul31.075018.27037@ptolemy-ethernet.arc.nasa.gov>
Summary: status information on CMU/NASA volcano robot explorer
Keywords: Dante, teleoperations, volcano, Alaska
Sender: usenet@ptolemy-ethernet.arc.nasa.gov (usenet@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov)
Nntp-Posting-Host: tardis.arc.nasa.gov
Organization: NASA Ames Intelligent Mechanisms Group
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 07:50:18 GMT
Lines: 59

The following is a status update on the Dante II project. Dante II is
an eight-legged robot (developed by the CMU Robotics Institute with
sponsorship from NASA) which is currently descending into the active
crater of Mt. Spurr, an Alaskan volcano 80 miles west of Anchorage,
Alaska. The primary objective of the Dante II project is to develop and
evaluate new techniques and technologies which can be applied to space
and planetary exploration. 

Throughout the Mt. Spurr expedition, Dante II is being remotely
operated from a base station in Anchorage using control station
software developed at CMU and NASA Ames. Live video coverage is
periodically available via NASA Select. Full mission details including
current status, real-time images/video, and technical data is available
via a WorldWideWeb server provided by the NASA Ames Intelligent
Mechanisms Group. This site can be accessed on the Internet using
information browsers such as NCSA Mosaic and the URL:

	http://maas-neotek.arc.nasa.gov/dante

Questions regarding the Dante II project may be addressed to me via email 
(terry@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov). Reponse time may be slow.

Terry Fong
NASA Ames Research Center

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(the following is an excerpt from the "Dante II at Mt. Spurr" NASA
press kit. To receive the complete kit, contact Charles Redmond,
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., (202) 358-1757)


NASA University Team Set to Explore Volcano with Robot

During the third week of July, an eight-legged, tethered robot will
descend into the active crater of Mt. Spurr, an Alaskan volcano 90
miles west of Anchorage. The robot, Dante II, will be controlled, via
satellite and Internet connections, by a team with representatives
from NASA, Carnegie Mellon University, the Alaskan Volcano
Observatory, and other government, university and private
organizations. 

The robot, Dante II, evolved from the earlier Dante robot which tried
over the 1992-93 New Year's holiday to descend into the linve
Antaractic volcano Mt. Erebus. That mission ended with the robot only
21 feet into the crater when the fiber optic cable, which was its
communications lifeline, kinked and was broken due to physical and
temperature stress conditions.

The Dante II robot will be deployed into the active, steeply-sloping
new crater of the historic volcano Mt. Spurr this July 18 to begin a
scheduled five-day scientific-sample taking exploration of the crater floor.

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-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
 "Every once in a while declare        Terry Fong <terry@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov>
  peace. It confuses the hell out      NASA Ames, M/S 269-3, Moffett Field, CA
  of your enemies" -- Rule of Acq. #76      (415) 604-6063, (415) 604-6081 lab
