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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Justin Yim
University of Illinois
We propose Legged Exploration Across the Plume (LEAP), based on the Salto jumping robot as a novel multi-jet robotic sampling concept for Enceladus to be deployed from Enceladus Orbilander. If successful, LEAP will enable collection of pristine, ocean-derived material directly from Enceladus’s jets and measurement of particle properties across multiple jets by traveling from one to another. In low gravity, existing jump performance would be sufficient to leap 90 m vertically or 170 m horizontally in Enceladus’s gravity allowing traversal of jets and collection of direct measurements otherwise not accessible to Orbilander. These measurements could be crucial for investigating the physics of how the plume is connected to the ocean.
