Autonomous Mars ISRU robotic excavation: characterstics and performance targets

Characteristic hardware concepts and performance targets are described for a potential robotic excavation system that can operate and robotically maintain itself without regular human intervention. In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is the exploitation of available resources at the site of a landed spacecraft on the surface of another planetary body. This can include harvesting of atmosphere, regolith, or rock for direct use (e.g. as radiation or micrometeorite shielding) or for separation/purification (e.g. for propellant production). The objective of this study is to try to identify a potential ISRU architecture, specifically for extracting water from hydrated minerals identified from orbital multispectral imaging on Mars, which can be implemented in an affordable way.