AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY
NOVEMBER 11, 2002 p. 17
THINKING AHEAD
New York-based Honeybee Robotics will begin work on a nu-
clear-powered drill to probe beneath the surfaces of Mars, Europa
and other bodies under a $750,000 contract issued by NASA's
Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets pro-
gram. Based on recommendations from planetary scientists, the
robotic drill would burrow hundreds of meters, and perhaps kilo-
meters, below a lander on the surface in search of life or evi-
dence of it. The tetherless, 2-meter (6-ft.) "subterranean rover"
would draw power from a Stirling Radioisotope Thermoelectric
Generator (RTG), sending data through relays deposited in the
borehole. Launch to Mars would come in 2015-20.