[Theory] NOW: [Talks at TTIC] 4/8 TTIC Colloquium: Terry Fong, NASA

[Brandie Jones]

*When:*        Monday, April 8th at *11:30am CT*


*Where:       *Talk will be given *live, in-person* at

                       TTIC, 6045 S. Kenwood Avenue

                       5th Floor, Room 530


*Virtually:*  via Panopto (livestream
<https://uchicago.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=6c9688ce-745e-4f89-b55b-b109010ba310>
)


*Who: *         Terry Fong, NASA

*Title:*          The NASA Volatiles Inspecting Polar Exploration Rover
(VIPER) Mission
*Abstract:  *The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) is
a NASA mission designed to explore the extreme environment of the Moon in
search of water ice. VIPER will land at the South Pole of the Moon and
spend approximately 100-days mapping and surveying four different "ice
stability regions" to understand the nature and distribution of these
"in-situ resources". The information returned by VIPER will help determine
how we can harvest the Moon's resources for future human space exploration.

NASA will use VIPER to determine where the Moon's water ice is most likely
to be found and easiest to access, making VIPER the first-ever resource
mapping mission on another celestial body. The first in-situ resource maps
of the Moon will mark a critical step forward in NASA's Artemis program to
establish a sustainable human presence on the surface of the Moon.
Determining the distribution, physical state, and composition of water ice
deposits will also help us understand the sources of the lunar polar water,
giving us insight into the distribution and origin of water and other
volatiles across the solar system.

During VIPER's exploration of the Moon, the rover will endure extreme
temperature conditions, dynamic lighting and complex terrain, while
near-real-time rover driving will present new design, engineering and
operational challenges.

*Short Bio*: Dr. Terry Fong is the Chief Roboticist at the NASA Ames
Research Center and the deputy rover manager for VIPER. Terry previously
led the development of the Astrobee free-flying robot, which was deployed
to the International Space Station in 2019. Terry has published more than
150 papers in space and field robotics, human-robot interaction, virtual
reality user interfaces, and planetary mapping. Terry received his B.S.
and M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and his Ph.D. in Robotics
from CMU.

*Host: **Matthew Turk* <mturk at ttic.edu>

--
*Brandie Jones *
*Executive **Administrative Assistant*
Toyota Technological Institute
6045 S. Kenwood Avenue
Chicago, IL  60637
www.ttic.edu
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