A year ago, NASA robotic experts suffered a setback when an experimental robot broke down during a highly publicised demonstration in an Antarctic volcano. Now the experts are ready to try again, with an improved version of the robot and in a different volcano.
If all goes according to plan, Dante II will explore the crater of Mount Spurr, a volcano in Alaska, in mid-July. The eight-legged robot is studded with video cameras, a laser range finder and sensors that will guide its motion.
Dante II also has an improved communications tether linking it to its human overlords. The tether on the original Dante broke during its test at Mount Erebus in Antarctica in January 1993.
The project is intended to test and demonstrate technologies that could be used in remotely controlled space probes. Dante II will descend about 600 feet into the volcano's crater and will record temperatures and ...
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