Dante II: Volcano Explorer
By Matthew Axvig
Just recently Mt. Spurr in Alaska had a visitor, a robotic visitor.
Dante II is the second of two robots built by NASA and Carnegie Mellon
University to investigate live volcanoes and help test robotic technology
for NASA.
Photo by David Wettergreen.
The first of these was Dante I that was sent into the crater of Mt.
Erebus, an active volcano in Antarctica. Dante I's trek lasted only about
twenty feet down the crater wall when its cable broke and it tumbled into
the inferno below.
Dante II, at the other end of the world, was a little more
successful. This tethered walking robot was equipped with eight cameras to
view its position and receive data. The experiment had its delays but
finally on July 28, 1994 the volcano walker was sent forth on its adventure
into the depths of volcanic Mt. Spurr.
The nearly vertical crater walls of the volcano were not easy to
maneuver with soft ash deposits and loose rock and ice. It was a very
difficult task to move into the volcano. Unfortunately, on the third day of
its decent into the crater one of its legs was struck by a boulder.
Dante II was still able to retrieve some data such as gas and water
samples. While on the crater floor Dante II was also able to send video
back for analysis. After a little more exploring the robot started to climb.
Dante climbed over 200 feet when it lost its footing and like its
predecessor fell to the crater floor.
A helicopter was called in to airlift
this explorer to the summit but unfortunately the tether that was holding
the robot broke and Dante II free-fell into the crater severely damaging
it.
The Dante II/Mt. Spurr expedition was considered a success because
of the amount of data and experience that was accumulated. Dante II was
successful in retrieving data from a very harsh environment such as might be
the case in missions to other planets. This also gave NASA the opportunity
to determine what improvements are needed for future robotic missions.
According to Scott Boehmke of Carnegie Mellon University, Dante II is now
touring around the US at science centers in an excellent display about
robotics.
To VolcanoWorld