• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Terms of use
  • Advertise
    • Advertising
    • Case studies
    • Design
    • Email marketing
    • Features list
    • Lead generation
    • Magazine
    • Press releases
    • Publishing
    • Sponsor an article
    • Webcasting
    • Webinars
    • White papers
    • Writing
  • Subscribe to Newsletter

Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

  • Home
  • News
  • Features
  • Editorial Sections A-Z
    • Agriculture
    • Aircraft
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Automation
    • Autonomous vehicles
    • Business
    • Computing
    • Construction
    • Culture
    • Design
    • Drones
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Engineering
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial robots
    • Industry
    • Infrastructure
    • Investments
    • Logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Marine
    • Material handling
    • Materials
    • Mining
    • Promoted
    • Research
    • Robotics
    • Science
    • Sensors
    • Service robots
    • Software
    • Space
    • Technology
    • Transportation
    • Warehouse robots
    • Wearables
  • Press releases
  • Events
nasa honeybee robotics US-COMP_base

Honeybee Robotics wins Nasa funding for six spacecraft projects

June 5, 2017 by Sam Francis

Honeybee Robotics has received four Nasa Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I awards and two Nasa Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I award to develop new spacecraft systems and enabling technologies.

The awards will allow Honeybee to analyze concepts for advanced future planetary exploration, sampling, in-situ resource utilization, and on-orbit operations. 

The Slush: Europa Hybrid Deep Drill project will initiate development of a novel drilling system designed to penetrate the icy shell on Europa and other planetary bodies.

This system overcomes the problems that can affect melt probes and electro-mechanical drills as they attempt to reach deep into a frozen planetary surface.

Melt probes using a hot point to melt through ice and penetrate downward are mechanically simple but require significantly more power than likely available to a planetary probe, and can be stopped by rocks or other non-ice materials.

An electro-mechanical drill is an order of magnitude more energy efficient than a melt probe but needs to remove cuttings and can also freeze in-place if it encounters any liquid water.

Slush is a hybrid approach that takes the best of both worlds, with a hot-point electro-mechanical drill that cuts through ice using rotary-percussive action, and melts chips with its hot bit to form slush that is transferred up the hole where it refreezes behind the drill.

An added benefit of Slush is that science instruments can draw liquid directly from the outside for analysis.

The Europa Drum Sampler (EDuS) project will begin development of a robust and effective sample acquisition system for the Europa lander.

The sampler is based on a terrestrial roadheader design and includes a mechanism that generates percussive vibrations during rotary excavation to reduce cutting forces and aid in sample delivery.

All components will be designed to withstand Dry Heat Microbial Reduction as well as Planetary Protection requirements.

The High Temperature Stirling Cooler project will begin development of a miniature Stirling cooler, suitable for integration with a sensor package at the end of an effector or robot arm, which is capable of keeping conventional electronics cool outside of the spacecraft body in the high temperature Venus environment.

While mechanisms, motors, and some electronics have been designed for use in high temperature/high pressure environments such as the surface of Venus (460°C, 93 bar), certain types of critical electronic and sensing technologies are inherently temperature sensitive.

This cooler will vastly expand the list of technologies which can be deployed on the surface of Venus, and correspondingly advance the types of science that can be performed.

The Universal Docking Interface project will initiate the creation of a universal electromechanical engagement interface for free-flying robots, enhancing their abilities for intravehicular, extravehicular, and planetary surface operations.

By providing a common electromechanical interface, the UDI will enhance capabilities to mount and manipulate tools, sensors, payloads; dock for power and data transfer; perch for short- or long-term storage; and create new modular structures in support of commercial operations and human spaceflight.

The Planetary Lego STTR project, conducted with the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), will study how to produce prototype building blocks made of simulated lunar and Martian soil to determine how landing pads, roads, habitats and shelters could be built using robotic systems. By using in-situ resources as the main construction material, it will be possible to reduce the volume and mass of construction materials to be transported from Earth.

The Instrumented Bit for In-Situ Spectroscopy (IBISS) STTR project, conducted with the SETI Institute, will integrate a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) probe with a drill bit to allow for the rapid evaluation of subsurface soil on other worlds.

This technology is designed to provide a rapid and unambiguous chemical/mineralogical characterization of subsurface materials.

Such a system has applications in a landed exploration mission to Venus, Moon, Mars, Europa, Titan, comets, and asteroids, and for sample return missions to the Moon, Mars, comets and asteroids.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket

Related stories you might also like…

Filed Under: Sections A-Z Tagged With: europa, honeybee, international federation of robotics, nasa, planetary, project, robotics, spacecraft, venus

Primary Sidebar

Search this website

Latest articles

  • New robotic solution from Fizyr and Yaskawa targets food and life sciences
  • When wheels won’t do: Humanoid robots for human-centric spaces
  • Richtech Robotics surpasses 16,000 robot-served drinks served at Las Vegas location
  • Post of Serbia deploys fleet of 153 Libiao robots across its network
  • Jabil to invest $500 million in US manufacturing for cloud and AI data center infrastructure
  • Mumbai to tackle traffic congestion with ‘flying electric ferries’
  • MIT research: AI shapes new autonomous underwater ‘gliders’

  • Volvo automates handling of vehicle steering if tire blows out
  • PrismaX raises $11 million as it emerges from development
  • Moldova revs up its ‘digital engine’ as IT sector growth accelerates

Secondary Sidebar

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT