Alien Anomalies

I got sidetracked today following information about the MUSES-CN rover. I ended up downloading a NASA file 98-0488.pdf which gives the operating specs for the MUSES-CN tiny rover weighing about 1Kg.


This is interesting as it proposes testing several new technologies.

This was due to be sent with the Japanese spacecraft MUSES-C to investigate (originally) the asteroid Nereus and which would return a sample to the Earth (Utah Test and Training Range) for analysis. The technology was interesting as it was going to be designed to hop up to 1 asteroid radius raising to a height of 'hundreds of metres' in the low gravity environment and will be in the air for 30-40 minutes at a time, taking pictures of the terrain as it flies...

The pdf file states:
As a technology experiment, the rover may include an experimental optical communications capability. This capability, if implemented, may enable low-rate communications between the rover and Earth after the departure of the MUSES-C spacecraft until the demise of the rover. This suggests to me, some kind of laser optical system which would aim at Earth and send communications after the spacecraft left.

Nowhere, as far as I could see, did this spec say how they would get the sample back to Earth, but it does say that the rover will remain on the asteroid after the spacecraft has left. So I dont see how it was going to return the sample to the Utah Test and Training Range in the USA. Reading the other documents and webpages, it seems that the spacecraft itself landed on the asteroid and took off again. (see the links below)

After all that, the USA MUSES-CN part of the project was cancelled in 2000 with a press release giving escalated costs as the reason.


fan site


official Japanese site


Near Earth Object Program page on the MUSES-C spacecraft


The Japanese spacecraft returned in June 2010 and this site has some interesting links


and finally