>> Again, we're back in here
in the Space Vehicle Mock-Up Facility in building nine,
and this time we're over in the ARGOS area
with the ARGOS project manager, Larry Duncan.
Thanks for coming and talking with us, Larry.
>> Thanks for coming over.
>> So ARGOS, it's an acronym.
What does that stand for?
>> It's the Active Response Gravity Offload System.
So what we basically do is we make you feel like you're
on the moon, Mars, or microgravity
with a full robotic system.
So this whole entire,
large structure is a large motion-based platform.
And so what we're doing, we have a crewmember
in the system today.
He is in microgravity doing asteroid simulation.
And he we have him in microgravity,
so we're offloading 100 percent of his weight.
>> So he feels, basically, like he's in space, then, right?
>> Basically like he is in space.
>> Wow. So -- and we use that to simulate space walks?
>> Space walks.
We can do crew training.
We can do equipment testing.
We can actually do what's called mass hailing,
where we can float an object and have people feel like it's
to move a large item around in space.
We've done robotic legs.
>> Very cool.
So what are we using it for for RATS?
>> It is being used for EDAs simulations,
so what they're doing --
>> Spacewalk.
>> Spacewalks.
So yesterday they came out of the cabin and did a spacewalk
in ARGOS, and then we go back into the cabin.
We're doing the same thing tomorrow.
>> So the cabin is the space exploration vehicle.
That's kind of their home away from home for a short one
or two week excursion, but they probably want to get
out of the vehicle and actually do some hands on work
with the surface of the asteroid.
And that's where the spacewalks come in.
>> Right. That's correct.
And today, we're doing a stand-alone simulation that's
actually comparing ARGOS to the NEMO simulation
that was done earlier this summer
down in Key Largo, Florida.
>> NEMO, of course, our underwater analog.
RATS is our wood analog, and NEMO is another one,
go underwater to simulate a mission to an asteroid.
>> So one of the things we're looking
at is each analog has its own pros and cons,
and so we're doing a comparision of the two of them
with the simulation today.
So what he's doing right now is coming down a boom
that he would have deployed off of a vehicle and is coming down
and preparing to take a core sample or deploy a geological
or a geophysical instrument.
>> Very cool.
So this -- tell us a little bit about booms.
Why -- you know, one of the things about asteroids is
that they're hard to move around on.
What is that about?
>> In microgravity, it's very hard to move
around because you don't have any ground reaction force.
If you push off something, you will float away.
So the boom gives you a work surface.
On Space Station, they have handrails and tether points,
and all that was built before the ISS was launched.
>> Built for people to use --
>> Yes.
>> -- Specifically for that reason.
>> For that reason.
>> Asteroids, not so much.
>> Asteroids are going to be a little bit more challenging.
So the idea is with the boom is you can come off the back
of the vehicle, deploy, let's say, a large robotic arm
or a boom, and then you could go out and use that to work off of.
Kind of like a workbench or a work platform.
>> Okay, kind of just like he was doing,
moving hand-over-hand --
>> Hand-over-hand.
>> -- Along the boom to get to different areas
that he might be interested in.
>> Yes. That's correct.
>> Okay. And then what do you do once you get
to where you want to go?
>> Like, what he's getting ready
to do here is deploy a simulated geological instrument
that you would leave behind on the asteroid
to take future readings, similar, like, what we've left
on the moon when we went there.
>> Okay. All right.
And that's one of the many things
that you all are simulating during these spacewalks.
What are some of the other ones?
>> We're simulating doing sample collections of rocks.
How do you pick up rocks?
How do you pick up all different types of rocks?
We're not really sure what an asteroid is.
It can be gravel.
It could be large pieces of rock.
It can be, like, sand-like.
So what they do is they come in and take different samples
of picking up the rock, taking, like, a core sample in sand,
where you're maybe wanting to get a piece
from a couple feet under the ground.
And then, also, if you've got a really big rock that's really
interesting, how do you break a chip off
of that and bring it home?
It's a whole lot harder than just taking
and hitting a rock on the earth.
>> We don't have enough room to bring the big rocks with us.
>> That's right.
>> And I think you've got some stuff to show us
with ways we could do that.
>> So this here is some of the rocks that we take samples with.
We've done simulations on this where they have to come
in with a bag and pick them up.
And it's -- you know, the Apollo astronauts had several thousand
hours of geology training before they ever went to the moon.
It would be the similar training if they went to an asteroid,
and they would be taught how to pick up rocks,
how not to contaminate them.
>> Okay.
>> One of the real challenges of an asteroid
versus the moon is how do you take a rock sample
of something that will float away?
So another group has developed a bag that is literally, it's --
the idea is that it's got wire in it to stiffen it,
and you would wrap this around a rock, and then you could come in
and do hammer chipping and chip a piece off and have
that rock chip contained inside of this area.
And then you could take it away and then collect your sample.
>> Otherwise, you start banging at the rocks.
They fly into pieces, and you've lost them, right?
>> It's just going to go all over.
>> Okay. So there's lots
of different things we need learn before we go
to an asteroid.
>> That's correct.
>> And RATS is a great way to get started on some
of those lessons we need to learn.
>> Right. And some of it is you're building early
prototype tools.
You can test out the tools, see if they need improvement.
You know, you really have to design, build,
and test something to understand it.
>> And then, I guess, with ARGOS in particular,
it's more do we have the stuff we need
to simulate an asteroid spacewalk before send people
out to go do one.
>> That's correct.
>> And so far, so good?
>> So far, so good.
This is our second-generation system.
We actually started the project about five years ago.
Our generation-one system worked very well, but we came in
and made a lot of improvements.
The system we have here, we brought online right
after Christmas, and it's been used very heavily since then.
>> Very heavily.
I know we've been here a few times now.
So thank you so much, Larry, for coming
and talking with us again.
Larry Duncan, who is the project manager for the ARGOS system,
and here today being used for the RATS simulation
of an asteroid mission.