In a demonstration of technology that one day could be used to explore distant planets, NASA's Dante II robot delicately descended into the crater of Alaska's Mount Spurr volcano last weekend.
The eight-legged robot took turns navigating on its own and at the direction of its human controllers. By Sunday, two days after it was turned on, it had moved 190 metres into the crater. On its journey the robot managed to avoid boulders, and coped with steep inclines. Its ultimate goal was the volcano's vent, which it was to have reached later this week. Once there, it was to sample gases from the vent.
In all, Dante II seemed to be working well, according to NASA and Carnegie Mellon University, which built the robot. That is in marked contrast to its predecessor, Dante, which tried to descend into the mouth of Mount Erebus in Antarctica in January 1993. That ...
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