If you entered a test site operated by Japan’s space agency recently, you would’ve seen a bunch of tiny red robots trundling across a sandy surface.
The AI-powered robots were being tested ahead of a trip to the moon where they’ll scout for ideal sites for underground moon bases, the Nikkei Asia news outlet reported this week.
NASA and its partners are planning to build a moon base on the lunar surface so that astronauts can live and work there for extended periods, similar to how they spend time aboard the International Space Station (ISS) today.
The U.S. space agency is aiming to return humans to the lunar surface in 2027 in the Artemis III mission, with work on building a moon base targeted for a later mission, possibly by the end of this decade. That would mean the moon base won’t be ready to welcome the first astronauts until some time in the 2030s.
The little red robots appear to be little more than a pair of wheels, but in between these are tiny computers that provide their smarts.
During the recent test, the robots could be seen navigating sandy terrain that’s designed to resemble the lunar surface. The diminutive bots even have the ability to jump as high as one meter.
The machines are being developed by a research group led by Chuo University professor Yasuharu Kunii in partnership with engineering company Takenaka.
The robots would be used to search for the best sites to house the first moon base for human inhabitants.
Scientists have suggested that a moon base could be built inside lava tubes that extend under the lunar surface. Such tubes would provide a safer setting for humans by shielding them from extreme temperature fluctuations and significantly reducing exposure to space radiation compared to the lunar surface.
Kuni and his team want to send swarms of the robots to the moon, with each one assigned roles to be carried out autonomously. The robots would also be able to work collaboratively, sharing knowledge gained during their individual searches of the terrain and also the lava tubes.
The plan is to send the first of these robots to the moon within the next five years.
As part of plans to return humans to the lunar surface, NASA is preparing to send four crew members on a voyage around the moon in the Artemis II mission next year, followed in 2027 by the Artemis III landing.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.