National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), announced its aspiring plan to set up railway tracks on the moon. As reported by NASA, the first innovative lunar railway system that is capable of providing self-sufficient and potent payload transport on the moon will be built. This system is planned to provide a strong and sturdy robotic transport system for day-to-day operations of reliable lunar bases in the 2030s as a part of NASA’s plan for Moon to Mars and mission ideas like Robotic Lunar Surface Operations 2 (RLSO2).
NASA has plans to transport regolith mined for ISRU consumables (H2O, LOX, and LH2) or building and payloads around the lunar base, landing zones, or other outposts. NASA has proposed to build FLOAT—Flexible Levitation on a Track.
According to NASA’s official blog, the floating system uses unused magnetic robots that float across a three-layer flexible film track. It features three layers: a flex-circuit layer that produces electromagnetic thrust to propel robots along tracks in a controlled manner, an optional thin-film solar panel layer that powers the base when exposed to sunlight, and a graphite layer that allows robots to quietly float across tracks using diamagnetic floating. FLOAT robots, which are devoid of moving elements, reduce wear by levitating over the track, in contrast to conventional lunar robots that have wheels, limbs, or tracks that are susceptible to dust abrasion.
According to NASA’s blog, “Unlike traditional roads, railroads, or cableways, FLOAT tracks unroll directly into the lunar regolith to prevent significant on-site building. A large-scale FLOAT system will be able to move up to 100,000 kg of regolith or payload multiple kilometers a day, and particular FLOAT robots will be able to transport payloads of variable shape and size (>30 kg/m^2) at useful speeds (>0.5m/s).
NASA will concentrate on mitigating risks associated with the production, installation, management, and long-term operation of meter-scale robots and kilometer-scale tracks that enable human exploration activities on the Moon during Phase 2 of the FLOAT (Flexible Floating on a Track) project for lunar exploration.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates