Nasa is building a JCB to excavate Moon rocks. See pics here
Nasa is working on building a new digging giant from the Moon. The Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (Rassor) will use big bucket drums to dig into the lunar surface to scoop rocks and soil.The team recently conducted a site preparation test using its counterrotating bucket drums to dig into simulated lunar dust and build a three-foot berm."These bucket drums will be used on IPEx, NASA's newest Moon-mining robot, to demonstrate even more advanced autonomous excavation capabilities," Nasa said in an update. advertisement
The tests were conducted at the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Nasa said that the opposing motion of the drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human presence.During the test, Nasa proved the ability of a bucket drum excavator to build surface features out of regolith. Bucket drums will be used on NASA's IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator).The ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) will excavate soil on the surface of the Moon, or regolith, and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support systems.SEE PICS HERE
Drew Smith, a robotics engineer, makes adjustments to the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) during testing. (Photo: Nasa)
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On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like RASSOR will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant. (Photo: Nasa)
An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Photo: Nasa)
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