Latest news with #AstroAnt
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
An explosive SpaceX launch, the lunar robot landing, and THAT woolly mouse
Listen here on your chosen podcast platform. SpaceX's latest Starship test flight has ended in flames- marking the eighth failed attempt for Elon Musk's deep-space rocket. Meanwhile, the Athena lander has successfully touched down on the Moon, but engineers fear it may have tipped over. We hear from CMO of Castrol Nicola Buck about how the British oil company is helping to keep the AstroAnt micro robot going as part of the mission. Plus, scientists have created a woolly mouse - a small step towards reviving the woolly mammoth. We join co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences Ben Lamm. Also in this episode: Two astronauts stranded on the ISS for nine months are finally set to return home MPs debate the Safer Phones Bill, which could raise the digital age of consent and introduce new smartphone restrictions for children. Playstation reveals a limited-edition DualSense controller. Listen to our special episode about work to bring back the woolly mammoth here.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Where do Britain stand in the global space race? ...The Standard podcast
Listen here on your chosen podcast platform. The London Standard is the media partner for this year's Space-Comm Expo at the ExCel, which takes place between the 11th and 12th of March. Science and technology reporter Will Rogers-Coltman joins The Standard podcast to discuss the future of British space technology. Plus, we hear from Castrol on their AstroAnt robot: an exciting project that on Thursday, was set to become the first miniature robotic mission on the moon's surface. We caught up with Nicola Buck, CMO at Castrol, who designed the AstroAnt robot with the MIT Media Lab.
Boston Globe
06-03-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
MIT's itty-bitty moon robot has something to prove
Ekblaw's team built a multitude of the cheap and tiny robots. They developed software and radio links that can enable them to act as a swarm, with multitudes of robots teaming up to carry out complex tasks like spaceship repairs. Advertisement Next came tests on board an aircraft operated by Florida-based Now one of the robots is traveling aboard the The AstroAnt mission is being aided by an unexpected collaborator— Castrol, a British company best known for motor oil. But Nicola Buck, chief marketing officer of Castrol's parent company BP, said her company has long specialized in aerospace products, like the oil inside the Wright Brothers' engine at Kitty Hawk and specialized lubricants for the Apollo moon missions. Advertisement 'We lubricate pieces and parts of almost anything that moves,' said Buck, including the wheels of the AstroAnt. which will use compounds unaffected by the temperature extremes of outer space. The A stroAnt is riding atop a different kind of roving robot carried inside the Athena and built by the Colorado company When the rover emerges from Athena, it will shoot high-definition 3-D images of the moon using a camera developed at MIT. Meanwhile the AstroAnt robot will simply drive around on top of the rover, while using a heat sensor to monitor the vehicle's temperature. Its readings will be transmitted to the rover and back to earth. A horde of intelligent machines will be visiting the moon this year. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander, launched on a SpaceX rocketin January, touched down over the weekend. NASA's Lunar Trailblazer, which flew on the same rocket as AstroAnt, will go into orbit around the moon later this year, to search for signs of water. And Japan's ispace has launched a lander that's supposed to arrive this spring. Hiawatha Bray can be reached at
