science

NASA news: Space agency to send cave-diving robot to Moon to find NEW HOME for humans


The North American space agency is set to send a robot to our lunar satellite as part of its ‘Moon Diver’ Mission.The robot, called the Axel Rover, could begin its mission as soon as 2025, and NASA says it could also be the key to finding extraterrestrial life. Axel would rappel deep into lunar caves and look for a home from home for humans which would protect space travellers from the harsh conditions of the cosmos.

Axel will also gather important data on the caverns which are believed to be billions of years old and formers by subsurface rivers of molten lava.

The first hole which is set to be explored is the ‘Sea of Tranquility’ – a cave first discovered by Japanese rovers in 2009.

Sea of Tranquility is called as such because early astronomers mistook the huge dark patches on the moon for actually oceans, only in the last few decades have scientists discovered they are in fact caves and impact craters.

The hole, which is located on the near side of the Moon, is believed to have an opening of around 100 metres and stretches down by the same amount before opening up into a massive pit.

Laura Kerber, a research scientist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said during a recent presentation: “There is a nice poetry to this mission concept.

“Apollo 11 landed along the edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Fifty years later, we are going to dive down right into the middle of it.”

“This could be a really good place to build a human base. You’d be protected from micro-meteorites, protected from radiation, protected from the temperature swings you’d encounter on the surface.”

In a post regarding inter-planetary cave exploration on its website, NASA said: “Exploration of planetary caves offers exciting opportunities for 1) human settlements, 2) understanding the planet’s evolution, and 3) the search of extraterrestrial life.

“They present the most mission effective habitat alternative for future human exploration, offering a stable environment shielded from harmful radiation and dust storms, as well as access to minerals, gases and ice.”

However, relaying data back to Earth is an issues.

Transmissions will struggle to penetrate the crust of any celestial body and this is why NASA will fit Axel with a rappelling system so it can dip in and out of caves.

Issa Nesnas, principal investigator, Axel rover, said: “We have the Axel rover. This is a new rover concept that we’ve been studying in collaboration with Caltech to try to provide mobility for very challenging, high-risk terrains.

“So the best way to think about this rover is, think of a yo-yo. By reeling and unreeling its own tether that it carries with it, it’s able to lower itself over any type of terrain.

“Actually, in fact, it doesn’t need any terrain. This can be lowered from a balloon.





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