A prototype
lunar prospecting robot called "Scarab" has been developed at
Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.
David Wettergreen, leader of Scarab's software and autonomy
development, said, "This is a technology development program that is
focusing on extracting hydrogen and oxygen from lunar soil." At present,
NASA has no specific plans for a robotic Moon mission. (However, other
countries are working on it; China is
planning a robotic
lunar sampling mission by 2017.)
Once Scarab (see photo)
and its kin have crawled the Moon, developers will use the lessons learned to
utilize resources in the soil of other planets.
The drill on the robot
is able to obtain "meter-long geological core samples and features a novel
rocker-arm suspension that enables the robot to plant its belly on the
ground." By placing the drill at the center of the robot's body, Scarab is
able to apply sufficient downward force for drilling while keeping its weight
at 250 kilograms.
Scarab solves the problem of working in dark craters (not to
mention the 14 day lunar night) by using an advanced sterling radioisotope
generator (ASRG). The ASRG is a device that converts the heat of isotope decay
into electrical power. This generator provides energy for ten years of
activity.
Science fiction writers have been thinking about mining on
the moon for at least seventy-five years; Ray
Cummings wrote a very lucid description of lunar mining in
1931. Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven thought up the idea of telepresence
bulldozers; the bulldozer was on the moon and the operator was here on
Earth.
Via The
Tartan (Carnegie Mellon's student newspaper).
(This Science Fiction in the News story used with
permission of Technovelgy.com - where
science meets fiction
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