On May 2, as part of its NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, the US space agency revealed the names of the six projects selected for additional funding and development. Each scholarship engineer thus begins the second phase of the program and will receive up to $600,000 to continue working over the next two years on their project. Objective: to help overcome the main technical and budgetary obstacles on the way to their development.
Once the second phase is complete, these studies could move to the final stage of NIAC, providing additional funding and developmental reviews toward becoming a true future aerospace mission. So it’s not for now, but what seems like science fiction today could become reality by 2030.
Autonomous robots
Among its six projects, one particularly caught our attention: the creation of a railway system on lunar soil! Her name ? The FLOAT for Flexible Levitation on a Track. The objective would not be to set up a network of trains for the movement of astronauts, but rather the equivalent of a FRET or wagons for the transport of payloads. This rail system could support daily operations of a sustainable lunar base as early as the 2030s.
According to its designer, this system would rely on magnetic robots which would levitate on a flexible track, placed on the ground. Acting as a rail, this film includes a layer of graphite which allows diamagnetic levitation of the robots, a layer of flexible circuit to control their movement along the tracks using electromagnetic thrust, and optionally a layer of solar panel to provide energy. energy to the base station when exposed to sunlight.
Levitating to avoid wear
Unlike conventional robots equipped with wheels, legs or tracks, FLOAT robots will have no moving parts and will “hover” above the lunar surface. This feature reduces abrasion and wear from lunar dust, making FLOAT much more efficient than traditional rail systems for lunar missions.
The FLOAT robots will have two main applications: transporting payloads to and from the lunar base, and transporting regolith (lunar soil and rocks) for the activities of the base itself.
According to the study validated by NASA, each robot will be able to transport payloads weighing up to 100 tonnes per day at speeds exceeding 2 km/h, a significant speed in the lunar environment. Another strong point: their deployment will not require much preparation and can be adapted to the specific requirements of the mission. Even in the rugged terrain of the moon, these robots should be sturdy enough to meet the needs of the base.
This flexibility of use and this autonomy will be particularly essential for NASA for the viability of the Artemis program which aims, ultimately, to install humans on the Moon.
