NASA prepares to launch three small autonomous robots to the Moon

2023-08-05 11:00:16

Three small space robots the size of a suitcase They are about to embark on an ambitious mission. The American space agency NASA has just announced its plan to send three fully autonomous ‘rovers’ to the equator of the Moon. The objective? Mapping a hitherto unexplored region of the lunar soil but, above all, demonstrating that these robotic explorers can work in a coordinated and effective way without a human having to dictate what to do step by step (something that, up to now, has happened in the vast majority of robotic missions in space).

The mission is scheduled to take off in 2024. Its development it is designed almost like a gymkhana of challenges, tests and challenges. The dynamics will be the following. From the mission control center a signal will be sent to the lunar base y an order will be issued such as “explore this region” or “measure this parameter”. From there robots will elect a leader, they will distribute the different tasks necessary to complete the work and will work together to meet the objective. The idea is that the ‘rovers’ work completely autonomously and find the best possible way to carry out the assigned task without the need for human intervention.

“We will only give them the general instruction but they will have to determine how to do it”

“We will only give you the general instruction but they will have to determine how to do it”, explains Jean-Pierre de la Croix, the principal investigator behind this CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) project and a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The ‘rovers’ they will have to decide when they will drivewhich path they will take, how they will maneuver around local dangers”, adds the expert during the presentation of this mission.

technical challenges

once on the moon this trio of robots will have to face a series of challenges Although from Earth they may seem trivial, in space contexts they become titanic challenges. The first will be to drive perfectly aligned, without deviating from each other and, above all, without running aground on any obstacle. The second big test will consist of letting each robot move away autonomously in a different direction to explore an area of ​​at least 400 square meters and create a topographic map in three dimensions. It will also assess how the team reacts if a ‘rover’ stops working suddenly.

These small lunar explorers will only carry one scientific instrument on board. It is a multistatic radar system that, together, will allow the creation of a 3D image of the lunar subsurface up to 10 meters deep. This image will be far more accurate and complete than the one being built by the Perseverance rover on Mars, where it has also deployed subsurface-scanning radar.

“This could radically change space exploration”

“This could radically change space exploration“explains Subha Comandur, people from this project. “Perhaps in future missions we will begin to ask ourselves how many robots we send and what we want them to study together”, he adds. This option is considered a very promising alternative to explore “dangerous but scientifically rewarding terrain” where astronauts cannot access on their own.

30 minute naps

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The other great challenge of this project will be to see how these small robots, much more modest than their Martian counterparts, survive the hostile conditions of the lunar equator. In this region thermometers can reach up to 114 degrees Celsius during the day and drop to -170 degrees below zero at night. To prevent these vehicles from overheating and stopping working during the hottest hours, their creators They have devised an ingenious system of naps.

“Every half hour the ‘rovers’ will turn off, cool down via radiators and recharge their batteries. When they wake up simultaneously, they will share their state of health through an internal network (similar to Wi-Fi) and will undertake another round of explorations on the Moon“, say the creators of these robots, which will take off in just a few months as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program.