Who will leave the first footsteps of the 21st century on the moon? Strictly speaking, those not-so-small steps will likely be taken by a "what," not a "who." This week, NASA is testing a six-legged rover that can wheel across lunar terrain at a fast clip or step over obstacles like a giant spider.
The rover - named the All-Terrain, Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer, or Athlete for short - is due for a tryout on Tuesday in Arizona's Meteor Crater and Cinder Lake area, with 100 scientists and engineers from six NASA centers in attendance. The Athlete is just one of the advanced prototypes to be tested in the desert proving ground.
NASA / JPL-Caltech |
Robotics expert Brian Wilcox with the Athlete prototype rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. |
Athlete was designed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to roll across flat lunar terrain at speeds of up to 6 mph (10 kilometers per hour) - more than 100 times the top speed of the Mars Exploration Rovers - or climb up rocky steps that are more than a yard (meter) high. It's supposed to be capable of carrying payloads of up to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms), and even more when multiple Athletes are joined together.
NASA says Athlete could be used during all-robotic or human missions to the moon, to dock with other vehicles, transport astronauts and deliver supplies.
"The design is quite adaptive," Rich Volpe, manager of the mobility and robotic systems section at JPL, said in a news release issued via e-mail by the lab. "Athlete can drive quickly over undulating terrain, or use some of its legs as robotic manipulators for grasping, digging and drilling."
During this week's tests, crews in mock spacesuits will simulate a day in the life of a crew on the moon, according to a NASA advisory. Athlete is supposed to blaze a trail through rough desert terrain to establish a "mock-up way station that would provide respite for the weary crew," NASA says.
In the future, Athlete's designers hope to enhance the robot so that it's able to make its way up a vertical rock face with the aid of a grappling hook ... respond to voice commands radioed from astronauts in the field ... and stay in operation for up to 10 years.
You could almost imagine a crew of Athletes setting up a habitat in preparation for the arrival of humans. Which raises a question: If these robots are so good, why send in the humans at all?
Check out NASA's roundup of rad robots, and stay tuned for the results of this week's tests.