Might Snake Robots Ready The Moon For Human Settlement?

Brian in Mesa

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Might Snake Robots Ready The Moon For Human Settlement?

http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/might-snake-robots-ready-the-moon-for-human-settlement/75820?

Humans living in a village on the moon might sound like the backdrop for a sci-fi movie, but the European Space Agency (ESA) believes it’s a realistic scenario. When scanning the moon as a potential destination for human settlement — or, at the very least, interstellar travel expeditions — the agency is homing in on lava tubes, which are molten rock tunnels where lava once flowed. Since the moon is not sheltered from the sun’s radiation like the Earth, people hanging out on the lunar surface for an extended period must stay underground — and these tunnels could be a cheaper alternative to constructing habitation modules buried in the ground. Good news, until you realize that inspecting these tunnels for habitable areas would be too dangerous for astronauts and too small for rovers. But Norwegian researchers have come up with a possible solution: snake robots that can maneuver through, in and around these lunar crevices.

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Nearly 50 years since man first stepped on the moon, the ESA is plotting out a “moon village.” But rather than drawing up blueprints of housing developments or commercial buildings on the rocky terrain, the agency uses the term loosely to refer to a “community” where anyone from any country can arrive and help bring the concept of a lunar base to fruition. In January, ESA Director General Johann-Dietrich Woerner told a group at a Paris press conference about “a list of worldwide entities” interested in activities on the moon, and that the moon village for him “is already more or less a fact.” There are no visible buildings on the moon yet, but Woerner insists there will be soon, as these interested parties move ahead, and he has shared visions ranging from 3D-printed infrastructure to regular shuttles that will transport humans to and from the moon as early as 2024. NASA, with its sights set on a future mission to Mars, also stands to benefit: Considering the potential that lunar soil and water ice in craters could be mined and converted to fuel, a detour to the moon to refuel during a journey to Mars could reduce the mass of a mission upon launch by 68 percent, according to a study conducted by MIT.


Which brings us back to snake robots, the missing link between where we are today and where the ESA wants to be in the not-so-distant future. These AI-powered creatures could land on the moon, rappel down a tether line or be lowered by a crane into lava tubes and then weasel their way in and out until they find the most pristine spots for human settlement, according to Norwegian research company SINTEF. Aksel Transeth, senior scientist for SINTEF, says these slithering robots would be packed with sensors, including a camera and laser, as well as tools, such as a mechanism for retrieving soil samples for further analysis. Inspired by SINTEF’s Anna Konda, a self-propelling firefighting snake robot that’s essentially a mobile water hose, these snakes could explore the moon’s lava tubes to identify areas that are most suitable for protecting settlers from harmful exposure to cosmic radiation and meteorites. Then, during phase two of the moon village build-out, the snakes could be used to inspect and clean the structures, Transeth says.

Not so fast. Before we unleash an army of robot snakes into space, SINTEF says it needs to evaluate if these serpentine robots can actually do the job. It would seem that enlisting robot snakes to carry out inspections and maintenance on the International Space Station is a more reasoned and realistic first step. “A snake robot could creep behind the sections, carry out an inspection and perhaps even perform small maintenance tasks,” Transeth says. Deploying snake robots to study comets might be another mission to consider before they set a course for the moon.


 

Bodha

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selfishly this wont happen in my lifetime so I dont care.


This chart really chaps my ass. So many things im missing out on now
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Brian in Mesa

Brian in Mesa

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selfishly this wont happen in my lifetime so I dont care.


This chart really chaps my ass. So many things im missing out on now
You must be registered for see images attach


Well, what has NASA done lately?

Private companies are the future to space exploration.

Could see some big advancements with some of these wealthy individuals (Musk/Branson) wanting to see something big happen in their lifetime.
 

puckhead

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Couldn't they make worm robots instead? Bonus points for leading us to the spice melange.

I really don't like snakes. At all.
 

Bodha

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Well, what has NASA done lately?

Private companies are the future to space exploration.

Could see some big advancements with some of these wealthy individuals (Musk/Branson) wanting to see something big happen in their lifetime.

Point being private companies shouldve been sending civilians to Pluto 100 years ago, and we should be sitting in 2017 complaining time travel hasnt been invented yet (or maybe it has).
 

Bert

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Well, what has NASA done lately?


Just answering the question not arguing the point. That is in fact what they've "done lately" according to NASA.

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Brian in Mesa

Brian in Mesa

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Just answering the question not arguing the point. That is in fact what they've "done lately" according to NASA.

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Bert - Appreciate it. Just seems crazy that astronauts were on the Moon before we were born and things seemed to be advancing so quickly...then...PFFFTT. We last walked on the Moon in December of 1972. We haven't been to Mars. We have a floating tube in space called a space station. Just anticipated more advancements and space travel in these past 4 decades or so.
 

Bert

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Bert - Appreciate it. Just seems crazy that astronauts were on the Moon before we were born and things seemed to be advancing so quickly...then...PFFFTT. We last walked on the Moon in December of 1972. We haven't been to Mars. We have a floating tube in space called a space station. Just anticipated more advancements and space travel in these past 4 decades or so.
Whole heartedly agree.

It seems impossible to have publicly funded space programs unless there is a clear need and objective.

I realize there are tons of amazing and worthwile objectives in space exploration, and I am 100% for it!

But I also understand how tough budget meetings must be, and I can only imagine a legislator looking at a budget and trying to justify spending billions on a mission to Mars, when schools and other more immediate needs are present.

The sucky thing is that once a private company makes a huge discovery they will patent it and monetize it, but ya know, gotta be a payoff at some point.

So ya I agree, I am 100% for NASA and space research, travel, exploration, colonization, warp speed, photon torpedos. I'm in. Just don't pay for it with Tax money because, that's just not fiscally responsible right now.

We've seen today there are rich idiots that will pay hudreds of millions to take a joyride around the moon. Pretty sure we can finance the whole thing just off them! #EattheRich ! jk Sorry listening to Aerosmith this morning. :p
 
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puckhead

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Whole heartedly agree.

It seems impossible to have publicly funded space programs unless there is a clear need and objective.

I realize there are tons of amazing and worthwile objectives in space exploration, and I am 100% for it!

But I also understand how tough budget meetings must be, and I can only imagine a legislator looking at a budget and trying to justify spending billions on a mission to Mars, when schools and other more immediate needs are present.

The sucky thing is that once a private company makes a huge discovery they will patent it and monetize it, but ya know, gotta be a payoff at some point.

So ya I agree, I am 100% for NASA and space research, travel, exploration, colonization, warp speed, photon torpedos. I'm in. Just don't pay for it with Tax money because, that's just not fiscally responsible right now.

We've seen today there are rich idiots that will pay hudreds of millions to take a joyride around the moon. Pretty sure we can finance the whole thing just off them! #EattheRich ! jk Sorry listening to Aerosmith this morning. :p

I don't want to get too political in this sub-forum, but I would much rather see my tax money spent on space research than many of the government entities with much larger budgets.
 

Bert

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I don't want to get too political in this sub-forum, but I would much rather see my tax money spent on space research than many of the government entities with much larger budgets.

Well that's certainly true! The government is wastes an unfathomable amount of money. :(
 
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