Latest news with #RegolithAdvancedSurfaceSystemsOperationsRobot
India Today
10-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
Nasa is building a JCB to excavate Moon rocks. See pics here
Nasa is working on building a new digging giant from the Moon. The Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (Rassor) will use big bucket drums to dig into the lunar surface to scoop rocks and team recently conducted a site preparation test using its counterrotating bucket drums to dig into simulated lunar dust and build a three-foot berm."These bucket drums will be used on IPEx, NASA's newest Moon-mining robot, to demonstrate even more advanced autonomous excavation capabilities," Nasa said in an update. advertisement The tests were conducted at the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in said that the opposing motion of the drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could be used in construction or broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water, resources critical for sustaining human the test, Nasa proved the ability of a bucket drum excavator to build surface features out of regolith. Bucket drums will be used on NASA's IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator).The ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) will excavate soil on the surface of the Moon, or regolith, and take the material to a processing plant where usable elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and water can be extracted for life support PICS HERE Drew Smith, a robotics engineer, makes adjustments to the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) during testing. (Photo: Nasa) advertisement On the surface of the Moon, mining robots like RASSOR will excavate the regolith and take the material to a processing plant. (Photo: Nasa) An integrated test of the MARCO POLO/Mars Pathfinder in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, system takes place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Photo: Nasa)
Miami Herald
04-06-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
How NASA plans to mine the Moon
By Dean Murray The United States has shown off how it plans to mine the Moon. Incredible scenes show NASA testing a vehicle designed to extract vital resources that could help humans live in the lunar environment or even on Mars. Engineers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida are experimenting with the RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) on a simulated lunar surface. RASSOR's counter-rotating drums dig up simulated moon dust to extract regolith, the loose, fragmental material found on the Moon's surface. The opposing motion of the drums helps RASSOR grip the surface in low-gravity environments like the Moon or Mars. On Tuesday (June 3), NASA said: "With this unique capability, RASSOR can traverse the rough surface to dig, load, haul, and dump regolith that could later be broken down into hydrogen, oxygen, or water-resources critical for sustaining human presence." The space agency is using the foundation of RASSOR's development to inform IPEx (In-Situ Resource Utilisation Pilot Excavator), a newer vehicle being prepared for a potential technology demonstration mission on the Moon. IPEx is still in the advanced development and testing phase and will improve on RASSOR with refinements in scale, modularity, and mission capability to support future lunar resource extraction missions. The post How NASA plans to mine the Moon appeared first on Talker. Copyright Talker News. All Rights Reserved.
