Space

NASA working on RASSOR robot space excavator

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The RASSOR can climb over a large obstacle, such as a boulder on the moon - engineers on Earth used a stepping stool to challenge the robot (Photo: NASA)
The RASSOR can climb over a large obstacle, such as a boulder on the moon - engineers on Earth used a stepping stool to challenge the robot (Photo: NASA)
The RASSOR robot climbs a hill during recent testing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida (Photo: NASA)
With a pair of drums positioned on arms, the RASSOR can take on a number of different shapes to accomplish its work (Photo: NASA)
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Recently we've seen preliminary asteroid mining plans from Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, but what about NASA? The government agency would like to do some excavating on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids, too – but it isn't in it for the profit. NASA wants to clear the way for construction projects and mine materials for use by astronauts, and is developing a teleoperated robot called the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR, pronounced "razor") to get the job done.

According to NASA, it currently costs about US$4,000 to send a single pound (0.45-kg) payload into space, so keeping RASSOR's weight down is important. Unfortunately for an excavator, the lighter it is the more difficult its job becomes. Since RASSOR weighs just 100 pounds (45-kg), it relies on two opposing arms outfitted with counter-rotating bucket drums to provide the necessary counteracting force.

The drums scoop at 20 rotations per minute, trimming the top layer of soil to avoid jamming in the dense regolith at lower depths. Once it has collected about 40 pounds (18-kg) of material, the robot returns to a dump site where it can stand up on its tank treads in a Z-formation to deliver it to a production platform for processing.

With a pair of drums positioned on arms, the RASSOR can take on a number of different shapes to accomplish its work (Photo: NASA)

"Producing water and fuel from the lunar soil would save the tremendous expense of launching the supplies from Earth, since 90 percent of a rocket’s mass normally consists of propellant, which can be made on the moon," said NASA.

RASSOR can also overcome rough terrain and even boulders by propping itself up on its arms. Should the robot accidentally flip over at any time, it can continue as if nothing happened thanks to its symmetrical design. During most operations, the robot would be wirelessly teleoperated by a human, who would view the robot's surroundings through its onboard camera. It could also be programmed to do certain jobs all on its own.

Future plans

NASA says it is already working on the next generation of the robot, and is looking at replacing the tank treads with wheels due to problems encountered during testing. The second prototype should be completed and ready for testing next year, but it will likely be several more years before it is sent into space.

It's possible that the completed robot will be sent to Mars, where it would most likely collect ice believed to exist at the poles. However, NASA admits that it would take a single robot five years, working 16 hours a day, to generate usable amounts of resources.

Source: NASA via RedOrbit

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2 comments
Slowburn
It has been know for decades that moon dust is seriously abrasive but NASA produces designs with tracks. This is why NASA should not be doing this kind of thing.
zevulon
Lots of people oppose recent asteroid mining socitations on grounds it cannot be profiteable. Cubesat centered visitation of asteroids is a worthwhile goal to fun with nasa money because nasa is a dinosaur actualky plans on sending multibillion dollar manned mission to an asteroid in 2025. Regardless on thd ridiculous pitch that asteroid mining could ever yield a profit its a worthy goal to fund these comoanies with nasa money just so we can get on with the chalkenge of using cheap, smart robust swarms of cubsats to study those asteroids that come ANY where near earth.
The nasa dinosaurs might disagree. But if the real jurassic dinosaurs could come back theyd tell us its a good idea. Their surviving evolved descendants...birds, could care less.