NASA
was created to beat the Russians into space, or, oops, to the moon.
Afterward, it concentrated on commercial endeavors with the space
shuttle. That's over, so what's happening with NASA now? The agency has
tons of projects going on! For example, to reduce the mass of supplies a
mission would have to take to Mars (or other places), robots are being
taught to build structures with locally-found materials.
The
news that a robot had successfully constructed a prototype
launch-&-landing pad in Hawaii was received ceremoniously, as it
helped pave the way for similar automated construction projects in space
(Mars and the moon to be particular). The robotic rover, called
Helelani, built the pad by assembling one hundred pavers made with
locally available materials. The project is quite unique, using Mars and
lunar material in the place of concrete.
This project was a
collaboration between NASA and PISCES (Pacific International Space
Center for Exploration) as part of a bigger program dubbed ACME
(Additive Construction with Mobile Emplacement). Apart from the alien
materials, the project also employs robotics as opposed to a human
workforce. The general goal is to be able to use locally available
materials on Mars and the moon to design and construct infrastructure.
That's just one project looking toward other planets.
Read more about ACME and other NASA projects at Money Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment