In the implementation of the program of NASA “Artemis” (a manned mission to the moon in 2024), the astronauts will need robots for the arrangement of a lunar colony, including excavators.
With this purpose, the space Agency announced a competition for the best design of the bucket drum excavator, which will equip the robot RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) is specifically designed to perform work with the lunar soil. And in this contest already has a winner here.
The participants presented their original vision capture lunar regolith with minimal effort, which is very important for long-term operation of such devices on the moon. Was recognized as the best bucket designed by industrial designer Caleb Klausinho that uses passive cover for the seizure of a large amount of soil. Importantly, the device Clausing highly resistant to the penetration of lunar dust, which is a serious problem for machinery.
It will take some time until NASA completes the debugging and testing of the new bucket – but before you run RASSOR remains at least another four years.
Source — NASA