New Lunar Prototype Vehicles Tested

[Gray Fox]

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/06/17/new-lunar-prototype-vehicles-tested-gallery/


Written by Nancy Atkinson

NASA recently took some of its most promising new concepts for living and
working on the moon and tried them out in a moon-like location near Lake
Moses, Washington. Scout robots, rovers, cargo carriers, cranes and
spacesuits endured sand storms and temperature swings to help test out
the prototypes and prepare for future lunar expeditions. Although
conditions on the moon will be much harsher, one investigator said, "It's as
close as we can get in a terrestrial environment to the lunar environment."
Above is the Mobile Lunar Transporter, which includes unique features that
allow each of its six wheels to move independently, giving the vehicle the
ability to drive in any direction. The human drivers stood in turrets on the
"trucks."

JPL tested two ATHLETE cargo-moving rovers they are developing. These
rather odd-looking transport vehicles have legs capable of rolling or walking
over extremely rough or steep terrain. They can carry, manipulate, deposit
and transport payloads to desired sites. Maybe they'll become the lunar
version of a Winnebago, and future lunar astronauts can also take them
out on weekend camping trips.

This Autonomous Drilling Rover could be used to search for valuable
resources under the lunar surface in the moon's polar regions. Its made to
operate in extreme cold and dark conditions.

This lunar bulldozer, called LANCE (Lunar Attachment Node for Construction
Excavation), is designed to be used with the lunar truck. The bulldozer can
be used to help prepare a site for building an outpost on the moon.

These K10 scout robots can perform highly repetitive and long-duration
tasks. During the tests, the rovers surveyed simulated lunar landing sites
and built topographic and panoramic 3-D terrain models. One rover used a
ground-penetrating radar to assess subsurface structures. The other used
a 3-D scanning laser system known as LIDAR to create topographic maps.
They can also perform science reconnaissance.

And of course, we can't have humans on the moon without having
spacesuits, so some of the new design of spacesuits were tested as well.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Awesome! Now all we need is for NASA to actually *go* there. You know, actually do things, like they used to.

 

[Au-heppa]

Those space suits are so cute!

 

[The Monkey]

Those space suits are so cute!

Looks like humpbacks.

 

[Omnomnick]

Awesome! Now all we need is for NASA to actually *go* there. You know, actually do things, like they used to.

^This.

 

[Shift]

Agreed. GET ON WITH IT NASA!

 

[Raziaar]

Space Men... permanently molded into the classic bodybuilder pose.

And I find those fancy dancy magic prancy tiptoe vehicles funny.

 

[Blackthorn]

I wonder if that's the same wasteland they faked the moon landing in. Anyway they should use this:

 

[Raziaar]

Faked the moon landing...

 

[theotherguy]

Awesome! Now all we need is for NASA to actually *go* there. You know, actually do things, like they used to.

A few problems: redesign of all of the lunar equipment, including launch vehicles. Some of the old Saturn rocket designs were destroyed to protect US interests, the shuttle is useless for sending crews to the moon; so NASA is working on a new program, Constellation, which combines the old Apollo designs with newer shuttle designs.

Also, politics and funding are huge issues preventing immediate lunar and Martian missions. Many NASA scientists would prefer to send more things to Mars rather than the moon first, but the bush administration gave them a mandate declaring a manned lunar mission by 2020, a manned lunar base by 2030, and the first Mars mission sometime after that. However, Bush also severely cut funding to other NASA programs to do this.

Future presidents, including Obama, plan to rework Bush's program by cutting the lunar mission altogether and redirecting funding back towards more scientific endeavors, like the terrestrial planet finder and Martian rovers.

The cost of sending any of these fanciful designs to the moon will be enormous, and the cost of sending them to Mars will be even greater.

Personally, I think there should be an across-the-board increase of NASA budget, with more flexibility given to the agency on how to use it. This political game-play is seriously retarding NASA's ability to keep to timetables and complete missions.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Although there is a lot I questioned about Bush's decisions, sending a manned mission to the moon I thoroughly back him up on. Plus the next generation should have the same thrill as the previous generation of watching people walk around the moon....

...or set

 

[AJ Rimmer]

A few problems: redesign of all of the lunar equipment, including launch vehicles. Some of the old Saturn rocket designs were destroyed to protect US interests, the shuttle is useless for sending crews to the moon; so NASA is working on a new program, Constellation, which combines the old Apollo designs with newer shuttle designs.

Also, politics and funding are huge issues preventing immediate lunar and Martian missions. Many NASA scientists would prefer to send more things to Mars rather than the moon first, but the bush administration gave them a mandate declaring a manned lunar mission by 2020, a manned lunar base by 2030, and the first Mars mission sometime after that. However, Bush also severely cut funding to other NASA programs to do this.

Future presidents, including Obama, plan to rework Bush's program by cutting the lunar mission altogether and redirecting funding back towards more scientific endeavors, like the terrestrial planet finder and Martian rovers.

The cost of sending any of these fanciful designs to the moon will be enormous, and the cost of sending them to Mars will be even greater.

Personally, I think there should be an across-the-board increase of NASA budget, with more flexibility given to the agency on how to use it. This political game-play is seriously retarding NASA's ability to keep to timetables and complete missions.

I know all (alright, most) of this, my point being that NASA has been reduced in capacity quite dramatically (basically NASA has become just another government organ whose chief director I believe is appointed by the president and is used for political play). I mean, they have better technology and way more experience than they did in the sixties, coupled with the fact that they no longer have to deal with a total lack of information from what the russians are doing and the various other space instititutions around the world with wich they can cooperate, they really should be able to do alot more than they are. They're just not prioritized by the government or the american people (NASA's budget costs the american taxpayer something like one dollar every week, the war in Iraq costs up to and above 30 times as much), which I think is a damn shame.

...okay fine, basically; I'm pissed I didn't get to experience the space race and I want a sequel!