NASA is Aiming for Sustained Presence on the Moon – Searching for Life Using the Newly Developed LSMS.
NASA’s Exploration Technology Development Program team at the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton is doubling their efforts, focusing on their newly developed Lunar Surface Manipulation System to implement multiple functions on the moon in the next Artemis mission.
The search for life outside our planet in outer space has always been the topic that dazzled the minds of space scientists for years, and the next big step for NASA is the new multifunction Lunar Surface Manipulation System that will be boarding the next big space craft to the moon in the promising Artemis mission in 2024.
‘’The LSMS is a lightweight long reach manipulator that’s designed primarily or sized primarily for payload offloading but it also provides a lot of additional functionality through the use of quick change and effector tools’’ said the LSMS principal investigator, Tom Jones.
Lunar Surface Robotic crane will be the ultimate solution for many challenges that astronauts will face on the moon, without requiring their physical participation.
The new device or the big Swiss Army Knife, as described by NASA scientists, will have the capability to actually build structures, operate digging and lift loads at the size of an elephant. It could be set to reach over 9 meters above its surface, with its three links, which are 3.75 meters long each, driving them to the space lab on the moon surface for operations.
In addition, the device uses its many tools to remove any obstacles like rocks to level the site for the device, and this is just a small portion of the work that this super robot will be able to do 384,400 km away from human eyes.
‘’When you get to the moon, the only thing you will have is what you brought with you’’
A simple yet great insightful quote from Bill Doggett, who is a NASA engineer specializing in solving problems of building structures on the lunar surface, talking about the many capabilities of the device, which will be left alone on the moon to carry out functions
The new device will be doing hazardous cleanup, home framing and home roofing, firefighting and building a perfect habitat. This will benefit human astronauts yet to come and live for quite some time on the moon, looking for the answer of the unsolved question of life on the outer space.
This robotic technology will be game changing and not just another step on the moon, but it will be a huge leap for mankind to set the foundations for the perfect environment for scientists and astronauts to find life and reveal new secrets about the dark space.
Every day we are getting one step closer to the next huge step for mankind on the moon, in the 2024 Artemis mission. In the meanwhile, NASA scientists and engineers are doubling their efforts with the help of technology to create new machines that will work as a permanent bridge between earth and extraterrestrial life.