NASA is preparing a levitating train. It will run on the Moon
NASA, despite significant delays in the implementation of the upcoming Artemis missions, which are to send humanity to the Moon for the first time in 50 years, has presented a spectacular project to build a levitating train. The project looks like straight out of a science fiction novel, but they seriously want to implement it.
FLOAT will be a robotic space roller coaster
The project, called Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT), is part of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which aims to developing science fiction-like designs for future space missions. FLOAT envisions levitating robot trains moving across the lunar surface to transport supplies, something NASA plans to implement already in the 2030s.
Ethan Schaler, a robotics engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), describes the project as the first lunar railway system that will provide reliable, autonomous and efficient cargo transportation on the Moon. According to Schaler, such a system will be crucial to the day-to-day operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s.
The idea of a levitating robot train moving across the lunar surface may seem too bold, especially since we haven't yet put human feet on it again. Nevertheless, it is pleasing that NASA constantly looks to the future, looking for new projects that could make the lives of space explorers easier.
No friction or wear from moon dust
The FLOAT system uses non-magnetically controlled robots that They levitate above the three-layer elastic track: : graphene layer enables robots to passively levitate over tracks thanks to diamagnetic levitation, flex circuit layer generates electromagnetic thrust enabling controlled movement of robots along tracks, and an optional layer thin-walled solar panels produces energy for the base when it is exposed to light. FLOAT robots they have no moving parts and levitate above the track, which minimizes abrasion and wear from lunar dust, unlike lunar robots with wheels, legs or tracks.
Building a lunar base like NASA's plans faces many challenges, but there's no denying that an autonomous train would be extremely useful for transporting materials between different locations. FLOAT robots will carry carts moving at a speed of over 0.5 meters per secondcapable of transporting approx 100 tons (90 metric tons) materials per day to and from NASA's future lunar base. Of course, first we need to deliver all the materials needed to build a levitating robot train to the Moon.
