BBC Knowledge 2017 02

We definitely dig this. NASA has started
testing the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems
Operations Robot (RASSOR). This robot is
designed to mine resources on the surface of
asteroids, the Moon or even Mars.
The bot is in development at Kennedy Space
Center in Florida. The agency has released
a video showing a simulated mission in which
RASSOR was used to scoop up regolith, which
is the loose, rocky material on the surface of
a planet. It then loaded the regolith into a
device called a MARCO POLO/Mars

Pathfinder in-situ resource utilisation system.

This pulls water and ice out of the regolith

and turns their chemicals into fuel or air for

astronauts working on the surface.

The primary challenge for any digging

robot operating in low gravity is that it has

to be light and small enough to f ly on a rocket,

but heavy enough to operate in gravity lower

than Earth’s. RASSOR tackles this problem

by using digging bucket drums at each end

of the robot’s body that rotate in opposite

directions, giving enough traction on one end

NASA’S MINING BOT GETS ROLLING

to let the opposite side dig into the soil. It has a top

speed of 4cm per second, five times faster than the

Mars Curiosity rover, and is capable of hauling

around 20kg of material.

“[On Mars] there are some areas at the poles

where they think there’s a lot of ice, so you’d be

digging in ice,” said NASA engineer AJ Nick.

“There’s other areas where the water is 30cm

down, so you actually have to dig down 30cm

and take off the top and that depth is really where

you want to start collecting water ice.”

To see the RASSOR in action,

visit bit.ly/2eQ7wev

NASA technologist Rob

Mueller (left) inspects the

RASSOR with Apollo

astronaut Buzz Aldrin

SPACE