NASA plans to develop first railway systems on moon, here's full update

NASA announced plans to build the first railway station on the moon for efficient payload transportation. This railway system is part of NASA's Moon to Mars initiative

American Space Agency NASA is planning to develop the first lunar railway system for efficient payload transportation on the Moon.

NASA shared an official blog post mentioning the long-lasting robotic transport system which will play a major role in the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base envisioned for the 2030s. This lunar railway system is part of NASA's Moon to Mars initiative and mission concepts such as the Robotic Lunar Surface Operations 2 (RLSO2).

There is a need for a solution to transport regolith mined for ISRU consumables (H20, LOX, LH2) or construction materials, as well as moving payloads around the lunar base and to/from landing zones or other outposts.

 

To resolve transportation needs, NASA introduced FLOAT, i.e., Flexible Levitation on a Track.

What is the FLOAT system?

The FLOAT system will utilise unpowered magnetic robots that levitate over a 3-layer flexible film track, i.e., a graphite layer that enables robots to float over tracks with the help of diamagnetic levitation passively. A flex-circuit layer generates electromagnetic thrust to propel robots along tracks controllably and an optional thin-film solar panel layer generates power when in sunlight for the base. 

FLOAT robots don’t have moving parts and minimise lunar dust abrasion/wear by levitating over the track, unlike lunar robots which are equipped with wheels, tracks or legs. 

According to NASA's robotics expert Ethan Schaler of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the Moon." He further said a durable long-life robotic transport system will be critical to the daily operation of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s.

As per NASA's initial design, FLOAT will be for machines only. The design consists of magnetic robots levitating over a three-layer movie track to reduce abrasion from dust on the lunar surface. Carts will be mounted on these robots which will move roughly 1.61 kilometres per hour. This can transport 100 tons of material a day to the NASA base. 

FLOAT will run autonomously in the dusty, inhospitable lunar environment with minimal site preparation, and its track network can be rolled up/reconfigured over time to match evolving lunar base mission requirements.

What will happen in Phase 2?

NASA noted that in Phase 2, we will continue to eliminate risks related to the manufacture, control, deployment and long-term operation of metre-scale robots/km-scale tracks that support human exploration (HEO) activities on the Moon. It can be accomplished through the following key tasks:

1. Design, manufacture and test a series of sub-scale robot/track prototypes, culminating with a demonstration in a lunar-analogue testbed.

2. Investigate environmental effects on system performance and longevity. 

3. Investigate/define a technology roadmap to address technology gaps and mature manufacturing capability for critical hardware.