NASA has its sights set on the Moon incredibly, however building up a more permanent presence on the lunar surface will require a variety of new technology. One issue that should be tended to is water; however the Moon is home to icy water reserves, astronauts will require an approach to gather the substance as a useable resource. As it will in general do, NASA offered cash in exchange for ideas from teams around the US — and presently it is back with the winners.
Back in November, NASA reported a new challenge called Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. The space office looked for ideas on new ways for astronauts to exhume assets on the Moon, including the most reproachful of all assets, water. These water holds are caught as frigid in obscurity, cold holes situated at the Moon’s shafts.
The icy regolith (Moon dust) presents a remarkable test contrasted with excavating ice on Earth, not the least of which is because of regolith’s sharp and messy qualities. Past that, the best icy regolith holds on the Moon are situated in pits that are permanently dark, causing visibility issues, in addition to the temperatures are incredibly cold.
In its report on the challenge today, NASA uncovered that an aggregate of 13 teams won a lot of the aggregate $500,000 prize, with the best honor going to Redwire Space in Florida at $125,000. The team introduced a two-rover concept that would include the organization’s L-Rex excavator to assemble the ice, which would be transported and deposited by L-Tran.
Different teams given lesser award amounts incorporate Colorado School of Mines, Austere Engineering, Aurora Robotics, Rocket M, Team AA-Star, and then some. Of the 13 winners, the bottom 10 — who each will get $25,000 — introduced what NASA calls “viable and innovative ideas” that it might discover beneficial in the near future.