Space News
Popular Mechanics (3/5, Pappalardo) reported, "Getting robots to the moon and keeping them running in the atmosphere-free, cold and dusty environment presents the biggest challenge lunar-rover researchers have ever faced." Before astronauts land, "rovers will do the heavy lifting-as scientific researchers and construction workers-to get the outpost up and running." One of the concerns is how "to keep rovers alive." For that and other challenges, "engineers are now focused on innovations in hardware, including power systems, habitation designs, specialized tools and software." For instance, a study "explored how a 300-pound robot can create a landing pad out of a combination of melting and bulldozing regolith."
