While moon carts are nothing new, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) experts are currently thinking on a novel way to go about the moon: a levitating railway system.
The Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program of NASA has announced six projects, including the Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT) project.
FLOAT intends to provide effective and dependable autonomous payload transportation by using robots that are levitated over flexible film tracks that are rolled out directly onto the lunar regolith, according to an IFL Science paper.
The study also disclosed that a flex circuit will provide electromagnetic propulsion, and the rails will be composed of a graphite layer to enable diamagnetic levitation.
A solar panel for internal power supply will be an optional feature of the third layer.
The levitating robots will go across the rails without wheels or legs, avoiding the jagged regolith.
The team thinks that 100 tons of material may be transported several kilometers every day, according to the publication.
To assess their viability, FLOAT and the other five initiatives have been awarded a total of $600,000.
In the 2030s, if the FLOAT project keeps demonstrating its potential, it may constitute essential lunar infrastructure.
