NASA gives an overview of the mission,

Using a suite of seven instruments, LRO will help identify safe landing sites for future human explorers, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and test new technology. LCROSS will seek a definitive answer about the presence of water ice at the lunar poles. LCROSS will use the spent second stage Atlas Centaur rocket in an unprecedented way that will culminate with two spectacular impacts on the moon’s surface.

Below are animations of how the journey to the moon and how the LRO will analyze Luna’s surface.

Here’s another one on how the LRO will orbit the moon and scan the lunar surface. It is amazing how much the orbiter will be able to scan in so little time

More on LRO

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1. Japan’s Moon Mission – Walking, Bipedal Moon Robot for 2020 Mission?
2. NASA’s Lunar Exploration Robot Prototype – Scarab the Moon Drilling Rover
3. Lawn-Mower Sized Robots could Help Build a Lunar Base

NASA's Scarab Prototype in Testing

NASA’s Lunar rover prototype, Scarab, is designed to carry a drill and do exploratory drilling on the Moon. The rover is specially designed for the Moon’s surface and includes sophisticated tires designed to operate on the (pressure-less) Lunar surface and achieve high traction.

The drill can take samples of the Moons surface up to about one meter in depth. Once the sample is drilled, the rover crushes the sample and tests it with on-board lab equipment to determine how good the site may be for a future Moon base. The samples are tested for minerals as well as gases.

Watch this interesting video about Scarab’s mission and how it was designed.

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1. Lawn-Mower Sized Robots could Help Build a Lunar Base
2. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will Map the Moon’s Surface for Manned Missions
3. Japan’s Moon Mission – Walking, Bipedal Moon Robot for 2020 Mission?

Buzz Aldrin Walks on The Moon

Japan is in the early stages of designing a mission to the Moon. The proposed mission places a walking, two legged robot on the Lunar surface in the year 2020. The proposal is being considered as a part of Japan’s new space strategy, and will be further decided after public input has been taken.

Should the proposal be further pursued, Japan will soon begin designing bipedal robots for this mission. Landing a bipedal robot on the Moon is only one aspect of Japan’s proposed space mission. After the landing of the bipedal robot, possible manned missions or other robot missions could be in the works for later dates.

This news comes in the light of North Korea’s rocket launch, where a multi-stage rocket was fired from North Korea, and flown over Japan.

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1. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will Map the Moon’s Surface for Manned Missions
2. NASA’s Lunar Exploration Robot Prototype – Scarab the Moon Drilling Rover
3. Petman Bipedal Robot Prototype by Boston Dynamics – Video

Astrobotic Moon-Digger

Astrobotic Technology Inc. and Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute have found a way to use riding lawn-mower sized construction robots to prepare our Moon’s surface for a NASA outpost.

The goal of the project was to figure out how to reduce the disruption of Moon dust when outpost rockets land or take off. Since the Moon has no atmosphere to slow down the disrupted Moon dust, the dust presents a problem for the future outpost.

The report outlines several methods of reducing dust-spread by use of these Moon bots. In one method, the robots would build raised berms around the launch area. In the other method, the robots would pack native Moon material into a hard-packed landing surface.

This is exactly the type of work that tells the world we are serious about returning to The Moon. NASA’s current schedule is to have a Lunar outpost by 2020. Hopefully that doesn’t get pushed back or cut like other project have.

[Full PDF Slide Report]
[Original Press Release]

Related posts:

1. NASA’s Lunar Exploration Robot Prototype – Scarab the Moon Drilling Rover
2. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will Map the Moon’s Surface for Manned Missions
3. Japan’s Moon Mission – Walking, Bipedal Moon Robot for 2020 Mission?