NASA Testing Robots in Artic Circle for Moon Mission

Jul 20 2007, 1:02pm CDT | by Shane McGlaun

NASA announced today that they have two robots surveying a rocky, isolated polar desert inside a crater in the Artic Circle. The point of the test mission is to learn how robots could be used in potential outposts on the moon or Mars.

The two robots are known as K10 Black and K10 Red; both carry 3-D laser scanners and ground penetrating radar. The robots and the tea arrived at the crater in the Artic on July 12 and are scheduled to test until July 31. This Artic Circle crater was chosen because of its geological similarity to the Shackleton Crater on the South Pole of the moon.

"We are learning about the awesome potential of human and robot teams," said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., where the group conducting the survey is based. "Studying how humans and robots can maximize scientific returns in sites such as Devon Island will prepare us to walk on the moon and Mars."

The 3-D laser scanner can map topographic features from as far as 3280 feet away and the ground-penetrating radar can map below the surface as far as 16.4 feet. Each of the robots weighs 165 pounds and can carry a 110 pound payload. Via NASA

Updates

Yankees have enough pieces for building the bridge to Rafael Soriano

Source: NJ.com

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerYankees manager Joe Girardi will rely on match-ups to build the bridge to Rafael Soriano. BALTIMORE -- Remember when the Yankees used to sweat over building a bridge to Mariano? Now, it's all about building a b ...
Full article at: NJ.com More like this 2 hours ago

Joss Whedon Is “Torn” Over Whether to Take on Avengers 2

Source: The Mary Sue

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned from the production of The Avengers, it’s that Joss Whedon is a superlatively busy guy. He’s got four movies out this year, only two of which have yet to be released, and one of them is a Shakespearean play filmed ...
Full article at: The Mary Sue More like this 3 hours ago

Bonnaroo 2012: Schedule Released, New YouTube Channel, Phish ’09 Highlights

Source: Live Music Blog

And speaking of Phish, recently the promoters announced that they were partnering up with YouTube to offer a channel with unique content 365 days of the year, which has already featured highlights from My Morni ...
Full article at: Live Music Blog More like this 4 hours ago

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

Don't miss ...

Shane McGlaun
Leading our review center, Shane knows technology inside out. His extensive experience in testing computer hardware and consumer electronics enable him to effectively qualify new products and trends. If you want us review your product, please contact Shane.
Shane can be contacted directly at shane@i4u.com.