We could see a railway network on the lunar surface. (Image Credit: NASA)
Northrop Grumman announced it received a contract from DARPA to create a concept for a railway system across the moon. This is part of the decade-long Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Study, which has ambitions to set up sustainable infrastructure on the moon by 2035. Such a railroad network could transport resources, supplies, and humans for commercial purposes, supporting the space economy for the US and international partners. It has the potential to connect research facilities, outposts, and mines for scientific research, tourism, mining, and manufacturing.
“This investment in key developmental research keeps our technology at the forefront of next-generation solutions. With our proven experience in the integration of complex systems and commercialized autonomous services, we will continue to create lasting change for a sustainable space ecosystem,” says Chris Adams, Northrop Grumman vice president and general manager.
Northrop Grumman expects to figure out the necessary resources and interfaces for developing a lunar rail network. It will also create a list of cost, technological, and logistical risks and build prototypes/simulations of a rail system’s design, testing it under lunar-like conditions. Lastly, it plans to explore using robots to construct and operate the rail system, which involves grading and foundation prep, track placement/alignment, joining/finishing, inspection, maintenance, and repair.
Undertaking such a task presents some major obstacles due to extreme temperatures and regolith. But perhaps some advanced robotics technologies can help with that --- even if it’s similar to installing a continental transportation network.
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