Space agencies have been aiming to use various types of robots to explore the other worldly surfaces. Latest in the line is Britain, which now plans to use a small spider rover in 2021 to explore the lunar surface.
Dubbed as Asagumo, the robotic spider has been built by London-based robotics firm Spacebit. The idea was to build a rover with legs instead of wheels. This would enable the rover to traverse diverse conditions as opposed to the limited mobility offered by?rovers with wheels.
Asagumo is 10-cm tall and will sport four spindly legs and a flat pad bottom, similar to ski poles. The rover will carry instruments for mining as well as measuring radiation. It will also be the first rover connected to the lander by Wi-Fi. A built-in drone technology will even be able to fly the rover back to the lander in case the Wi-Fi signal is lost. The rover launch will?reportedly?cost over $4.1 million.
Spacebit is now reportedly working with NASA for the British rover and is expected to send it to the Moon in 2021. Other than traversing the surface, the rover will also aim to crawl through lava tubes to find any underground locations which could be habitable for humans.
This is especially helpful for the prospect of setting up a base on the Moon, as the lunar surface displays extreme temperatures and is also bombarded by micro-meteorites and solar radiation.
The rover will be sent to the Moon onboard NASA's first Commercial Lunar Payload Services under its Artemis mission. Once there, it will mark the first time a British rover will reach the Moon.
Spacebit is hoping to land the rover on the Schr?ter's Valley, at Moon's Oceanus Procellarum. The targeted site is “flat, free of rocks and craters and has an abundance of sunlight.”