China's nuclear powered lunar rover prototype

Citation

(2007), "China's nuclear powered lunar rover prototype", Industrial Robot, Vol. 34 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2007.04934eab.006

China's nuclear powered lunar rover prototype

China's nuclear powered lunar rover prototype

Chinese researchers from Shanghai Institute have unveiled a prototype lunar rover (Figure 2) that they hope will be selected by China's space authority for the country's first moon mission in 2012. The six-wheeled robot that stands 1.5m tall is reminiscent of NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The Chinese rover will come equipped with a number of sensors that will allow it to collect and analyze samples of lunar rocks but also construct 3D panoramic images of the Moon's surface. The robot is designed to move much faster than NASA's robots as it is capable of traveling 100m in 1h. Interestingly, while until now all planetary rovers were designed to get power from the Sun using solar panels, the Chinese are preparing theirs to be powered using a combination of solar and nuclear power. The reason for this comes from the need to keep the robot powered for several days in a row in darkness since lunar nights can last up to 14 days. China and the USA are in a race to put a man on the Moon after 2015. NASA of course has already sent men on the Moon with the Apollo missions but going back is considered a stepping stone towards sending astronauts to Mars. Everyone expects that robots will play a very important role before and during these manned missions. The Europeans are also developing several planetary rovers for Mars exploration. The next couple of decades are going to be very interesting for planetary robotics.

Figure 2 China's prototype lunar rover

Courtesy Artificial Robotics and Intelligence (http://smart-machines.blogspot.com)