Japan's space agency is researching the construction of a moon base using robots. The project, which has been in progress for three years already, is a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Kajima Corporation (a construction company), and three universities: Shibaura Institute of Technology, The University of Electro-Communications and Kyoto University.
Recently, the collaboration did an experiment on automated construction at the Kajima Seisho Experiment Site in Odawara (central Japan).
A 7-ton autonomous backhoe went through its paces at the site, going through procedures such as driving a specified distance and repeating routine operations, JAXA officials said in a statement. Operations that required more fine handling were performed with a human, by remote control
Presumably they included a two second delay.
Preparing a moonbase will require site preparation, excavation, installation of the module, and then covering it all back up to protect it from radiation.
Too bad we can't get one in place by July 20, 2019. (On July 20, 1969 man first walked on the moon. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that event. Hopefully there will be parties with mooncake.)
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @08:38PM (3 children)
... videos purporting to be man walking in the moon were disseminated. Don't ask why the flag was waving in absence of atmosphere.
FTFY
(Score: 3, Informative) by RamiK on Sunday April 07 2019, @08:59PM
Because you'd get an answer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhab86KoVjU [youtube.com]
compiling...
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Sunday April 07 2019, @08:59PM
Because we already know: Astronauts were moving the flag around, and inertia made it look like it was fluttering in the breeze.
Or, alternately, you can let Buzz Aldrin's right hook [youtube.com] do the talking.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 08 2019, @08:01AM
you know that you can just get a good telescope and look at the moon to find the stuff they left behind, right? nobody's stopping you.
NASA already did it with a probe: https://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-09/new-nasa-photos-show-footprints-moon. [popsci.com]
since you don't trust them, make a telescope and point it at the same place. you're gonna see the same thing.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Gaaark on Sunday April 07 2019, @09:31PM (6 children)
Now, if only we could get the world to cooperate and work together and make this all happen quickly and effectively!
This should not be JUST JAPAN: this should be China, U.S., what.... India now? Wasn't Pakistan doing something??///can't remember...too old, Canada (okay, laugh if you want but we got beer and the Canadarm)...
...work together and do this. THEN move to Mars. Do it right, do it effectively, then spread out! Why is this not a no-brainer and everyone is working to put this together?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @09:53PM (5 children)
Because putting people on Mars is absolutely fucking insane and pointless. That's why.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Gaaark on Sunday April 07 2019, @10:00PM (4 children)
My point is, do this on the moon FIRST, INSTEAD of this rush to Mars insanity we seem to be on.
I don't personally care if we go to Mars, but HELL YES, go back to the moon, build bases, grow veggies, live there, build rocket/space ship base and expand from there.
Mars? You won't be living there for at least a hundred years is my guess...unless we discover something amazing that changes things somehow.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @11:02PM (2 children)
Why move to Mars when most of the Middle East is uninhabited by humans and much closer to home?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Monday April 08 2019, @01:30AM (1 child)
Perfectly valid. Deserts and glaciers are both far more hospitable than Moon or Mars. You don't die in either of those places within a minute if someone opens a window.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 08 2019, @08:05AM
except that nuclear war or big asteroids will kill antarctica as well as the middle east when they happen.
obviously we should do our best to avoid nuclear war and deflect asteroids, but in case we fail we should have some backup humans somewhere.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday April 08 2019, @05:43PM
Mars vs the Moon.
Who actually cares?
Just pick one and STICK TO IT. This bullshit where we completely change direction in the US every time a new president gets elected needs to stop!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 08 2019, @02:36AM (1 child)
Sorry, someone had to say it
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Monday April 08 2019, @03:18AM
What color is the backhoe robot and does it "push" or "shove"?
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Monday April 08 2019, @03:15AM (2 children)
"A 7-ton autonomous backhoe went through its paces at the site"
Wow. We'll be ready for cutting fiber optic lines on the moon even before they're installed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 08 2019, @08:37AM
God damn it. They're rolling out fiber on the moon now?
Why is my neighborhood always last?!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 08 2019, @09:31AM
yes. obviously the way to progress is to build the thing and deploy it, with no intermediate testing at all.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday April 08 2019, @02:19PM
What I want to know is, is the 7-ton robot actually anywhere near moon ready? Because there are numerous engineering challenges involved:
1 - Moon dust. It's abrasive, gets everywhere and sticks to stuff thanks to static electricity. This is only going to be exacerbated by a machine that is deliberately shoving the stuff around.
2 - Cooling. Okay, we've had vehicles on the the moon before (moon buggies) and they seemed to work OK, but they weren't doing anything particularly strenuous and only had to work for a few days. Anything shoving tons of material about for an extended period is going to be generating heat, and shedding heat in a vacuum is a bitch. Double or treble that for any drilling operations.
3 - Power source. So anything air-breathing is obviously out, so presumably this thing is going to be electric. Fair enough, but do we have the energy densities available in batteries to do this? How many solar panels do you need to power a 7-ton earthmover1? Or I guess you could go nuclear, but that comes with its own issues, not least cooling (above).
4 -
Deployment. Actually, scratch this one. I was going to say that dropping seven tons on the moon is non-trivial (which would be true) but it turns out that's only half the mass of the Apollo landers, and this thing would only need a one-way ticket. So non-trivial, but achievable.1 Moonmover?