Sydney. Last month, Australia’s space agency announced plans to send an Australian-made rover to the Moon by 2026 under an agreement with NASA. The rover will collect oxygen-rich lunar soil, which could eventually be used to help support human life in space.
The agreement with NASA made headlines, although a separate mission conducted by private companies in Australia and Canada in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney in Sydney could see Australia search for water on the Moon by the middle of 2024. If all goes according to plan, it will be the first rover of Australia-made components to reach the Moon.
wander in search of water
The rover, weighing about ten kilograms, will be launched on the Moon through the Hakuto lander made by the Japanese company iSpace. The rover, also built by iSpace, will be an integrated robotics arm built by private companies Stardust Technologies (based in Canada) and Explore Space Technology of Australia (whose founder is Chow).
This rover will collect information about the physical and chemical composition of dust, soil and rocks with the goal of finding water in particular. It is estimated that water exists inside the Moon’s Earth, but we have not yet found a way to extract water for practical use. Like the test done by NASA, this test can accurately show the physical and chemical conditions on the Moon. It will be important to determine whether the rover can remain movable and continue to operate under different environmental conditions.
step into space
The rover will also send data from the Moon that people on Earth can experience with virtual reality (VR) goggles and a sensor glove. The haptic (tactile) data collected by the robotic arm will essentially help us “feel the true sense” of anything on the surface of the Moon. A free app is being planned to take this experience to the masses and hopefully inspire future generations of space explorers.
The post Australia to send rover to moon in 2024 to search for water appeared first on Navabharat.