They plan to build a railway on the moon

The return of people to our satellite will be very different from what happened 50 years ago. So the astronauts simply went there, took a few samples, did short experiments and returned. Instead, the current goal, at least in the long term, is build a foundation in which they can remain much longer. This implies that the Selenite environment would become something like a small city where travelers could take advantage of the natural resources. To this end, they work on all types of projects such as installation railway on the moon.

It should be noted that the lunar base will be located at a very specific location, but the resources used by humans may come from more distant areas of the moon. It’s necessary transport them in a sense, therefore it is necessary to use internal means of transport, in addition to the ships that take the astronauts there.

Some modes of transport are already in use on the Moon and Mars, such as moon buggies or the Ingenuity helicopter from Mars. They can be useful on lunar bases as well, but using railroads on the Moon may have additional benefits that are worth exploring.

History of lunar transport

Humans have flown to the moon six times. between 1969 and 1972. Even then, possible transport options began to be explored, for example, a buggy, which was delivered to our satellite in 1971.

It was part of the payload Apollo 15ship with astronauts David Scott, Alfred Warden and James B. Irwin. It is logical that the vehicle was transported folded. Once there, it was opened for use, achieving an average speed of 3 to 4 kilometers per hour. It could carry two astronauts on board, as well as necessary cargo, such as antennas or radio repeaters. Its use was so successful that two subsequent missions to the Moon also carried a buggy on board, which was used with equal effectiveness.

It is logical that the future lunar base will have several such buggies. It’s still cars with which astronauts will be able to move from one point on the Moon to another. But there may also be a need for autonomous vehicles that don’t require anyone to drive them. Here’s the usage railway on the moon.

A railway on the moon may be closer than we think

A project to build a railway on the Moon is already underway. It is called SWIM and is one of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) that has entered Phase II. NMVK It’s a collection of space agency projects designed to be cutting-edge technologies that will make the jobs of future space race heroes much easier.

In the case of the railway on the Moon, it consists of levitating train, which moves along graphite tracks. This material was chosen because of its diamagnetic properties. Diamagnetism is the property of materials that repel magnetic fields. Almost all materials are diamagnetic to one degree or another. However, others have other properties that dominate this, such as ferromagnetism. In the case of graphite, it is mostly diamagnetic, so magnets can be used to lift it off the ground and send it through the air.

Trains of this type have already been used on Earth, but building a railway on the Moon is still a project that looks almost like Science fiction.

The choice of this type of transport is determined by three main factors. On the one side, car autonomy, which requires virtually no human intervention. In fact, whenever possible, he will carry solar panels with him for charging, so that his autonomy will be even higher.

In addition, the lack of movement on the ground avoids the possible damage that a steep slope could cause to robots. regolith what makes up the lunar surface. Finally, it is for this reason that no special preliminary preparation is required. If the Lunar Railway moved along normal tracks, very difficult job build them through regolith. But since it’s just a series of magnets that guide robots through the air, they can be developed on the ground without much preparation.

Other NMVKs are under implementation

The Lunar Railway is one of the 6 NMVK who have moved to Phase II and will be able to continue construction. If all goes well, this could become a reality in about ten years.

As for the remaining projects, among the most important we find a propulsion system that allows astronauts travel to Mars from the Moon. And also a liquid telescope, with which the effort of launching already built telescopes could be avoided, so that the necessary components for this would be mixed in a liquid, which, once at its destination, would be transformed to build lenses.

All these inventions, which seem impossible, are developing at a good pace. If all goes well, we will soon be able to see them in action.