NASA Lunar Robot Rover with Drill

Courtesy: SpaceRef

At AIAA's 3rd Space Exploration Conference this week in Denver, Colorado, NASA will display a rover designed to drill into regolith and prospect lunar craters. The rover will be equipped with an instrument package known as the Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE), which will be used to characterize the composition of lunar regolith. The instrument package will take a sample of regolith, crush it, heat it, and detect the gases that escape. 

Read the full press release on SpaceRef.

For more information, see also:

• nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/lunar_truck.html
• spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/Advanced/Capabilities/ISRU
• www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar_resources