VOA科学技术2024--NASA Details Plans for Railway System on the Moon

The American space agency NASA is providing details about a railway system it plans to build on the surface of the moon.

The system aims to provide a "robotic transport system" to support future lunar activities of astronauts visiting the moon, NASA said in an online statement.

The railway would be part of NASA's Artemis program. It seeks to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972. The agency has set a target landing date of September 2026 to place astronauts on the surface of the moon.

NASA has said it also plans to establish a long-term moon base where astronauts could do their own exploring and carry out science experiments. Agency officials have said the base could be built as soon as the 2030s. It could also serve as a possible launch site for future exploration of Mars.

Last month, NASA also announced new efforts to develop and test new vehicle models designed to explore the moon.

The lunar rail proposal is called the Flexible Levitation¹ on a Track, or FLOAT. NASA said such a railway system will be "critical to the daily operations" on the moon.

The main purpose of FLOAT would be to provide transportation services in areas of the moon where astronauts are active, the space agency said. This will include carrying loads of lunar soil and other materials to different areas of the lunar surface.

NASA has said it plans to mine such soil, called regolith, for substances that could support astronaut activities on the moon. Regolith can contain materials like water or liquid forms of oxygen and hydrogen. Those elements could be used to support astronauts and their equipment during long stays on the moon.

The other main use of the proposed railway would be to transport larger loads of materials and equipment to and from the areas where spacecraft land.

The FLOAT system is already being developed by engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. It is based on magnetic levitation - a commonly used technology in high-speed rail development.

Drawings by NASA suggest the plans call for flat, magnetic panels, called robots, to float, or levitate², over a flat rail line, or track. The robots have no moving parts and are unpowered. They are pushed along the track by electromagnetic energy.

NASA said the simple design of the carrier robots should help them last a long time and require little ongoing³ care. The system's tracks can be placed directly on the lunar surface, avoiding the need to build a complex, permanent structure. They could also be moved around to change the transportation path.

A smaller version of the FLOAT system will permit robots to transport loads up to 30 kilograms at speeds of about 0.5 meters per second, the agency said. A larger system could also be built, to enable load transports involving up to 100,000 kilograms of regolith. Such a system could permit trips of "multiple kilometers per day," NASA explained.

The agency is currently developing and testing different parts of the FLOAT system.

FLOAT is one in a series of NASA development projects that recently received additional financial assistance to keep running. The projects are part of a NASA program called Innovative⁴ Advanced Concepts (NIAC).

Each of the projects received "up to $600,000 to continue working over the next two years" to progress further. FLOAT and the other projects already passed NIAC's first development phase and are entering the second.

If the efforts continue to show promise, they will be able to enter phase III, which provides additional funding and support from NASA. After that, the projects will be considered for a future space mission.

Words in This Story

electromagnetic - n. relating to the electrical and magnetic sources produced by an electric current

phase - n. a specific period in which something happens

1 levitation   

n.升空，漂浮；浮起

参考例句：

• We are particularly interested in phenomena such as telepathy and levitation. 我们对心灵感应及空中漂浮这样的现象特别有兴趣。 来自辞典例句
• This paper presents a magnetic levitation system control using the gain-scheduling controller. 本文以增益程序控制器针对磁浮系统进行控制。 来自互联网

2 levitate   

v.升在空中

参考例句：

• I often dream that I can levitate.我经常梦想我能够飞起来在空中飘浮。
• The guru claimed that he could levitate.这位宗教领袖声称他能够浮在空中。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。