{"id":19119,"date":"2022-11-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=19119"},"modified":"2022-11-09T11:15:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T10:15:27","slug":"next-stop-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/2022\/11\/08\/next-stop-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Next stop the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>
\n

Next stop the Moon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

IF WE WANT TO EXPLORE THE SOLAR SYSTEM EVEN FURTHER, WE\u2019LL NEED AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS TO HELP US DO IT. AND THAT\u2019S WHY SCIENTISTS ARE PUTTING FUTURISTIC BOTS THROUGH THEIR PACES ON THE LUNAR-LIKE LANDSCAPE OF MOUNT ETNA <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WORDS: DR STUART CLARK <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The centipede-like crawler can hack through difficult terrain better than wheeled rovers <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A<\/span>nyone who has followed our efforts to explore other planets over the last few decades will have realised the importance of robots. They\u2019re our mechanical eyes and ears on distant worlds, and have allowed us to see places that would have otherwise remained shrouded in mystery. Perhaps this is why the landing of each new NASA rover on Mars draws millions of viewers online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, however, most of the headlines have been about the imminent return of humans to the Moon. So with people once again venturing further out into space, will robotic explorers start to fade in importance? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not at all. The fact is robotic explorers are set to become more important than ever. \u201cThere are some places in the Solar System you can\u2019t send humans, Venus, for example, or some moons of Jupiter or Saturn,\u201d says Prof Alin Albu-Sch\u00e4ffer from the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center, Munich. \u201cThey\u2019re just too far away and too hostile for humans. So, you know, robots will be very important.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s not just in these remote places that robots will find their purpose. \u201cBefore you have humans on Mars, we\u2019ll have robots preparing infrastructure,\u201d says Albu-Sch\u00e4ffer. The robots will almost certainly help astronauts to construct lunar bases too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The central stationary \u2018lander\u2019 sitting in the lava landscape of Mount Etna. The lander carries various tools and containers for the rovers <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n