NASA has approved additional funding for a study that aims to create a levitating robot train on the moon. The project, known as “Flexible Levitation on a Track” (FLOAT), has advanced to phase two of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC). This program focuses on developing futuristic projects for space exploration.
The FLOAT project could potentially allow for the transportation of materials across the moon’s surface by the 2030s. Project leader Ethan Schaler, a robotics engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, envisions building the first lunar railway system that will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the moon. This system will be vital for the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s.
The initial design for FLOAT involves magnetic robots levitating over a three-layer film track to minimize abrasion from lunar surface dust. Carts mounted on these robots will move at a speed of about 1 mph (1.61 km/h) and could transport up to 100 tons (90 metric tons) of material a day to and from NASA’s future lunar base.
NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon as early as 2026 through the Artemis mission and eventually establish a permanent lunar base to support future space exploration. Other projects that have moved to the next development phase within the NIAC program include fluid-based telescopes and a plasma-propelled rocket. These innovative concepts aim to push the boundaries of what is possible in space exploration.