Building a Railroad on the Moon -- Is It Possible?
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected by DARPA to further develop the concept of building a moon-based railroad network as part of the broader 10-year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Capability Study. The envisioned lunar railroad network could transport humans, supplies and resources for commercial ventures across the lunar surface -- contributing to a space economy for the United States and international partners.
Northrop Grumman's study will:
- Define the interfaces and resources required to build a lunar rail network.
- Establish a critical list of foreseeable cost, technological and logistical risks.
- Identify prototypes, demonstrations and analyses of a fully operating lunar rail system's concept design and architecture.
- Explore concepts for constructing and operating the system with robotics, including grading and foundation preparation, track placement and alignment, joining and finishing, inspection, maintenance and repair.
Chris Adams, vice president and general manager, strategic space systems, Northrop Grumman: "This investment in key developmental research keeps our technology at the forefront of next generation solutions. With our proven experience in the integration of complex systems and commercialized autonomous services, we will continue to create lasting change for a sustainable space ecosystem."
DARPA's LunA-10 Capability Study is designed to quickly create new technology ideas shifting from individual scientific projects to shared, scalable systems that work together. The goal is to establish an analytical framework for integrated lunar infrastructure that minimizes lunar footprint and provides commercial services for future lunar users.
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