NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

By: Jim Hodges


The numbers on the aluminum segments tell only part of the story of the Lunar Surface Manipulator System, which met the press on Friday in Building 1148.

At the tip, they read "150kg" with an Earth symbol next to it. And "500 kg" with Mars, and "1000kg" with the moon.

They signify weight limits that can be lifted by the device, which is planned as part of NASA's effort to return to the moon and eventually to go to Mars. The manipulator is designed to move cargo about on those surfaces, and 150 kilograms on Earth is approximately the equivalent of 1,000 kg on the moon.

John Dorsey shows media some of the Lunar Surface Manipulator System's lifting capabilities. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

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But, said John Dorsey, task lead for the Lunar Surface Manipulator System development and testing, the device can have other uses.

"It might be that we need some screening, so we can use it to cover the human habitat with lunar soil," he said. Then, too, lunar soil has an oxygen content, so digging some to process for oxygen is another potential use.

And there is even a forklift capability, should a pallet need moving.

So it's a crane, and a shovel and a forklift. And who knows what it can be?

"It's still evolving," Dorsey added.

What it is was demonstrated capably at Moses Lake, Wash., in June when the LSMS was tasked with moving about payloads from a mockup of a lunar lander to various carrying devices. The loads averaged 5-7 minutes per lift, even while working in the kind of windy conditions the operation is not likely to encounter on another planet.

"The biggest thing we did was to demonstrate a new asset so that they can have confidence in the technology," Dorsey said of the LSMS demonstration to officials of the Constellation program. "We gave them confidence by building it and showing them that it can work."

Friday's demonstration in Building 1148 did just that, moving about boxes for media cameras and reporters. Mike Grimes manned one computer, which showed Web camera images at various places along the manipulator arm. Dave Mercer handled the manipulator itself, working with a computer mouse and a screen that showed meters for the various joints in the device's arm.

"We could use another camera hear the tip," said Grimes, pointing to a spot that could make it easier for Mercer to see to hook the tip of the LSMS into a hook on the payload.

It's just one of the improvements being considered in an already impressive product.

Another is building in the capability for the LSMS to unload itself from the lander that will ferry it from Earth. That will be part of LSMS Generation 2, planned for 2010.

And then there are the materials of the manipulator itself. It's built of off-the-shelf aluminum pipe, four inches in diameter, and other aluminum that's a half-inch thick. Winch motors for maneuvering the apparatus are "off a four-wheel drive truck, the kind that pulls you out of a ditch," Dorsey said.

The product that goes into use on the moon and, eventually, on Mars, will be built of composite materials. "It will weigh only half as much," Dorsey said.

The ability to operate the LSMS remotely – perhaps even from Earth -- is planned.

Generation 1 proved that the architecture works, that the physics is sound and that those paving the way for NASA to return to the moon and beyond should be confident that they have another tool for the journey.


 
NASA Langley Research Center
Managing Editor: Jim Hodges
Executive Editor and Responsible NASA Official: H. Keith Henry
Editor and Curator: Denise Lineberry