Castrol, one of the major players in the oil industry is now collaborating with MIT Media Lab for research on lunar landing. Castrol is not new to the space industry as they have been supplying mission critical lubricants for advanced space missions for more than 65 years and even a part of NASA’s Mars Perseverance and Curiosity Rover missions. With this collaboration, MIT Media Lab is aiming to deploy AstroAnt, a modular robotic swarm designed for lunar missions. AstroAnts are miniature swarm robots designed to perform inspections and diagnostic tasks on external surfaces of spacecraft, rovers, and landers. The modular design of the AstroAnts allows us to customise its sensor payload based on the needs of each mission. Not only that but with multiple AstroAnts, it is possible to create a sensory network to collect and monitor sensor data across an area at the same time.
AstroAnts is being tested on the field by the MIT Media Lab team. They were tested on the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote, Spain by a research group. purpose of their research was to examine how well the miniature robot operated on terrain that resembled the moon's vast plains. And are working with Lunar Outpost to deploy the AstroAnt to the moon for their first technology demonstration test, by 2025. Their plan is to deploy AstroAnts payload on the lunar south pole, by using a Lunar Outpost MAPP rover. The MAPP rover will be carried by an Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander, all of which will have travelled aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
