NASA’s “Moon to Mars” project aims to establish a human settlement on the lunar surface and ultimately reach Mars. To accomplish this safely and comfortably, setting up infrastructure is crucial, which could include a floating railway system used to move tools and materials.
The technology is called Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT), described as “a durable, long-life robotic transport system.” NASA has identified two main use cases: It can transport regolith (lunar soil) mined for construction purposes, eliminating the need to transport cement and cinder blocks from Earth, and it can move payloads such as tools from the lunar base to other landing zones or outposts.
The FLOAT system relies on unpowered magnetic robots that levitate over a three-layer flexible film track. One layer is graphite, allowing the robots with no moving parts to float using diamagnetic levitation.
Another layer is a flex-circuit that generates electromagnetic thrust to move the robots along the tracks. The third optional layer is a thin-film solar panel that generates power for a nearby lunar base.
One advantage of this system is its ease of deployment – it rolls out almost like a large rug. No ground preparation is needed, leaving the lunar surface relatively undisturbed. Yet, a large-scale FLOAT system can move over 200,000 pounds of payload several miles per day. It will also be fully autonomous, so no need for a “moon train conductor.”
Engineers face several hurdles before the FLOAT system becomes a reality. The next step is to design, build, and test a sub-scale prototype and investigate how factors like temperature, radiation, and lunar regolith simulant contamination affect its performance. Manufacturing-related questions also need to be answered, as off-the-shelf parts cannot be used.
The FLOAT system is one of several ideas NASA selected for Phase II of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) project, which aims to encourage the development of new technologies that could lead to breakthroughs in space exploration programs, including “Moon to Mars.” Another idea is the Pulsed Plasma Rocket, which could put a human on Mars. According to simulations, the spacecraft can make the trip to Mars in about two months and is powerful enough to transport heavy spacecraft across the galaxy.