NASA Plans to Send Robots to the Moon to Explore Craters for Possible Colonies

First Posted: Jul 15, 2015 03:59 PM EDT

NASA may actually be able to send robots to the moon to help build colonies for humans. Scientists have created a way to potentially allow solar-powered robots to investigate darker craters, which could potentially be used to set up colonies.

The problem with solar power is that in some situations, it simply doesn't work; nighttime, as an example, can interfere with gathering solar energy. In addition, robots have to deal with conditions like dust and other harsh elements when on another world. Dark craters are also an issue. While these craters would potentially help shelter people from harsh elements, robots have trouble exploring them.

But what if this problem with solar power could be solved? Researchers have the idea of sending in robots with mirrors that can reflect light into dark location like craters. In theory, robots may be able to use mirrors to turn permanent night into permanent day.

A team of researchers is being funded by NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program to develop a way of bringing light into extreme environments using mobile robotic mirrors called TransFormers. Essentially these mobile robots with giant mirrors swoop in and continually adjust the angle of their mirrors to reflect sunlight down into a crater.

Currently, researchers are developing a prototype of the TransFormer robot. If successful, scientists may be able to explore the moon a bit more easily and may eventually make craters suitable for human colonies.