NASA wants to build a train on the MOON for when humans eventually live there trends now
If the idea of building a train on the moon sounds like something from the pages of a sci-fi novel, you wouldn't be alone.
But the moon train is actually just one of six 'science fiction-like concepts' to receive new funding from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program.
Flexible Levitation on a Track, or FLOAT, plans to use levitating magnetic robots to transport up to 100 tonnes of materials on the lunar surface every day.
According to the team behind the Scalextric-like project, this would provide a reliable and autonomous way of moving resources mined on the moon.
Project leader Dr Ethan Schaler, a robotics engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says: 'A durable, long-life robotic transport system will be critical to the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030’s'.
NASA wants to build a railway on the moon which uses floating robots to carry materials along a flexible track (artist's depiction, pictured). This track would contain components to magnetically lift the robots and push them along using electromagnetic propulsion
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In a NASA blog post, Dr Schaler writes: 'We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the moon.'
Unlike a railway on Earth, this lunar transport network wouldn't use the fixed rails you might be familiar with.
Dr Schaler and his team propose to create lengths of flexible track which can be 'unrolled' directly onto the lunar surface.
These are designed to cut down on construction time since, if the moonbase changes, these tracks could simply be rolled up and moved elsewhere.
The actual moving will be done by a series of 'unpowered magnetic robots' which levitate over the surface of the track.
NASA announced that the moon railway project would receive $600,000 to (£487,764) in new funding alongside five other 'science fiction-like concepts' (file photo)
The track itself will then generate electromagnetic thrust to propel the robots to their destination.
This is the same principle behind maglev trains on Earth, which use strong electromagnetic fields to propel unpowered carriages along tracks.
Much like a floating Scalextric track, it is the rails that provide the power rather than the vehicle itself.
Dr Schaler claims that each robot will be able to carry loads of various shapes and sizes at speeds of around 1 mph (1.61 km/h).
Unlike robots with
