1 00:00:04,323 --> 00:00:08,473 DAISY: NASA has a big construction project on the drawing board... 2 00:00:09,508 --> 00:00:12,810 And to get things built up here, it’s going to require 3 00:00:12,811 --> 00:00:17,148 out of this world thinking, and some innovative machines. 4 00:00:17,150 --> 00:00:21,118 It’s not unlike the tools we use here to move and build things. 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,555 We take construction to new heights, next on Real World. 6 00:00:26,105 --> 00:00:28,295 ? [music] ? 7 00:00:33,245 --> 00:00:35,933 DAISY: The lunar surface... 8 00:00:37,636 --> 00:00:41,406 Research modules... mining operations, 9 00:00:41,408 --> 00:00:44,241 refueling stations... and lots more. 10 00:00:45,145 --> 00:00:49,166 This is NASA’s plan for the future of our nearest celestial neighbor. 11 00:00:51,083 --> 00:00:53,951 Ares rockets will begin to deliver life-sustaining 12 00:00:53,953 --> 00:00:57,255 materials to the moon’s surface in the next ten years. 13 00:00:57,256 --> 00:01:00,058 And then construction begins. 14 00:01:00,993 --> 00:01:04,696 NASA engineers are readying space age building equipment. 15 00:01:04,698 --> 00:01:09,566 And this prototype Lunar Crane is the catalyst for the construction project. 16 00:01:09,568 --> 00:01:11,670 BILL DOGGETT: When you get to the moon, the only thing 17 00:01:11,671 --> 00:01:14,038 you’ll have is what you brought with you. 18 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,041 DAISY: Bill Doggett is an engineer at NASA Langley Research Center, 19 00:01:17,043 --> 00:01:20,578 solving many of the challenges of building on the lunar surface. 20 00:01:21,246 --> 00:01:23,348 BILL: So the problem is how to get all that material off 21 00:01:23,350 --> 00:01:25,898 of that lander deck down on to the ground. 22 00:01:25,900 --> 00:01:29,386 The Lander deck is about 6.4 meters. 23 00:01:29,388 --> 00:01:33,358 That’s about the ceiling height of a 2 story building. 24 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,193 And the device that we’re looking at to do that job is 25 00:01:36,195 --> 00:01:38,796 a crane that we call the LSMS... 26 00:01:38,798 --> 00:01:42,866 stands for Lunar Surface Manipulation System. 27 00:01:42,868 --> 00:01:47,971 DAISY: The LSMS is versatile, a sort of Swiss army knife of lunar building equipment. 28 00:01:47,973 --> 00:01:51,075 BILL: It acts both as both a crane and a robot. 29 00:01:51,076 --> 00:01:55,680 It can lift payloads from the tip on a hoist, much like a 30 00:01:55,681 --> 00:01:59,718 crane or it can also grapple things from the side. 31 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:05,156 DAISY: The LSMS is modular, designed to allow a variety of "limbs" to be attached. 32 00:02:05,158 --> 00:02:08,626 That allows it to perform a variety of tasks. 33 00:02:08,628 --> 00:02:10,995 BILL: We have a lot of flexibility, a lot of 34 00:02:10,996 --> 00:02:13,946 versatility in the tools we can put out on the end. 35 00:02:13,948 --> 00:02:16,901 We’re designing a scoop that will allow us to work with 36 00:02:16,903 --> 00:02:19,905 regolith, which is the lunar soil. And we’re also 37 00:02:19,906 --> 00:02:22,306 designing a parallel jaw gripper, so it’ll act like 38 00:02:22,308 --> 00:02:24,891 your hand pulling together to grab a door knob and be able 39 00:02:24,893 --> 00:02:27,878 to pick-up very small payloads, delicate items. 40 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,583 DAISY: The LSMS looks like a typical lightweight crane... 41 00:02:31,585 --> 00:02:34,618 but advanced NASA engineering makes it more capable than 42 00:02:34,620 --> 00:02:37,788 anything you’d see at a typical construction sight. 43 00:02:37,790 --> 00:02:41,793 BILL: The device has 3 degrees of freedom much like a person. 44 00:02:41,795 --> 00:02:45,630 It has a waist rotation at the base. 45 00:02:46,933 --> 00:02:51,068 And then you have a shoulder rotation at the top of the king post. 46 00:02:51,070 --> 00:02:55,206 And elbow rotation at the mid span of the boom. 47 00:02:55,208 --> 00:02:59,043 Like the human body with one arm, a shoulder to give you 48 00:02:59,045 --> 00:03:02,580 elevation and an elbow for additional articulation to 49 00:03:02,581 --> 00:03:05,283 allow you to assume configuration like this where 50 00:03:05,285 --> 00:03:07,451 you’re reaching underneath something. 51 00:03:07,453 --> 00:03:10,555 DAISY: For unloading or lifting materials to high places, 52 00:03:10,556 --> 00:03:14,391 the arm and forearm would be rotated up 45 degrees and 53 00:03:14,393 --> 00:03:18,296 extend as high as about 9 meters above the surface. 54 00:03:18,298 --> 00:03:21,400 When reach is more important, it can be configured as a 55 00:03:21,401 --> 00:03:27,738 horizontal boom, 3.75 meters tall and stretch out 7.5 meters. 56 00:03:27,740 --> 00:03:31,041 For this first generation prototype, Bill and his team 57 00:03:31,043 --> 00:03:34,311 used aluminum, fabricated at NASA Langley. 58 00:03:34,313 --> 00:03:36,815 For work on the moon, the crane will be made of 59 00:03:36,816 --> 00:03:40,551 lightweight, high-stiffness, graphite-epoxy composites. 60 00:03:40,553 --> 00:03:45,090 Engineers are looking for the most efficient mass to strength ratio. 61 00:03:45,091 --> 00:03:49,360 BILL: The device has the capability to lift two metric 62 00:03:49,361 --> 00:03:54,131 tons on the moon, 1000 kilograms on Mars, or 300 63 00:03:54,133 --> 00:03:59,570 kilograms on Earth at the elbow and about half that at the tip. 64 00:03:59,571 --> 00:04:02,740 DAISY: Remember the moon’s gravity is one-sixth the 65 00:04:02,741 --> 00:04:06,511 Earths and Mars’ gravity is about one-third of Earth. 66 00:04:06,513 --> 00:04:09,580 But if you look at the numbers, they don’t exactly equate. 67 00:04:09,581 --> 00:04:11,750 There’s a reason for that. 68 00:04:11,751 --> 00:04:14,953 BILL: You would expect a payload that weighs 150 kilograms 69 00:04:14,955 --> 00:04:19,758 to be to have six times that capability on the moon or 900 kilograms capability, 70 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,095 but we actually can lift more. The reason is that what 71 00:04:23,096 --> 00:04:26,665 drives the amount that you can lift at the tip is not 72 00:04:26,666 --> 00:04:29,533 only how much the payload weighs at the tip but also 73 00:04:29,535 --> 00:04:32,203 the weight of the device that’s lifting it. 74 00:04:32,205 --> 00:04:36,775 So when your out on the moon, your arm weighs less so you 75 00:04:36,776 --> 00:04:39,745 can actually pick up more than just six times the 76 00:04:39,746 --> 00:04:42,446 payload that you can lift from the earth. Because now 77 00:04:42,448 --> 00:04:46,518 your arm essentially weighs less and allows you to 78 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,221 increase your payload capacity at the tip. 79 00:04:50,223 --> 00:04:53,658 DAISY: Thanks to Bill and his team of engineers, the LSMS 80 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:57,161 is the first step in making a community like this possible. 81 00:04:57,163 --> 00:05:00,331 BILL: It would likely arrive on the very first lander that 82 00:05:00,333 --> 00:05:03,601 came down and be used to off load the robotic assets from 83 00:05:03,603 --> 00:05:06,771 that payload, the rovers that will scout the terrain for 84 00:05:06,773 --> 00:05:10,608 astronauts to ultimately build the outpost. 85 00:05:12,745 --> 00:05:19,658 DAISY: Keep track of this project and all of NASA’s missions at www.nasa.gov. 86 00:05:19,660 --> 00:05:23,586 ? [music] ?