ANTARIKSA – Astrobiotic’s Peregrine Mission One launched on the Vulcan Centaur rocket on Monday, January 8, 2023, this afternoon. Among the many scientific and commercial cargoes it carries, these include five tiny Mexican robots.
The five autonomous micro robots will be deployed on the far lunar surface. They will then work in groups to carry out the COLEMNA Mission to which they were sent.
The five small moons were developed by the Laboratory of Special Instruments (LINX) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). A total of 25 students were involved in its creation. The rover has a diameter of just 10 centimeters and weighs 60 grams.
Each robot is equipped with wheels, sensors and computers that allow them to study the Moon’s thin atmosphere. On its website, LINX calls COLEMNA its most ambitious mission.
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Once Peregrine lands on the lunar surface, it will release the remaining fuel and allow it to dissipate. Then he will deploy the main scout robot he brought.
Once completed, COLEMNA robots will scatter them across the lunar surface via small catapults that launch them into the lunar regolith. From there, the microbots will test the ability of autonomous robots to survive in abrasive lunar regolith, which can damage many surfaces it comes into contact with.
“The COLEMNA robot will allow analyzing the feasibility of building structures on the surface of the planet using swarms of self-organizing robots,” LINX said.
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According to Mexico Now, COLEMNA’s small robots are able to gather and even connect with each other to form larger solar panels. Mexican politicians praised the mission because it could help Mexico as a space exploration nation.
Hidalgo Governor Omar Fayad said COLMENA highlights all the values of UNAM and offers Mexicans a new way of seeing and understanding the modern world. It helps reassure them that anything is possible.
“That we can overcome our limits. This will be a turning point, and when it happens, all the children and teenagers in Mexico will know it. Maybe this will inspire the next astronaut or the next mission leader,” he said.
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Source: Space.com
2024-01-08 12:38:00
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