A team of researchers from the Carnegie Mellon University have managed to come up with the Scarab robot, a fully autonomous prospector machine that relies on laser scanners to navigate the unforgiving terrain of the moon, using a radioactive power source to keep itself moving. The wheels on the Scarab are the main reason why it is able to move around on hard, icy soil while it is on the moon, handling slopes and jagged landforms with nonchalance. You won’t find the Scarab zooming about the earth’s natural satellite though, as it will gander along slowly. After all, the radioactive isotope power source generates around 100 watts of juice only, which is roughly the equivalent of your standard light bulb. Hopefully the Scarab passes all current tests in order to perform a mission on the moon as a permanent space tourist.
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