NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) was recently tested on simulated lunar soil at Kennedy Space Center’s Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations LabThe excavator is built to dig and haul Moon-like regolith, preparing technology for sustained lunar missions. On May 27, NASA mechanical engineer Ben Burdess observed RASSOR’s counterrotating bucket drums churn through the soil simulant and carve a three-foot berm. This trial focuses on RASSOR’s digging drums and directly informs development of NASA’s next-generation Moon-mining excavator, the In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator (IPEx)

RASSOR’s Counterrotating Drums and Regolith Excavation

According to NASA’s official website, each of RASSOR’s arms carries a bucket drum that spins in the opposite direction of its mate. Engineers note that this opposing rotation gives RASSOR extra traction even in weak gravity. In the Kennedy lab test, those counterrotating drums anchored the robot into the simulant and effectively dug soil – proof that RASSOR can grip and move regolith reliably on the Moon. With that traction, RASSOR can dig, load, haul and dump loose soil.

The collected regolith can then be processed into hydrogen, oxygen and water, resources critical to sustaining astronauts on the Moon. In short, the test showed RASSOR effectively excavating lunar soil simulant while its drum design demonstrated how future machines can operate in the Moon’s low gravity.

Toward the Moon with IPEx Excavator

NASA engineers say this RASSOR test was primarily to check the bucket-drum design slated for the In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator (IPEx). RASSOR serves as a prototype for IPEx, which will be far more autonomous and capable.

IPEx is engineered as a combined bulldozer and dump-truck robot that can mine and transport large volumes of lunar soil. Ultimately, IPEx will dig up regolith and feed it into on-site processing units to extract oxygen, water and fuel from the Moon’s soil. Using these local resources is a cornerstone of NASA’s strategy for supporting a sustained human presence on the Moon and eventually Mars.

Life in the solar system may not entirely end when the sun begins its dramatic transformation into a red giant star. Instead, a brief window of potential habitability may open on Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, according to new research. Scientists now suggest that as the sun expands and its habitable zone shifts outward, Europa could temporarily offer conditions suitable for life, though the opportunity would last only a few hundred million years, fleeting on cosmic timescales, but not insignificant.

Europa May Host Microbial Life for 200 Million Years After Sun Becomes a Red Giant

As per a new study from the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University, soon to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the red giant sun’s energy output could reach as far as Jupiter’s orbit. While Jupiter itself will remain inhospitable, its moon Europa may receive enough combined heat from both solar radiation and Jupiter’s increased reflection to melt parts of its icy crust. This warming could expose or even evaporate subsurface oceans long believed to exist beneath its frozen shell.

Researchers estimate that Europa’s surface will sublimate significantly on the side facing Jupiter, while equatorial regions will suffer water loss due to convective heat transport. Yet, the northern and southern regions on the side opposite Jupiter might retain more water, creating a modest water-vapour atmosphere. Scientists note that this could preserve the conditions needed to sustain life for as long as 200 million years.

The briefer span of Earth history might have been long enough for microscopic life to flourish or endure, in particular if life thrives somewhere below Europa’s ice. This finding could open new paths for astrobiological investigation, including future telescopes with the capability of fishing for biosignatures on ice-covered moons that orbit red giant stars.

Findings such as the exomoon discovery could open a new chapter in that search, with the possibility that after humans die out or destroy themselves, Europa might be all that remains of life in the solar system.