A new robot from Carnegie Mellon called Scarab is aiming for the moon. This rover will contain a special drill for taking meter long samples.

In order to facilitate this the rover must weigh enough to apply sufficient downward thrust. It is estimated that the robot must weigh at least 550 pounds.

Another challenge that Scarab will face is that it must operate on the dark side of the moon and cannot use solar power. To help conserve power this baby crawls along at only 4 inches per second.

The project leader William “Red” Whittaker has also announced he is getting a group together for the Google LUNAR X PRIZE. Red is a very busy guy and also has a team competing in the DARPA Urban Challenge this year.

Read more about Almost Human, a book about Carnegie Mellon robotics here.

Link via (Science Daily)