Train on the Moon: NASA Plans To Build the First Floating Railway System To Be Used by Human Settlers on Lunar Base

Since the late 1950s, NASA has proposed various concepts of moon bases to achieve humans' permanent presence on the Moon. In the coming years, NASA's Artemis campaign will explore the Moon and build a base to serve as a hub for crewed moon landings.

Six science fiction-like concepts are to receive new funding from the agency's Innovative Advanced Concepts program. One of these is the idea of constructing a train on the moon to provide payload transport.

First Floating Lunar Railway

With Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT), NASA plans to use robots to deliver up to 100 tonnes of materials daily on the moon's surface. According to the team behind this project, this would offer a reliable and autonomous way to move resources mined on the moon.

Unlike a regular railway on Earth, this transport network will not use fixed rails. Instead, the experts will build long, flexible tracks that can be directly unrolled onto the lunar surface. Such a design can reduce construction time since the tracks can be rolled up and moved elsewhere if the moonbase changes.

A series of unpowered magnetic robots levitating over the track's surface will do the actual moving. Then, the track itself will generate electromagnetic thrust to push the robots to their destination. This is the same concept behind maglev trains on Earth, a technology that uses electromagnetic solid fields to thrust unpowered cargo along tracks. In other words, the trials provide the power instead of the vehicle itself.

According to robotics engineer Dr. Ethan Schaler from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a critical component of the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s is the presence of a durable, long-lasting robotic transport system. He also claims that each robot can carry loads at speeds of around 1 mile per hour (1.61 kilometers per hour). Since the floating carts do not have wheels or legs, they can avoid wearing down the tracks in the dusty lunar environment.

Why Is There a Need for a Lunar Railway System?

Although the idea of moon bases seems unlikely today, the reality of settling on the moon is becoming a particular interest among scientists. As part of the Artemis mission, NASA plans to explore and land near the lunar south pole, which is assumed to contain ice within its craters.

NASA has pushed back the date of its crewed lunar landing date, but the agency still plans to establish a human presence on our celestial neighbor. Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development, reveals that NASA would like to make more than one base camp as part of the Artemis moon landings.

Ultimately, NASA and other space agencies in China and Russia all attempt to establish permanent human settlements on the lunar surface. However, the harsh environment on the moon's surface would make it difficult to mine and transport material, and this job may also not be safe for human astronauts.