We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: COBRA NASA Artemis
HEADLINE: US Students’ “Big Idea” Could Help NASA Explore Moon
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: February 8, 2023 at 9:10am
BYLINE: Kane Farabaugh
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Chicago, Illinois
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER: Kane Farabaugh
SCRIPT EDITORS: Bowman, MAS, Jepsen
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Skype
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:58
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:]]
((INTRODUCTION))
[[A serpentlike robot designed by students from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, could revolutionize how NASA astronauts explore the lunar surface. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more.]]
((NATURAL SOUND OF LAUNCH))
Northeastern University student Andre Neto Caetano watched NASA’s Artemis 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida live on a device in the lobby of a hotel across the country in California.
((Andre Neto Caetano, Northeastern University Student)) ((Skype))
“I had, not a flashback but a flash forward I guess of seeing maybe Artemis 4 or something and COBRA as part of the payload and it is on the moon doing what it was meant to do.”
((NARRATOR))
Artemis 1 launched the night before Caetano and his team...
((courtesy: Northeastern University))
presented their “Crater Observing Bio-inspired Rolling Articulator,” or COBRA, rover project in NASA’s 2022 “Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game Changing,” or BIG Idea Challenge.
The big challenge for Caetano’s team was impressing judges assembled in the remote California desert.
((end courtesy))
((Andre Neto Caetano, Northeastern University Student)) ((Mandatory Skype))
“They were skeptical that the mobility solutions that we were proposing would actually work.”
((NARRATOR))
((end courtesy))
A skepticism born from the simplicity of their design.
((Andre Neto Caetano, Northeastern University Student)) ((courtesy: Northeastern University))
“It’s a robot that moves like a snake, and then the head and the tail connect, and then it rolls.”
((NARRATOR))
NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge, and the associated prize money, prompted teams of college students to develop solutions for the agency’s goals in the upcoming Artemis missions to the moon.
((end courtesy))
((Andre Neto Caetano, Northeastern University Student)) ((courtesy: Skype))
“Extreme lunar terrain mobility.”
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: Northeastern University))
Northeastern’s COBRA can uniquely move through fine desert sand, similar to the dust, or regolith, of the lunar surface, to probe the landscape for interesting features, including ice and water.
((end courtesy))
((Alireza Ramezani, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University)) ((Mandatory Skype logo))
“They never could sort of deploy a robot or a ground vehicle that can sort of negotiate the environment and get to the bottom of these craters and look for ice water content.”
((NARRATOR))
Professor Alireza Ramezani
((end Skype logo))
((Courtesy: Northeastern University))
advises Northeastern University’s team developing COBRA and is experienced in designing robots that mimic real organisms.
((Andre Neto Caetano, Northeastern University Student)) ((Mandatory Skype logo))
“So with like him building a robot dog and robot bat, we knew we wanted to have some bioinspiration in our project.”
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: Northeastern University))
Ramezani hoped COBRA’s simple snake design could win over judges in NASA’s competition.
((Alireza Ramezani, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University)) (Mandatory Skype))
“Our robot sort of tumbled 80-90 feet down this hill and that sort of impressed the judges. ((end courtesy)) (continue Skype log)) We did this with minimum energy consumption and within like 10 or 15 seconds.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: Northeastern University))
COBRA is cost effective, too.
((Alireza Ramezani, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University))
“Perhaps If you want to have a space worthy platform it’s going to be in the order of ((end NE Univ. courtesy)) $100,000 to $200,000 dollars – you can have many of these systems.”
((Andre Neto Caetano, Northeastern University Student)) ((Mandatory Skype logo))
“So The fact that COBRA is super light brings a benefit to it as well.”
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: Northeastern University))
The Northeastern team’s November demonstration of COBRA in the California desert puts to rest any lingering skepticism, sending them to the top of NASA’s 2022 BIG Idea competition — and hopefully in the not too distant future —
((end courtesy))
to the top of NASA’s SLS rocket system on its way to the moon.
((Alireza Ramezani, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University)) ((Mandatory Skype logo))
“I’m not saying this, our judges said this, it’s potentially going to transform the way future space exploration systems look like.”
((Courtesy: Northeastern University))
Kane Farabaugh, VOA News, Chicago.
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Chicago, Illinois
BylineKane Farabaugh
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
