Asagumo: World's first robotic spider rover

The UK is set to take a major step toward space research. In the summer of 2021, the first robotic spider Rover with legs steps on the Moon. The rover will be sent to the moon through London's robotic firm Spacebit. Britain's this move is considering as part of its plan to end its dependence on the European Space Agency (ESA).

UK's First Lunar Robotic Rover

According to the Telegraph report, Spacebit is working on a British probe with NASA named Asagumo. This probe can be estimated in the summer of 2021. This will be the first time a British rover will hit the surface of the moon. It will be very small in size.

Why Spacebit Using Legs Instead Of Wheels?

For this mission, Spacebit engineers will replace the rover's wheels with feet. The reason for this is that the rover should not have any problem while walking on the surface of the moon. With such legs, the rover will not have any problem in entering the lava tube.

Purpose Of Asagumo

It will be the first rover in the world to walk on the moon with feet. So far all the rovers that have been sent to the moon move with the wheels. The purpose of using the feet is also that the rover can go into the lava tube to find out if those places are suitable for humans to live. The lava tubes on the moon are hundreds of feet wide. There is a lava tube a thousand meters long and wide in the Marius Hill area.

A lava tube will be able to protect humans from the radiation of space. Which would make them the first choice for humans to live on the moon. The way expeditions are being sent to space, the moon, and Mars, it is believed that the day is not far when humans colonies can establish on the moon and Mars. Billions of dollars have also been spent on such expeditions. 

Size Of Asagumo

Asagumo is only 10 cm long, so it can easily go to the surface of the moon. The rover has four legs to avoid drowning and the lower part is a wide pad which is like ski poles. Spacebit's CEO and founder Pavlo Tanasuk say that Spacebit plans to depart on the moon in the future for which they need a place to live there. He hopes to play an important role in Asagumo.

Tanasuk's idea was to use the legs instead of the wheel in the rover

When this idea came to his mind, he was listening to David Bowie's song "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars". The idea of a lunar or spider robot on Mars came to light when he mentioned it to a friend from the Japanese space agency (Jaxa).

When Tanasuke told his friend the idea, his friend mentioned Asagumo. This is a Japanese saying in which the morning spider brings good fortune. Based on its mention, the rover's name was also fixed as Asagumo.