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Meet Grace, the Hopping Robot That Will Dive Into the Moon's Darkest Craters

Grace, a hopping robot developed by a team at MIT, is designed to explore the Moon's permanently shadowed craters where water ice might exist. Unlike traditional rovers, Grace can leap up to 16 feet in the Moon's low gravity, allowing it to navigate the rugged lunar terrain more effectively. The robot uses a unique locomotion method involving a spring-loaded mechanism to hop, which conserves energy and reduces wear on its components. Grace is equipped with solar panels for power, but it also has the capability to hibernate during the lunar night, which lasts about 14 Earth days, to survive the extreme cold. This robot aims to gather crucial data about the lunar environment, potentially aiding future human missions by identifying resources like water ice, which could be used for life support and fuel.

Read the Full Gizmodo Article at:
[ https://gizmodo.com/meet-grace-the-hopping-robot-that-will-dive-into-the-moons-darkest-craters-2000561619 ]