A Night-Side Compatible Hexapod for Lunar Surface Operations

This project, Lunar Astronautical Motion Platform (LAMP), developed by a team of multidisciplinary senior engineering students, focuses on designing a reliable and remote-controlled pointing system capable of operating in the Moon's extreme environment. A hexapod (Stewart platform) can offer a high-precision and stable method for developing a pointing system. This system is ideal for positioning an optical telescope to measure the zodiacal (interplanetary) dust cloud. This instrument is best suited for the Moon due to the absence of atmospheric interference, enabling unprecedented clarity in studying interplanetary bodies. Steering a small telescope on the lunar surface requires an automated system built from vacuum-rated and cryogenic-hardened components with good flexibility and a low probability of failure. We successfully developed a robust and functional prototype that serves as a step toward future deployment on the Moon. Future plans include further prototyping, testing, and a seeking additional funding through a NASA research proposal to propel the project toward full-scale deployment on the Moon.