The ATHLETE Goes to the Moon

If you are interested in space travel and discovery, you will be excited to hear about a new innovative vehicle in the making. This gigantic “turtle like” machine is being made to facilitate traveling on the moon. NASA is currently in the process of testing out a new six-legged lunar robot, The ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer). This 7.5 meter wide vehicle with legs longer than 6 meters long will allow astronauts to explore thousands of kilometers across the lunar floor rather than being restricted to just around their landing site. While the robot would normally drive around the moon’s surface to preserve energy, it has the option of switching to walking when it encounters a rocky ground or dust to deep to drive in. This vehicle will solve one major problem NASA has with astronaut habitats when traveling in space. The habitat could be mounted on the ATHLETE before it is sent to the moon.
The ATHLETE will also be very cost effective. Because of its ability to walk over all types of terrain, it could use smaller wheels when driving, also lowering the weight of the motors and gears used to drive them. These changes will result in the ATHLETE being 25% lighter than a vehicle of similar abilities, only using driving as a mean of transportation which will result in a huge drop in cost because of how expensive it is to send each kilogram of cargo to the moon.
I feel that the robots abilities are extremely useful because of the distance it can travel and the terrain it can tackle. It will allow faster, easier exploration of the moon at a more cost effective price. The legs are not only useful to explore rough terrains but they also have special mounts on them on them which allow the use of tools to grasp things, drill into the ground, scoop soil, lift heavy objects, as well as many other tasks. The machine seems to perform many necessary skills and NASA expects to have many in space at the same time to allow movement between different bases.
While the ATHLETE seems to be an incredibly useful tool for space travel, I wonder how necessary its development is. The legs seem to be the most exciting new technology which will allow further travel for a cheaper price, but I wonder if it is this saving is reason enough for the funding of this machine.
On the other hand, this machine may make space travel safer in its ability to carry astronauts across so many terrains; it may allow them to avoid dangers faced in space. I would be interested to hear what its main goals are for the future and how greatly it enhances our navigation and research ability of our astronauts.