Whether the cargo, also known as payloads, are small scientific experiments or large technology to build infrastructure, there won't be a crew on the moon to do all the work, which is where robots and new software come in.

A team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, spent the last couple of years infusing existing robotic hardware with a software system that makes the robot operate autonomously. Earlier this month, that team, led by researcher Dr. Julia Cline of NASA Langley's Research Directorate, ran demonstrations of their system called LANDO (Lightweight Surface Manipulation System AutoNomy capabilities Development for surface Operations and construction).