MIT scientists design "flying saucer" that could float across the moon

The ‘flying saucer’ would be powered by the electric field that builds up due to direct exposure to the Sun and its surrounding plasma. In the absence of an atmosphere, this solar exposure creates a charge that’s able to levitate dust more than a meter (more than three feet) above the lunar surface, and it could be possible to harness this energy…

“With a levitating rover, you don’t have to worry about wheels or moving parts,” says aerospace engineer Paulo Lozano, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“An asteroid’s terrain could be totally uneven, and as long as you had a controlled mechanism to keep your rover floating, then you could go over very rough, unexplored terrain, without having to dodge the asteroid physically.”