In a scene that could be out of a Pixar movie, two adorable robots crawled across a simulated surface of the moon in search of water. One rover even looks a bit like WALL-E.

The excursion is not for entertainment, however. It’s a recent simulation at DLR (the German space agency) trying to help future Artemis astronaut moon missions with the search for water ice.

Astronauts need water for living, cooking and rocket fuel. The less water they can bring with them from Earth, the easier it will be to save on cost during launch — where every pound counts. And if machines can spot the H2O ahead of time, that will save valuable astronaut time for other goals.

Lightweight Rover Unit 1 — or LRU1, the machine that looks a little like WALL-E — mapped the simulated moon surface at the Luna Analog F

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