... that LEVITATES by harnessing the moon's natural charge

• The device resembles a classic disc-shaped flying saucer from science fiction 
• It works by sending a small beam of charged ions towards the lunar surface
• This surface is charged due to exposure to billions of years of solar radiation
• When the force of the rover meets the force of the moon, it creates small lift 

By Ryan Morrison For Mailonline

A new hovering lunar rover has been developed by scientists, who say it will be able to levitate by harnessing the moon's natural charge.

The device, which resembles a classic flying saucer, works by taking advantage of the electric field that builds up on the moon and other airless bodies like asteroids.

A team of aerospace engineers at MIT say the electric field builds up thanks to the direct exposure of their surface to solar radiation, due to a lack of atmosphere. 

On the moon, the surface charge is strong enough to levitate moon dust more than 3ft above the ground in a similar way to static electricity makes hair stand on end. 

The MIT team is disc-shaped and uses tiny ion beams to charge up the vehicle and boost the natural charge on the lunar surface, generating force on little power.

It's just a concept at the moment and has only been tested in simulations, rather than real world environments, but they are confident it will operate as predicted.

They hope that future missions to the moon and asteroids could deploy rovers that use ion thrusters to safely hover and manoeuvre over unknown, uneven terrain. 

The device, which resembles a classic flying saucer, works by taking advantage of the electric field that builds up on the moon and other airless bodies like asteroids