NASA is gearing up for some lunar exploration with the announcement that they will be renting some cool wheels to drive around the moon. The space agency has hired three companies to come up with preliminary designs for vehicles that will take NASA astronauts around the lunar south polar region in the coming years.
These vehicles will not only transport astronauts but will also be able to self-drive around as robotic explorers, similar to NASA’s rovers on Mars. The self-driving capability will allow the vehicle to meet the next astronaut mission at a different location, providing unprecedented mobility on the moon.
The companies involved in this project are Intuitive Machines of Houston, Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colo., and Venturi Astrolab of Hawthorne, Calif. Only one of these companies will actually build a vehicle for NASA and send it to the moon.
NASA had requested proposals for what they call the lunar terrain vehicle (L.T.V.), which will be able to drive at speeds up to 9.3 miles per hour, travel a dozen miles on a single charge, and allow astronauts to drive around for eight hours. The agency will work with the three companies for a year to further develop their designs before choosing one for the demonstration phase.
The L.T.V. will not be ready in time for the astronauts of Artemis III, the first landing in NASA’s return-to-the-moon program, but the plan is for it to be on the lunar surface ahead of Artemis V, the third astronaut landing expected in 2030.
The contract for the L.T.V. is worth up to $4.6 billion over the next 15 years, with most of it going to the winner of the competition. The vehicle will remain the property of the company that builds it, allowing them to rent it to other customers when not needed by NASA.
This competition has created alliances between small startups and larger aerospace companies, as well as car companies. The innovative approach to lunar exploration is set to revolutionize our understanding of the moon and pave the way for future missions and collaborations in space exploration.
