On April 4, 2024, NASA announced that it has selected three commercial teams to work on the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV):
- Intuitive Machines: From Houston
- Lunar Outpost: From Golden, Colorado
- Venturi Astrolab: From Hawthorne, California
The Lunar Dawn team, led by Lunar Outpost, includes GM, Goodyear, and MDA Space. General Motors will bring its Ultium EV battery technology, chassis, and suspension development experience to the team. Goodyear will develop the rover’s tires, using years of experience in lunar mobility from the Apollo missions. MDA Space will provide the robotic arm and robotic interfaces, which will allow for the placement and maintenance of commercial payloads.
NASA has chosen to contract lunar rovers as a service from industry rather than owning them, following its successful approach to commercializing crew access to low Earth orbit and sending payloads to the Moon.
The teams’ leading companies may not yet be household names outside the space community: Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab. But each of those ventures has more established companies as their teammates
NASA has chosen three commercial teams to develop Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs) that Artemis astronauts will use to travel around the Moon’s surface. The three teams are led by Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab.
The LTVs will be used to transport astronauts and cargo around the Moon’s surface, and they will also be used to conduct scientific experiments. The LTVs are expected to be operational by 2025.
The selection of these three teams is a significant step forward for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon by 2024. The LTVs will play a vital role in the Artemis program, and they will help NASA to achieve its goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
Here are some more details about the three teams that were selected:
- Intuitive Machines is a Houston-based company that specializes in lunar logistics. The company has developed a lunar lander called Nova-C, which is scheduled to launch in 2021.
- Lunar Outpost is a Golden, Colorado-based company that specializes in lunar exploration. The company has developed a lunar rover called Artemis, which is scheduled to launch in 2022.
- Venturi Astrolab is a Hawthorne, California-based company that specializes in space exploration. The company has developed a lunar rover called Moon Cruiser, which is scheduled to launch in 2023.
The selection of these three teams is a testament to the growing commercial space industry. These companies are all developing innovative and cutting-edge technologies that will help NASA to achieve its goals in space.
Some of the biggest names in aerospace — and the automotive industry — will play roles in putting NASA astronauts in the driver’s seat for roving around on the moon.
The space agency today selected three teams to develop the capabilities for a lunar terrain vehicle, or LTV, which astronauts could use during Artemis missions to the moon starting with Artemis 5. That mission is currently scheduled for 2029, three years after the projected date for Artemis’ first crewed lunar landing.
Over the next 15 years, the three teams will be eligible to work on task orders amounting to a potential total value of $4.6 billion — with the aim of providing mobility technology for crewed and uncrewed moon rovers. The marquee vehicle would be a rover capable of carrying Artemis astronauts on journeys of exploration around the lunar surface, as well as taking robotic trips on its own
The vehicle will help conduct scientific research during the agency’s Artemis campaign at the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars, NASA said in a statement.
“We look forward to the development of the Artemis generation lunar exploration vehicle to help us advance what we learn at the Moon,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
The last lunar vehicle to be used on the Moon was during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 and was often referred to as the “Moon buggy
NASA astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan collected around 243 pounds of soil and rocks with the help of the LTV, which is still sitting on the lunar surface.
Similar to the lunar buggy, the vehicle will be an open-air concept that renderings show will have seating for two astronauts and needed equipment.
The development and operation of the vehicle won’t come cheap – the space agency estimates that contracts through 2039 could reach $4.6 billion
The selection of these three teams is a significant step forward for NASA’s Artemis program
What are 3 goals of the Artemis program?
With NASA’s Artemis campaign, we are exploring the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon
What is the significance of the Artemis program?
Artemis is NASA’s new lunar exploration program, which includes sending the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. Through the Artemis missions, NASA will use new technology to study the Moon in new and better ways, and prepare for human missions to Mars
What sort of people will be included on the Artemis 3 mission?
The goal of Artemis 3 is to land a crew at the Moon’s south polar region. The mission would see two astronauts land on the surface of the Moon for a stay of about one week. It is also intended to be the first mission to land a woman and a person of color on the Moon
What are all the Artemis programs?
According to plan, the crewed Artemis 2 launch will take place in late 2025, the Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing in 2026, the Artemis 4 docking with the Lunar Gateway in 2028, and future yearly landings on the Moon thereafter.
Why did NASA choose the name Artemis?
Where Did The Name Artemis Come From? Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology. Now, she personifies our path to the Moon as the name of NASA’s efforts to return astronauts and a new wave of science payloads and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface
What is the full form of Artemis?
It stands for Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun
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