The search for the next generation buggy for the next Artemis lunar missions has begun.
While previous lunar vehicles, used in the Apollo missions of the 1970s, were designed for the relatively mild climate of the moon’s equatorial region (or slightly to the north), NASA’s Artemis missions are planned for the lunar south pole. , where the conditions should be much harder.
NASA has started the contracting process (opens in a new tab) for private industry to build the next lunar rover, officially known as the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), which Artemis astronauts will use to traverse the area around the moon’s south pole and beyond. The new draft RFP, which is the first step in the lengthy procurement process, has been released (opens in a new tab) for industry partners to review and comment on before providing a formal proposal to build the LTV.
Related: NASA plans second human moon landing on Artemis 4 after all: report
“This sketch is one of the first important steps in this exciting project that will allow astronauts to explore the Moon further than ever before,” said Lara Kearney, program manager for extravehicular activity (EVA) and mobility at Human Surface (HSM) at NASA. Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a Statement from NASA (opens in a new tab). “Getting industry feedback is crucial as we move forward with issuing a final RFP.”
The unpressurized rover is expected to travel hundreds of miles a year to allow Artemis astronauts access to a wide variety of locations for prospecting, exploration and scientific research. It will also be able to be controlled remotely if needed and should be available for commercial use when not serving a NASA operation.
In response to a question about how the new lunar field vehicle will differ from the previous vehicle used on the Apollo missions, NASA public affairs officer Rebecca Wickes at Johnson Space Center in Houston told Space .com that “unlike the single-mission-operate Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), the Artemis LTV will be developed with modern technology that will allow it to span multiple Artemis missions and perform remote-controlled searches between missions with Artemis crew.
“The new LTV will go further, last longer, and ultimately accomplish orders of magnitude more than the Apollo missions,” Wickes continued. “Instead of ‘owning’ the vehicle, NASA will ‘rent’ it as a service from industry vendors. This strategy will allow NASA to be one of many customers and foster a healthy space industry. for the American economy.
This strategy should ultimately keep the cost to US taxpayers lower than for NASA to exclusively outsource LTV, as was the case with the moon rovers used in the Apollo missions, which were abandoned on the surface. lunar once the missions are completed.
One of the main challenges facing the Artemis astronauts is working in what are known as the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar surface. The moon’s axis of rotation is nearly perpendicular to the sun, so there are craters around the lunar south pole that are deep enough that their bottoms haven’t seen sunlight in over 2 billion years. .
In addition to these lighting conditions, there is also the question of keeping an electric vehicle operating in the extreme cold of the lunar south pole. This will be the major challenge for industry hoping to win NASA’s new contract for the LTV, which NASA plans to contract out as a service to private contractors rather than own it entirely.
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