NASA will send remotely controlled cars to the Moon. The first projects are here
The US Space Agency has just announced that it has selected three candidates to initially develop lunar vehicle designs. One of the conditions? Remote control.
Lunar vehicles, unlike astronauts they won't have time off. When people return to Earth, they will have space taxis continue to drive around the Silver Globe as exploration robots, just like rovers on Mars. The ability to drive itself would also allow the vehicle meet the next astronaut mission elsewhere.
Three volunteers, the best one will win
The three companies selected were Intuitive Machines of Houston, Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado, and Venturi Astrolab of Hawthorne, California. But only one of these three companies will build a vehicle for NASA and send him to the Moon.
NASA has already asked for proposals for what it called a Lunar Off-Road Vehicle (LTV) that could move at speeds of up to 9.3 miles per hour, travel several miles on a single charge, and allow astronauts to drive for eight hours. The effects could be seen in a presentation on the Internet.
The agency will work with the three companies for a year to further develop their projects. NASA will then select one of them for the demonstration phase.
Car on the moon? Not so fast
Unfortunately, the LTV will not be ready in time for the Artemis III astronautsthe first landing in NASA's return to the Moon program, currently scheduled for 2026. He won't be there until the Artemis V missionthe third astronaut landing, expected in 2030.
The LTV contract will be worth up to $4.6 billion over the next 15 years – five years of development, followed by a decade of operations on the Moon, most of which will go to the winner of this competition.
