NASA looks to self-driving lunar rover decision
US space agency NASA is set to make a decision about the supplier of its self-driving lunar rover for the joint US-European Artemis mission to the Moon.
NASA has worked with all three lunar terrain vehicle developers – Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab – to complete the preliminary design reviews. The rover will transport astronauts during their missions, but can also be used in self-driving modes in-between crewed mission.
The rover will have to handle the extreme conditions at the Moon’s South Pole and will feature advanced technologies for power management, autonomous driving, and state of the art communications and navigation systems. Crews will use the rover to explore, transport scientific equipment, and collect samples of the lunar surface, much farther than they could on foot, enabling increased science returns.
All three designs meet all of NASA’s system requirements and shows that the correct design options have been selected, interfaces have been identified, and verification methods have been described. NASA will evaluate the task order proposals received from each vendor and make a selection decision on the demonstration mission by the end of 2025.
“We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot, increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries,” said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With the Artemis crewed missions, and during remote operations when there is not a crew on the surface, we are enabling science and discovery on the Moon year around.”
The FLEX Rover developed by Venturi Astrolab in Europe (shown below) can carry two astronauts and up to 1600kg of mass. It has a unique wheel-on-limb mobility system that raises and lowers the chassis ground clearance to adapt to Lunar or Martian terrain whilst maintaining stability. This system enables FLEX Rover to lower attached instruments and equipment to the ground, or independently collect and deploy modular payloads.
It also has a bespoke battery enclosure created by Venturi, that ensures consistent performance throughout the life of the rover on the Lunar surface. This battery enclosure needs to withstand the daily temperature variations of several hundred degrees, from -90 to -230°C at the Lunar South pole.
The RACER (Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover) from Intuitive Machines in Texas will serve as a basestation for communications on the surface. In April the rover demonstrated its autonomous operation in a terrestrial moving mock-up at NASA Johnson Space Centre using scanning LiDAR and terrain-navigation software developed by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.
The self-driving RACER lunar rover from Intuitive Machines on test
The vehicle navigated complicated terrain without a driver, showing its potential to perform tasks like scouting, surveying, and logistics during uncrewed periods between Artemis missions.
Intuitive Machines now operates a 6-degree-of-freedom simulator at its Houston facility. This was developed with Austrian automotive consultancy AVL and mimics lunar gravity and terrain in real-time, using a virtual model built from actual subsystems.
“The team has effectively closed the loop between design, test, and astronaut feedback,” said Intuitive Machines LTV Lead Brett Fischer. “We believe this early capability will assist in LTV readiness, minimizing risk, and costly prototype development.”
Meanwhile Lunar Outpost in Colorado is developing the Eagle rover.
NASA has also selected two instruments to integrate into the LTV.
“The Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle will transport humanity farther than ever before across the lunar frontier on an epic journey of scientific exploration and discovery,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By combining the best of human and robotic exploration, the science instruments selected for the LTV will make discoveries that inform us about Earth’s nearest neighbor as well as benefit the health and safety of our astronauts and spacecraft on the Moon.”
The Artemis Infrared Reflectance and Emission Spectrometer (AIRES) will identify, quantify, and map lunar minerals and volatiles, which are materials that evaporate easily, like water, ammonia, or carbon dioxide. The instrument will capture spectral data overlaid on visible light images of both specific features of interest and broad panoramas to discover the distribution of minerals and volatiles across the Moon’s south polar region. The AIRES instrument team is led by Phil Christensen from Arizona State University in Tempe.
The Lunar Microwave Active-Passive Spectrometer (L-MAPS) will help define what is below the Moon’s surface and search for possible locations of ice. Containing both a spectrometer and a ground-penetrating radar, the instrument suite will measure temperature, density, and subsurface structures to more than 131 feet (40 meters) below the surface. The L-MAPS instrument team is led by Matthew Siegler from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
When combined, the data from the two instruments will paint a picture of the components of the lunar surface and subsurface.
“Together, these scientific instruments will make significant progress in answering key questions about what minerals and volatiles are present on and under the surface of the Moon,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for Exploration, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “With these instruments riding on the LTV we will be able to characterize the surface not only where astronauts explore, but also across the south polar region of the Moon, offering exciting opportunities for scientific discovery and exploration for years to come.”
The Artemis programme is currently planned for launch in mid 2027.
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