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NASA has given three space companies the chance to plan the next - coevals synodic month buggy — but only one design will go to space . Intuitive Machines , Lunar Outpost , and Venturi Astrolab are developing rugged fomite intended for astronauts to drive around on the lunar surface , from which NASA may choose as early as next year .
The three teamswill now go in into a 12 - calendar month “ feasibility phase ” that will culminate in a preliminary design review . At that point , there will be a subsequent competitive petition for proposition , where the trio of companies will compete for a demonstration task order , NASA officials explained during a press conference on Wednesday .
At that point , a final awardee will be pick out . The chosen company will be responsible not only for designing the lunar terrain fomite ( LTV ) but also for launching and set ashore it on the moonlight prior to the Artemis V mission , which is presently slated for no earlier than 2029 .
NASA declined to specify the dollar economic value of the awards , though Intuitive Machines said in a statement that it was awarded a $ 30 million contract bridge . The total possible value of all the task orders over the next 13 year is $ 4.6 billion .
The three teams are also prevent specifications , like range or battery technology , close to the chest , though NASA specified that the rover would have to have an unbelievable 10 - year life span and be equal to of hold two suited astronauts .
Intuitive Machines is moderate a squad that includes AVL , Boeing , Michelin , and Northrop Grumman ; Lunar Outpost is leading the “ Lunar Dawn ” team that includes Lockheed Martin , General Motors , Goodyear and MDA Space . Astrolab is joined by Axiom Space and Odyssey Space Research .
The awarding are the modish to be doled out to individual industriousness under the agency ’s ambitious Artemis program , which seeks to eventually found a lasting human mien on the moonlight . But for in truth research the surface , spaceman will require something to get around — and it will need to withstand the harsh environment of the lunar south pole , which is know for temperature utmost swings and very long night .
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“ Think of it as a loanblend of the Apollo - flair lunar scouter that was drive by our cosmonaut and an uncrewed mobile science platform , ” NASA ’s Johnson Space Center theater director Vanessa Wyche order .
With the vehicles , astronauts will be able to transport scientific equipment , collect samples from the airfoil and journey farther than on fundament , Jacob Bleacher , NASA ’s chief exploration scientist , said . When astronauts are not on the moonlight , human race will be able to remotely mesh the LTV , so it can continue to explore the region and even take on new astronaut crews when they arrive on the surface .
“ With NASA ’s Artemis military campaign , we are build up up the capacity needed to plant a longer - terminal figure exploration and presence of the moon , ” he said . “ Where it will go , there are no roads . Its mobility will fundamentally change our perspective of the moon . ”
