{"id":780156,"date":"2024-04-03T23:27:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T04:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=780156"},"modified":"2024-04-03T23:27:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T04:27:11","slug":"nasa-picks-three-teams-to-work-on-lunar-terrain-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=780156","title":{"rendered":"NASA Picks Three Teams to Work on Lunar Terrain Vehicle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Some of the biggest names in aerospace \u2014 and the automotive industry \u2014 will play roles in putting NASA astronauts in the driver\u2019s seat for roving around on the moon.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019 first crewed lunar landing.<\/p>\n<p>The teams\u2019 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. <\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-166500\"\/><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle (Official NASA Trailer)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zTHJ9zb8J2s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe look forward to the development of the Artemis generation lunar exploration vehicle to help us advance what we learn at the moon,\u201d Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said today in a news release. \u201cThis vehicle will greatly increase our astronauts\u2019 ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenBillNelson\/status\/1775614837101346950\">posting to X \/ Twitter<\/a>, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the LTV rover is \u201cessential to the success of Artemis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the teams conduct year-long feasibility studies, NASA plans to select one of the teams to go ahead with construction and testing of its LTV, leading up to a lunar demonstration mission in advance of Artemis 5. NASA could give the teams additional task orders to fill its needs for unpressurized rover capabilities on the moon through 2039.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Texas-based Intuitive Machines<\/strong> is best-known for putting a robotic lander on the lunar surface in February. A couple of its teammates \u2014 Boeing and Northrop Grumman \u2014 have moon-mission experience that goes back to the Apollo era. Michelin (the tire company) and AVL (which provides vehicle testing and simulation services) round out the Moon RACER team.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"525\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines $30 million as a prime contractor to complete a Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract. The company\u2019s global Moon RACER team will be tasked with creating a feasibility roadmap to develop and deploy a Lunar Terrain Vehicle on the Moon using\u2026 <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GaVh3cvrG5\">pic.twitter.com\/GaVh3cvrG5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Int_Machines\/status\/1775618162899214656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Colorado-based Lunar Outpost<\/strong> has already booked three rover missions for delivery to the moon by SpaceX and Intuitive Machines. Its teammates on the Lunar Dawn project include Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber and MDA Space (known for building the robotic arms on NASA\u2019s space shuttles and the International Space Station). <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"\/>\n<p><strong>California-based Astrolab<\/strong> made a separate deal last year with SpaceX to have its FLEX rover delivered to the moon aboard a Starship lander for a commercial mission that\u2019s set for as soon as 2026. Astrolab\u2019s teammates on the FLEX LTV project include Axiom Space (which is making spacesuits for Artemis moon missions) and Odyssey Space Research.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"525\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NASA has awarded Astrolab and its partners a contract worth up to $1.9 billion to advance the development of the Lunar Terrain Vehicle which will help Artemis astronauts explore more of the Moon\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n<p>Read the full announcement:  <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FJJtq0oiH9\">pic.twitter.com\/FJJtq0oiH9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Astrolab (@Astrolab_Space) <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Astrolab_Space\/status\/1775617489050984749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>NASA said the LTV would support the Artemis program\u2019s crewed missions to the moon\u2019s south polar region, plus remote-controlled exploration activities as needed between those missions. \u201cOutside those times, the provider will have the ability to use their LTV for commercial lunar surface activities unrelated to NASA missions,\u201d the space agency said.<\/p>\n<p>With regard to the financial arrangements, NASA said only that the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract had a combined maximum potential value of $4.6 billion for all task-order awards. But a couple of the teams provided additional details. Intuitive Machines said it was awarded $30 million as a prime contractor to complete the initial feasibility study for Moon RACER. And Astrolab said its LTV contract could be worth up to $1.9 billion, depending on NASA\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-166500-660e29e1efadb\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=13.2#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=166500&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-166500-660e29e1efadb&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-166500-660e29e1efadb\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"sd-link-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/166500\/nasa-teams-lunar-terrain-vehicle\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some of the biggest names in aerospace \u2014 and the automotive industry \u2014 will play roles in putting NASA astronauts in the driver\u2019s seat for roving around on the moon.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":780157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-780156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=780156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/780157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=780156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=780156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=780156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}