NASA unveils new moon rovers

Author: EIS Release Date: Aug 15, 2023

Artemis II, the second launch in NASA’s programme to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028, will carry three robots to the moon next year.

 

They will deploy cameras and ground-penetrating radar to create a 3D map of the lunar surface

 

The rovers are part of NASA’s (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) CADRE project and get their instructions from a base station aboard the 13ft-tall lander taking them to the moon.

 

 

 

 

‘Our mission is to demonstrate that a network of a mobile robots can cooperate to accomplish a task without human intervention – autonomously,’ says CADRE project manager Subha Comandur.

 

 

They are due to arrive at the moon aboard a lander in 2024, where they will be lowered onto the Reiner Gamma region via tethers.

 

The uncrewed Artemis 1 launched on 16 November 2022. Artemis II carries four crew plus the three  robots, and Artemis III, in 2025, plans to land crew on the moon. 

 

Artemis IV, in 2028, plans to link up with a space station orbiting the moon called the Lunar Gateway. Annual landings on the moon are planned from then on as preparations are made for a flight to Mars.