Astrolab Tests Its Flexible Moon Buggy Concept in California Desert

It’s time to hop in and go for a experience, as Venturi Astrolab has proven off a multi-purpose lunar car designed to ship cargo, carry out scientific investigations, and carry two astronauts. The California-based startup hopes NASA will ultimately select its idea for the Artemis program, because the house company seeks to ascertain a long-term presence on the Moon.

NASA is getting ready for the upcoming Artemis missions, but it surely has but to resolve on a Lunar Terrain Vehicle. Lockheed Martin and General Motors have teamed as much as design an LTV, as have Northrop Grumman and AVL. We can now add Venturi Astrolab and its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover to the listing of contenders.

Astrolab, staffed by former NASA and SpaceX workers, partnered with Venturi Group, a developer of electrical automobiles. Founded by Jaret Matthews, the corporate is searching for to construct not only one FLEX rover however a complete fleet, a objective the corporate says is required to “support a sustained human presence on the Moon and Mars.” That the said objective of Artemis is to do the identical is just not a coincidence, as Venturi Astrolab hopes to win a NASA contract as a provider of LTVs.

Instead of rolling out custom-built rovers designed for particular missions, Venturi Astrolab goals to create a extremely versatile, standardized, and modular LTV that may be tailored to all types of various missions. “As we transition from the Apollo era, which was focused on pure exploration, to now, where people will be living for longer periods on the Moon, the equipment needs to change,” Chris Hadfield, a former Canadian Space Agency astronaut and now an Astrolab advisory board member, mentioned in a press release. “When we settle somewhere, we don’t just need to get people from one place to another, but we need to move hardware, cargo, life support equipment and more. And it’s all dependent on mobility.”

FLEX is able to choosing up and depositing modular payloads, which it will do in assist of human operations, science, exploration, logistics, development, and “other activities critical to a sustained presence on the Moon and beyond,” based on Astrolab’s Payload Interface Guide.

FLEX can function an unpressurized rover, by which two astronauts stand on the car’s rear and information it alongside the lunar floor. The rover can carry upwards of two,205 kilos (1,000 kg) of cargo, and a number of rovers can work collectively to hold even bigger payloads. Cargo may be positioned both on high of the primary deck or be underslung.

“We’ve designed a mobility platform that is payload agnostic so it can work within an ecosystem of transportation systems, vehicles and tools,” Matthews defined. “FLEX achieves a wide range of utility by being able to collect, transport, and deposit any payload that conforms to what will be a standard and open interface.”

Venturi Astrolab says FLEX adheres to NASA’s LTV necessities, corresponding to supporting an eight-hour moonwalk, operability on the lunar south pole, and the power to outlive lunar nights and function for a full decade.

Other options embrace a pivoting antenna to make sure fixed high-bandwidth communication with Earth, sensors to permit for autonomous operate and to keep away from hazards, a robotic arm and science mast much like NASA’s Mars rovers, an adaptive suspension system, and numerous measures to stop issues brought on by the advantageous lunar mud. FLEX additionally has a deployable photo voltaic array which can keep pointed on the Sun whereas it’s roving across the Moon.

A full-scale, absolutely functioning prototype of FLEX has already been constructed. The unit was examined within the California desert close to Death Valley throughout 5 days, based on Astrolab. Its crewed and robotic capabilities have been evaluated, it was made to deploy numerous payloads, each huge and small, and it needed to traverse difficult terrain. Hadfield participated in these checks, saying “it was not only a joy to drive FLEX but also see its size, capability and get an intuitive sense of what this rover can do.”

NASA is expected to subject a request for LTV proposals within the coming months. It’s no assure that FLEX can be chosen, as different corporations are additionally within the combine. A lunar rover will should be prepared for the Artemis 5 mission in 2027, so NASA higher get crackin’.