Photo: NASA/Dominic Hart
It's a bit strange if you really think about it, but there have been more rovers developed for and sent to study Mars than the Moon. There's a reasoning behind this reality, of course, and it has to do with the planet's high probability of having been home to life in the past, but it remains strange nonetheless.
With the Artemis program now in full swing, the number of lunar rovers being developed has increased dramatically. And there's a reasoning behind that to: these machines are not meant to look for signs of life on Earth's natural satellite, but will be tasked with tracking resources in light of our colonization plans.
One of the rovers currently being put together for lunar exploration over at NASA is the VIPER. That's short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, and it's main mission will be to find water ice.
The rover is tentatively scheduled to take off on board a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket later this year, and head for the Nobile Crater at the Moon's south pole, where it will spend 100 days conducting its mission.
Whereas the Falcon Heavy will help VIPER escape Earth's gravity, a lander will deliver it to the surface of the Moon. Before it gets on with its mission, the rover will have to come down from the lander and onto the regolith. And that, NASA says, is one of "the most critical and trickiest parts of VIPER's 100-day mission."
With the launch just months away, the space agency needed to know if the rover was up to this complicated task and safely clear the Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander. That's why the pieces of hardware were put through their paces at the Ames Research Center.
The tests were not standard, but meant to push the rover and its abilities to their limits. A VIPER prototype called Moon Gravitation Representative Unit 3 (MGRU3) had to come down the lander's ramp in various configurations, including some that mimicked a super steep or tilted stance of the Griffin, due to potentially uneven terrain at the landing site.
The biggest risks the rover faces are the loss of traction and subsequent slipping off the ramp, which could damage the hardware it packs.
NASA's tests included a series of worst-case scenarios, including the steepest possible angle (unclear how big) and uneven ramps. Possible pitch and roll of the rover were also tested, and the results seem to show VIPER will be up to the task, no matter where it lands.
"We validated these test cases with MGRU3 to be sure VIPER can do it on the Moon," said in a statement Jasper Wolfe, VIPER egress test lead at Ames.
VIPER is as big as a golf cart. It measures 5 feet by 5 feet by 8 feet (1.5 meters by 1.5 meters by 2.5 meters), and weighs 992 pounds (450 kilograms). It will be the heaviest cargo sent into space by NASA using a commercial partner.
The rover packs a solar-charged battery of 450 watts peak power and will move over the surface of the Moon at speeds of just 0.45 mph (0.72 kph). The maximum distance it will probably cover during its 100-day mission is 12 miles (20 km).
Three spectrometers are on deck to help VIPER spot areas of interest. When found, a 3.28-foot (1-meter) drill will dig into the surface to collect samples and analyze their contents.
One of the rovers currently being put together for lunar exploration over at NASA is the VIPER. That's short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, and it's main mission will be to find water ice.
The rover is tentatively scheduled to take off on board a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket later this year, and head for the Nobile Crater at the Moon's south pole, where it will spend 100 days conducting its mission.
Whereas the Falcon Heavy will help VIPER escape Earth's gravity, a lander will deliver it to the surface of the Moon. Before it gets on with its mission, the rover will have to come down from the lander and onto the regolith. And that, NASA says, is one of "the most critical and trickiest parts of VIPER's 100-day mission."
With the launch just months away, the space agency needed to know if the rover was up to this complicated task and safely clear the Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander. That's why the pieces of hardware were put through their paces at the Ames Research Center.
The tests were not standard, but meant to push the rover and its abilities to their limits. A VIPER prototype called Moon Gravitation Representative Unit 3 (MGRU3) had to come down the lander's ramp in various configurations, including some that mimicked a super steep or tilted stance of the Griffin, due to potentially uneven terrain at the landing site.
The biggest risks the rover faces are the loss of traction and subsequent slipping off the ramp, which could damage the hardware it packs.
NASA's tests included a series of worst-case scenarios, including the steepest possible angle (unclear how big) and uneven ramps. Possible pitch and roll of the rover were also tested, and the results seem to show VIPER will be up to the task, no matter where it lands.
"We validated these test cases with MGRU3 to be sure VIPER can do it on the Moon," said in a statement Jasper Wolfe, VIPER egress test lead at Ames.
VIPER is as big as a golf cart. It measures 5 feet by 5 feet by 8 feet (1.5 meters by 1.5 meters by 2.5 meters), and weighs 992 pounds (450 kilograms). It will be the heaviest cargo sent into space by NASA using a commercial partner.
The rover packs a solar-charged battery of 450 watts peak power and will move over the surface of the Moon at speeds of just 0.45 mph (0.72 kph). The maximum distance it will probably cover during its 100-day mission is 12 miles (20 km).
Three spectrometers are on deck to help VIPER spot areas of interest. When found, a 3.28-foot (1-meter) drill will dig into the surface to collect samples and analyze their contents.
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