DRIVE ME TO THE MOON
Elon Musk to drop ‘extreme’ Nasa space car on Moon for first lunar drivers to brave brutal south pole in daring roadtrip
The full timeline reveals when cars will arrive on the Moon
VISITORS to the Moon could race across the planet's surface in an "extreme" car dropped there by Elon Musk.
That's the vision of a Nasa-backed company that is working on a vehicle for lunar roadtrips of the future.
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Lunar Outpost, the company behind the space-age motor, says its vehicle will be capable of navigating the Moon's treacherous south pole.
And the company recently signed a contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX to delivery the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to the Moon's surface.
Musk's rocket company agreed to blast the LTV to the Moon on a SpaceX Starship.
And Lunar Outpost says its car will be used to "provide surface mobility to future Nasa Artemis astronauts".
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Lunar Outpost bagged its contract from Nasa to build a human-friendly Moon rover back in 2022.
It means Lunar Outpost has been tasked with designing and building a rover that could take part in the Artemis missions.
Artemis is Nasa's program that's meant to re-establish a human presence on the Moon.
It's picking up where Nasa left off in 1972 with the Apollo 17 mission – the last time humans set foot on the Moon.
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"Lunar Outpost's LTV is designed to be the backbone of lunar surface operations,"
"By enabling science and exploration, building and maintaining interplanetary infrastructure, and facilitating space resource utilisation."
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He continued: "We're confident that SpaceX is advancing the most capable launch system ever created.
"And will successfully land our Eagle vehicles on the surface of the Moon."
And Justin added: "This contract is instrumental to accelerating Lunar Outpost's mission of enabling a sustainable human presence in space and we look forward to working with SpaceX to make that happen."
Nasa is working with three different companies for building an LTV.
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They include Intuitive Machines and Venturi Astrolab – as well as Lunar Outpost.
The space agency is forking out up to $4.6 billion on the project.
And it says that the space car will need to be decent enough to satisfy Nasa's lunar exploration needs right through to 2039.
"We look forward to the development of the Artemis generation lunar exploration vehicle to help us advance what we learn at the Moon," said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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"This vehicle will greatly increase our astronauts’ ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions."
Nasa says that the space car needs to be able to handle the "extreme conditions" of the Moon's South Pole.
It's a treacherous part of the Moon where temperatures can range from 54C in the day during sunlight, right down to -203C in shadowy areas.
In fact, some of the craters are permanently shadowed and won't have seen sunlight in billions of years, Nasa says.
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The Moon – our closest neighbour explained
Here's what you need to know...
- The Moon is a natural satellite – a space-faring body that orbits a planet
- It's Earth's only natural satellite, and is the fifth biggest in the Solar System
- The Moon measures 2,158 miles across, roughly 0.27 times the diameter of Earth
- Temperatures on the Moon range from minus 173 degrees Celcius to 260 degrees Celcius
- Experts assumed the Moon was another planet, until Nicolaus Copernicus outlined his theory about our Solar System in 1543
- It was eventually assigned to a "class" after Galileo discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610
- The Moon is believed to have formed around 4.51billion years ago
- The strength of its gravitational field is about a sixth of Earth's gravity
- Earth and the Moon have "synchronous rotation", which means we always see the same side of the Moon – hence the phrase "dark side of the Moon"
- The Moon's surface is actually dark, but appears bright in the sky due to its reflective ground
- During a solar eclipse, the Moon covers the Sun almost completely. Both objects appear a similar size in the sky because the Sun is both 400 times larger and farther
- The first spacecraft to reach the Moon was in 1959, as part of the Soviet Union's Lunar program
- The first manned orbital mission was Nasa's Apollo 8 in 1968
- And the first manned lunar landing was in 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission
The vehicle will need to be able to safely operate in these extreme temperatures – and comfortably travel across the rocky terrain.
Nasa has also asked that the rovers feature autonomous driving so that it can move around without human input.
And when the rover isn't on the clock for Nasa, it'll be free for use for other commercial jobs – like if Lunar Outpost gets any special space contracts.
“We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot," said Nasa's Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist.
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"Increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries.
"With the Artemis crewed missions, and during remote operations when there is not a crew on the surface, we are enabling science and discovery on the Moon year around."
Nasa's Artemis program kicked off with Artemis 1 in November 2022.
This was an uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission to test the Orion spacecraft, as well as Nasa's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
ARTEMIS MISSIONS – THE TIMELINE
This is the current Nasa Artemis timeline – though be aware that it will probably change...
Artemis I (November 2022) – Uncrewed lunar flyby
Artemis II (April 2026) – Crewed lunar flyby
Artemis III (mid-2027) – Crewed lunar landing
Artemis IV (September 2028) – Launch of crewed habitation module, which will be added to the orbital Lunar Gateway space station. This crew will descend to and ascend from the Moon
Artemis V (March 2030) – Launch four astronauts on Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to Lunar Gateway. The crew will board a lunar lander and fly it to the Lunar south pole near the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV)
Artemis VI (March 2031) – Integrate the Crew and Science Airlock Module with Lunar Gateway, and complete fourth crewed lunar surface expedition
Artemis VII (March 2032) – Deliver the Habitable Mobility Platform (Lunar Cruiser) to the surface of the Moon
Artemis VIII (2033) – Deliver the Foundational Surface Habitat to the surface of the Moon
Artemis IX (2034) – Deliver more lunar surface materials using an SLS Block 2 rocket
Artemis X (2035) – Delivery of more lunar surface materials, including astronauts staying on the Moon long-term. The mission is expected to last up to 180 days
Picture Credit: Getty Images – Getty
It's set to be followed in April 2026 with Artemis II, a crewed flyby of the Moon.
Then Artemis III is scheduled for the middle of 2027, which will be the first crewed landing on the Moon since the early seventies.
After that comes Artemis IV in September 2028, which will see an habitation module added to the upcoming Lunar Gateway orbital outpost.
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It's a space station that will circle the Moon, making it easier to travel to and from the lunar surface.
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There are at least 10 planned Artemis missions right now, taking Nasa through until 2035.
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