The Core Stage on the move after being offloaded today at Kennedy Space Center Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
After berthing in the Turn Basin by the Press Center yesterday, the Core Stage of Artemis II was offloaded today and moved into the VAB. The process began around 9 a.m. EDT and took nearly three hours until the 212-foot rocket traveled the relatively short distance—perhaps 1/2 kilometer—to the VAB.
After the Solid Rocket Boosters are assembled in the VAB, the Core Stage will then be mounted between the two. The ten segments for those SRBs are already at Kennedy Space Center, in storage in the Rotation, Processing, and Surge Facility, located just north of the VAB at Kennedy Space Center.
Daniel Jimenez, Operations Project Engineer (OPE) within the Vehicle Integration and Launch branch of the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program said yesterday that the SRBs are “Essentially primed and ready to go. What’s left for the VAB is obviously get all the facility ready.”
Jiminez also mentioned that Mobile Launch Platform that will be used for Artemis II is currently out at Pad LC-39B, where it is being set up for the launch of Artemis II. “More importantly, we get the ground systems ready,” he said, “So, we’re finishing up all of the testing of the systems that we have for Artemis II. It’s a crewed mission. So there are some systems that have to be updated for the Mobile Launcher Platform. That’s out at the pad.”
Later this summer, the testing will be completed, the VAB prepared and configured and then in the fall, the assembly of Artemis II will begin in earnest.
KSC workers watching the Core Stage for Artemis II entering the VABThe Core Stage turning to enter the VABThe Core StageFour Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines power Aremis II’s Core StageThe Core Stage entering the VAB.Closeup of two of the RS-25 engines.Have you ever moved a sofa or washer into your house and it would juuuuuuust fit through the door? This reminds a little of that..
Pegasus Barge in the Turn Basin at Kennedy Space Center, July 23, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
With the arrival of its Core Stage, much of Artemis II’s major components are starting to come together, and not long in the future, NASA engineers and technicians will start to assemble to rocket that will return humans to cislunar space — a place not visited by mankind since 1972.
According to NASA, Aremis II will be “The first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration. The 10-day flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts.”
Major components of Artemis II. Graphic: NASA
Four astronauts will venture around the Moon on Artemis II. Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor J. Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen are selected for the mission and have been training for it while Artemis II’s fabrication was completed.
NASA’s Artemis II crew members (left to right) CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman pose for a photograph in the well deck of the USS San Diego during Underway Recovery Test 11 (URT-11), as NASA’s Exploration Ground System’s Landing and Recovery team and partners from the Department of Defense aboard the ship practice recovery procedures using the Crew Module Test Article off the coast of San Diego, California on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. URT-11 is the eleventh in a series of Artemis recovery tests, and the first time NASA and its partners put their Artemis II recovery procedures to the test with the astronauts. Photo: NASA
While Artemis II will not feature a landing on the lunar surface, it will serve to not only further prove out Space Launch System, it will also be a chance to confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space. The mission is currently slated to launch no earlier than September of 2025.
The Solid Rocket Boosters For Artemis II Are Also Onsite at KSC
The solid rocket boosters that will be used for Artemis II are in storage near the VAB. “We have all these other segments already vertical on the storage facility that you see outside the facility here,” said Daniel Jimenez, Operations Project Engineer (OPE) within the Vehicle Integration and Launch branch of the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program.
“All of those segments are there. This is the first step to getting the booster [built.]” The facility Jiminez is referring to is the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, located just north of the VAB at Kennedy Space Center.
There are five segments to each solid rocket booster, and ten total for Artemis II. Receiving them into Kennedy Space Center’s facilities and preparing them for the assembly workflow is no small task. “You see that rail car right there outside of the building?” Jiminez asked this reporter. “Each of the segments comes in one of those rail cars. We bring it in, take the cover off. They will come with handling rings on them.”
Jiminez then showed me a huge pair of raised eyelets. “And you can see the ears there. That’s what we use to pick them up. We take the two cranes both at the same time, pick them up, break it over, [and] rotate it vertically. It goes onto a pallet, and then it goes in one of those buildings that you see outside.”
Solid Rocket Booster segments for Artemis II in storage awaiting assembly in the VAB at Kennedy Space Center. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
“So there’s two surge buildings where we actually store the ordinance installed walking motors,” Jiminez added. “And then what stays here is the aft assemblies.”
A Solid Rocket Booster aft assembly. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Those aft assemblies are the tail end of each solid booster. They include the nozzles used to direct thrust from the solid rocket as it burns. “We have the skirts, which holds a TVC system. You have the nozzle. We put that on. And then the last segment [of the solid rocket motor.] So the aft part of that segment, the last one goes on top of that one. And that makes the aft assembly for the left and the right hand [boosters.]”
If it sounds complex, it is. Those assemblies must be assembled with great precision, which is no easy task when you consider just how big and heavy each segment is and how precisely the assembly must be assembled.
Artemis II’s two Solid Rocket Booster Aft parts in storage awaiting final processing prior to going to the VAB later this year. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Jiminez pointed out that the solid rocket booster segments are, “Essentially primed and ready to go. What’s left for the VAB is obviously get all the facility ready.”
He added, “More importantly, we get the ground systems ready. So, we’re finishing up all of the testing of the systems that we have for Artemis II. It’s a crewed mission. So there are some systems that have to be updated for the Mobile Launcher Platform. That’s out at the pad.”
Currently, testing is ongoing and presumably nearing completing in the relatively near term for the Mobile Launcher Platform. Afterwards, it will be moved into the VAB, and once the MLP is ready, the first thing that will be assembled for Artemis II will be the Solid Rocket Boosters.
“As soon as we’re done with the testing there, towards the end of the summer, we’re gonna roll back the mobile launcher, get back into the VAB, configure everything in the position it needs to be so that it can take these bad boys in for stacking,” Jiminez said while gesturing towards one of the two SRB aft assemblies in the SPFS facility.
Assembly Ahead
The solid rocket boosters (top right) that will help launch Artemis 1 into space are assembled by NASA and Jacobs personnel at the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Ground operations workers (left, center) fit Space Launch Systems sections together. Photo: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Afterwards, the Solid Rocket Boosters can be fully assembled, and then Core Stage will be placed in between the two completed SRBs, then the rest of the rocket — including the Orion capsule — can be placed atop that. Once that is done, a long testing phase will begin. “It’s gonna be a really busy summer,” Jiminez said. “[Then a] really busy fall. It’s gonna be a busy year because once you put it all together, then you have to go test it.”
Testing, Verifying and Fixing Any Issues
“The testing campaign is another big endeavor. Now, we have all the ground systems hooked up to the rocket. We’re going to go into then launch control center. That’s where we are using all the software that we develop to be able to do the testing and the launch that we get in there, we get with all the teams, test all the systems, make sure that we’re good configuration, and from there on up to launch.”
Artemis I undergoing Wet Dress Rehearsal, a critical test and milestone in a launch campaign. Similar testing will be required for Artemis II, once it is assembled. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
That will like an incredibly busy time, with hundreds of people dedicated to readying the ground-side systems like the Mobile Launch Platform, the launch pad systems, and then assembling a huge rocket larger and more powerful than the venerable Saturn V that was used in Project Apollo.
Once completed, the engineers and technicians involved with the project must verify the newly assembled rocket’s systems, conduct launch rehearsals and fix any issues that they encounter along the way.
All of that before a final review to confirm that every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed prior to Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor J. Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen climbing aboard the Orion capsule for their mission to the moon.
All considered, it is a vast understatement to say that business has picked up at Kennedy Space Center, and that the journey that will take four NASA astronauts to the moon has already begun.
The moon, as seen from Kennedy Space Center. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville.
NOTE: Talk of Titusville would like to thank Daniel Jimenez for taking the time to explain not only his role in the Artemis II mission but also to explain what the current and next steps for the mission will be.
The Pegasus Barge carrying the Artemis-2 core stage arriving in Port Canaveral this afternoon. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Business is picking up for the Artemis teams at Kennedy Space Center — the core stage for Artemis 2 has arrived in Port Canaveral, after it traveled from its manufacturing site in Mississippi.
The barge is expected to berth overnight in the Port and then travel to Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, where the 212-foot-tall stage will be offloaded. After that, processing will begin in earnest for the assembly of the second Artemis rocket, which this time will carry four astronauts on board for a circumlunar mission.
As the main stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis 2, it was built by The Boeing Company in NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. Measuring some 65 m (212 ft) tall and 8.4 m (27.6 ft) in diameter, the core stage will contain approximately 987 t (2,177,000 lb) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cryogenic propellants when it stands ready for launch.
Artemis 1. The core stage for Artemis 2 is nearly identical and is the orange center stage of the rocket. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The core stage is powered by four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines, which generate approximately 7.44 MN (1,670,000 lbf) of thrust — about 25% of the Space Launch System’s thrust at liftoff. Its duty cycle is approximately 500 seconds, and it will propel the rocket stack alone for the last 375 seconds of flight after two solid rocket boosters complete firing and are discarded. The core stage’s target will lift Artemis 2 to an altitude of approximately 162 km (531,380 ft) before separating and reentering the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. It is not a reusable component.
Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowPhoto: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Move teams with NASA and Boeing, the SLS core stage lead contractor, position the massive rocket stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on special transporters to strategically guide the flight hardware the 1.3-mile distance from the factory floor onto the agency’s Pegasus barge on July 16. The core stage will be ferried to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be integrated with other parts of the rocket that will power NASA’s Artemis II mission. Pegasus is maintained at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. Credit: NASA
The core stage of Artemis 2 departed the Assembly Facility in New Orleans on July 16th and is heading to Kennedy Space Center, where it will be assembled for a circumlunar mission planned for no earlier than September of 2025.
When it launches, Artemis 2 will have four crew members aboard an Orion capsule: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor J. Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Artemis 2 Prime Crew. Photo: NASA/Robert Markowitz
In a press release, Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said, “With Artemis, we’ve set our sights on doing something big and incredibly complex that will inspire a new generation, advance our scientific endeavors, and move U.S. competitiveness forward,” said. The SLS rocket is a key component of our efforts to develop a long-term presence at the Moon.”
Artemis 1 and SLS on its launch pad in 2022. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
NASA also says that the SLS rocket’s core stage is the largest the agency has ever produced. At 212 feet tall, it consists of five major elements, including two huge propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super-chilled liquid propellant to feed four RS-25 engines. During launch and flight, the stage will operate for just over eight minutes, producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust to propel four astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft toward the Moon.
Artemis 2 booster being loaded aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge. Photo: NASA
Now aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge, the massive core stage will travel by sea to Kennedy Space Center late this month.
Tugboats push and pull the barge Pegasus.
Photo: NASA
Shown here is the current white cover layer of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit prototype as it is tested in the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) system at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The person wearing it tests its use with different tools. Photo: Axiom Space
Vital Program for Artemis and ISS Loses One of Two Vendors
Though they are often taken for granted, spacesuits are a vital part of US space efforts, both now with the International Space Station, and also later, when astronauts from Project Artemis undertake their EVA duties on the lunar surface. Without spacesuits, many of the necessary maintenance and upgrade duties on ISS cannot be performed, and obviously, without spacesuits, no one will be walking on the moon.
Starship Heavy on its launch pad in Texas. Photo: Richard Gallagher / Florida Media Now
During those meetings, people can learn more about the proposed activity in an open house information station format, where the FAA will provide information describing the purpose of the scoping meetings, project schedule, opportunities for public involvement, Proposed Action and alternatives summary, and environmental resource area summary. The meetings will not be hearings, instead, they are designed to provide information.
That said, written and oral comments will be accepted, so it is your chance to make your voice heard, yay or nay. Talk of Titusville encourages you to take the time to attend, learn, and if you are so inclined, to leave your comments.
Public Information Session at The Radisson in Cape Canaveral in March for the SLC-37/50 Pads at Cape Canaveral. The ones for KSC / LC-39A will be much the same. Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
Official Document from FAA
Here is the official document for the Proposed Action. Interested parties should take the time to read it. You can either download it from here, or if you prefer, from the FAA directly at www.faa.gov/media/80626. Reading the information beforehand may give you better insight to ask more informed questions if you attend one of the informational meetings.
The meetings will be informational, and not public hearings. The public hearings will come later in the process.
That’s important to keep in mind — if you want to make your voice heard, the best way to do so is in writing at the address mentioned below. You can submit written comments at the informational sessions, and a court reporter will also be present to transcribe your comments, as well.
June 12, 2024, 2pm-4pm and 6pm-8pm (Eastern) IN-PERSON Radisson Cape Canaveral, Jamaica Room 8701 Astronaut Blvd Cape Canaveral, FL 32920
According to today’s press release, “The FAA invites interested agencies, organizations, Native American Tribes, and members of the public to submit comments to inform the FAA on the significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the EIS (e.g., range of actions, alternatives, environmental impacts). The public scoping period starts with the publication of the Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS in the Federal Register. To ensure sufficient time to consider issues identified during the public scoping period, comments should be submitted by one of the methods listed below no later than June 24, 2024. All comments will receive the same attention and consideration in the preparation of the EIS.”
“Comments, statements, or questions concerning scoping issues must be identified with the Docket Number FAA-2024-1395 and may be provided to the FAA as follows:
Federal E-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Retrieve the docket by conducting a search for “FAA-2024-1395” and follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Please note that the FAA will post all comments on the Internet without changes, including any personal information provided.
By U.S. mail to Ms. Eva Long, FAA Environmental Protection Specialist, c/o Leidos, 2877 Guardian Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.”
Unoccupied AxEMU lunar EVA suit underwater at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas. Date unknown. Photo: Axiom Space on X.com
One of the critical tasks for the upcoming Artemis missions is completing new spacesuits for astronauts to wear while on the lunar surface. The suits are critical, as they must protect astronauts from severe temperatures, the moon’s lack of a meaningful atmosphere, and sharp, jagged lunar regolith.
In September 2022, NASA awarded Axiom Space a $228.5 million contract to develop the next-generation spacesuit for the Artemis III mission to the moon. The suits, called Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), are still being developed. Today, Axiom Space announced that they have moved into a new testing phase: they are testing the AxEMU suits underwater in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, a critical step to ensure suit performance and to inform the company of areas where improvements are needed.
The company shared two photographs of the ongoing tests at the NBL this morning on X.com, saying “The AxEMU entered the water for the first time this week at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). Testing was conducted with an unoccupied spacesuit, adding weights to accurately simulate the lunar environment, where gravitational forces are 1/6th of Earth’s.”
Unoccupied AxEMU suite undergoing testing at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas. Date unknown. Photo: Axiom Space on X.com
According to NASA, ” These tests are integral to ensuring the spacesuit is effective and complies with NASA’s safety and performance requirements.” Currently, the Artemis III mission will be the first that the AxEMU suits will be required, with the current estimated date for the mission launch no earlier than September of 2026. Critical items like the SpaceX Human Landing System and the suit must be perfected and crew-rated before the launch. SpaceX suggests that the fourth launch test of their new Starship rocket will occur sometime in May.
Axiom Space added in a subsequent X.com post that “With the successful conclusion of this trial run, the next NBL suit run will have our very own astronaut inside.” They did not specify a date or who will be inside the lunar suit.
Yesterday in Washington D.C., NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Masahito Moriyama signed an agreement regarding a Japanese contribution to the Artemis Project, a pressurized lunar rover tentatively called Lunar Cruiser. The vehicle will be transported to the Moon by NASA, and should be available for the Artemis VII mission, currently scheduled for NET 2031.
Toyota released a video rendering of the Lunar Cruiser in 2023
Lunar Cruiser has been in development since 2019 by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Toyota. The pressurized rover will allow for extended exploration past the range of the previously announced Lunar Terrain Vehicle, and will ostensibly allow for two astronaurs to remain aboard for up to thirty days. Like the LTV, it is expected to last ten years.
From Toyota’s Lunar Cruiser update at the 38th Space Symposium. Graphic: Toyota Corporation
According to a press release from Toyota, “The Lunar Cruiser seeks to achieve a high level of mobility and allow astronauts to explore safely and comfortably. We will contribute to this endeavor by offering the reliability, durability, driving performance, and FC (fuel cell) technology that Toyota has cultivated through long years of vehicle development. Technologies developed for the moon can then be fed back to the Earth and be used to create better vehicles and develop technologies for sustainable society and the planet.”
“Lunar Cruiser” is a working name for the lunar rover project, which Toyota makes clear. The company says that the vehicle is officially called a “crewed pressurized rover.” According to them, “It features a pressurized cabin, an enclosed space where the air pressure is controlled to create an environment similar to Earth’s. Unlike previous lunar rovers, this means that those onboard need not wear extravehicular suits, even in an unforgiving environment with one-sixth of Earth’s gravity and temperatures ranging from 120°C during the day to -170°C at night.”
The vehicle is slated to use Regenerative Fuel Cell technology and a 30-day mission duration, meaning it can get through an entire lunar night without needing an outside source to power the vehicle.
Fuel Cells To Power Lunar Cruiser
click to enlarge
Regenerative Fuel Cells have dual capabilities: also called reverse fuel cells or secondary fuel cells, are fuel cells that can be operated in two modes: electrolyzer mode and fuel cell mode. In electrolyzer mode, RFCs store water as hydrogen and oxygen. In fuel cell mode, the stored hydrogen and oxygen are used to generate power. RFCs can be powered with electricity to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water. With limited resources on the lunar surface, this technology may well come in quite handy: the South Pole, where Project Artemis is focusing, may well have water resources that could potentially be used with Lunar Cruiser.
Toyota – A Fuel Cell Powerhouse
Toyota is the world’s best-selling automaker, selling 11.2 million cars globally in 2023 for the fourth year in a row. They are also a technological leader in many aspects of vehicle design and technology. Industry analysts have also labeled Toyota as the commercial leader in hydrogen fuel cell technology, pointing out that the company has been at the forefront of the mass-market development of hydrogen cars for decades.
Toyota began working on fuel cell technology in 1992, and by 2005, the FCHV (Fuel Cell Hydrogen Vehicle) was available for sale in limited quantities in Japan and the U.S. In 2014, the Mirai was launched for sale in various global markets, making a mainstream hydrogen fuel cell car available to the public.
Toyota’s Comments On Lunar Cruiser Through The Years
Akio Toyoda Photo: Toyota
At the onset of the Land Cruiser project in 2019, Toyota Chairman and CEO Akio Toyoda said: “The automotive industry has long done business with the concepts of ‘hometown’ and ‘home country’ largely in mind. However, from now on, in responding to such matters as environmental issues of global scale, the concept of ‘home planet’, from which all of us come, will become a very important concept. Going beyond the frameworks of countries or regions, I believe that our industry, which is constantly thinking about the role it should fulfill, shares the same aspirations of international space exploration.”
Toyoda added at the time that “I am extremely happy that, for this project, expectations have been placed on the thus-far developed durability and driving performance of Toyota vehicles and on our fuel cell environmental technologies.”
Since then, Toyota and JAXA have made progress on the vehicle. In an update in the Toyota Times on September 16, 2023, Toyota announced that “[T]he joint research with JAXA was completed in 2022, and Toyota is currently in the preliminary development phase before beginning work on the main vehicle in 2024.”
Enter Mitsubishi, A Japanese Aerospace Giant
Toyota has also joined forces with another Japanese industrial giant, Mitsubishi. In the same 2023 update where the project phase transition was announced, Ken Yamashita, the Project Head of the Lunar Exploration Mobility Works Project at Toyota said “in late 2022, we confirmed that we would be working together with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, not just in the provision of individual components but on system-level development. We decided this would be a good opportunity to present the team structure behind development.”
The idea makes good sense. MHI is well experienced in aerospace projects and is currently working on a number of Japanese efforts that will not only add to the country’s scientific knowledge and aerospace capability but will also serve to inform projects like the Lunar Cruiser.
Mitsubishi’s HII-A Rocket
Atsushi Nakajima, of MHI Space Systems Division said in September 2023, “Currently, we are also working on space exploration-related projects, including a new cargo transporter, equipment for the I-HAB habitation module of the Gateway crewed lunar orbit station, and the LUPEX rover that will search for water resources on the moon’s surface. We will utilize our existing technologies in spacecraft integration, space environment resistance, and human space stays to help develop the crewed pressurized rover’s systems.”
“In addition,” Nakajima said, “we expect that data acquired from the moon’s surface by the LUPEX rover, which is being developed for launch in the mid-2020s, will contribute to the pressurized rover’s development.”
Now that Toyota and its partners have officially transitioned to its final development phase prior to vehicle production, it is fair to say that this vehicle is well on its way to the showroom floor: the South Pole region of Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor.
Artist conception of a lunar rover in action. Graphic: NASA
NASA has selected Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Astrolab to design a Lunar Terrain Vehicle, the agency announced earlier today in a press conference held in Houston. Each company named today will begin with a feasibility task order, which will be a year-long special study to develop their system to meet NASA’s requirements through the preliminary design maturity project.
Afterward one or more qualifying companies will be chosen to complete a demonstration mission, where it/they will continue developing the LTV, deliver it to the surface of the Moon, and validate its performance and safety prior to Artemis V, the first mission planned to take advantage of the LTV. While they left the door open today for more than one, NASA stated in a press release today that they anticipate making an award to only one provider for the demonstration.
Artemis V is currently planned for no earlier than 2029.
Intuitive Machines Reaction
Intuitive Machines rendering of their “Moon Racer” LTV, one of the projects selected for additional development. Graphic: Intuitive Machines
“This procurement strategically aligns with the Company’s flight-proven capability to deliver payloads to the surface of the Moon under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, further solidifying our position as a proven commercial contractor in lunar exploration,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus in a press release issued by the company today. “Our global team is on a path to provide essential lunar infrastructure services to NASA in a project that would allow the Company to retain ownership of the vehicle for commercial utilization during periods of non-NASA activity over approximately ten years of lunar surface activity.”
Astrolab Reaction
Astrolab FLEX rover concept. Photo: Astrolab
“Astrolab is honored to have its FLEX rover selected by NASA to participate in the development of creating a Lunar Terrain Vehicle for the Artemis Campaign,” said Jaret Matthews, founder & CEO, Astrolab in a press release issued today. “Our entire team, together with our business partners, are committed to delivering to NASA an LTV that serves as a critical tool in the agency’s efforts to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon.”
“We’re excited to work with Astrolab and the entire team to revolutionize lunar operations,” said Russell Ralston, Vice President of EVA, Axiom Space. “We look forward to offering our expertise in the design of vehicle interfaces for both the crew and spacesuits, ensuring astronaut safety and mobility on the surface of the Moon. This partnership showcases a collective commitment to pushing boundaries and driving advancements in space exploration.”
Lunar Outpost Reaction
Lunar Outpost will work with LockheedMartin, General Motors, Goodyear and MDA Space to develop their LTV.
“Surface mobility is a critical capability for humanity’s future in space, and Lunar Outpost looks forward to driving value in the cislunar economy by providing a reliable, safe and capable vehicle that will be used to provide mobility to Artemis astronauts and perform critical missions autonomously on the Moon for commercial endeavors,” said Lunar Outpost CEO, Justin Cyrus. “We look forward to leveraging the strengths of Lockheed Martin, a company with extensive human and advanced space systems experience, and our other industry teammates, GM, Goodyear and MDA Space, to provide an unparalleled technical offering at a commercially viable price point.”
NASA Statement
“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. “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.”
All Purpose Vehicle
Besides enduring the extreme lunar conditions of the Moon’s South Pole region, the new rover requirements include advanced power management, autonomous driving, communications and navigation systems. When crews are not actively using the rovers on their missions on the lunar surface, NASA also expects to be able to use the rovers remotely to “support NASA’s scientific objectives as needed.” NASA added that “Outside those times, the provider will have the ability to use their LTV for commercial lunar surface activities unrelated to NASA missions.”
“We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot, increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries,” said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “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.”
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