From left to right: Astrolab's FLEX, Intuitive Machines' Moon RACER, and Lunar Outpost's Eagle lunar terrain vehicle at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/Bill Stafford
Through NASA's Artemis campaign, astronauts will land on the lunar surface and use a new generation of spacesuits and rovers as they live, work, and conduct science in the Moon's South Pole region, exploring more of the lunar surface than ever before. Recently, the agency completed the first round of testing on three commercially owned and developed LTVs (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) from Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
As part of an ongoing year-long feasibility study, each company delivered a static mockup of their vehicle to Johnson at the end of September, initiated rover testing in October and completed the first round of testing in December inside the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) test facility. Lunar surface gravity is one-sixth of what we experience here on Earth, so to mimic this, ARGOS offers an analog environment that can offload pressurized suited subjects for various reduced gravity simulations.
NASA astronauts Raja Chari (left) and Randy Bresnik (right) sit inside Lunar Outpost's Eagle lunar terrain vehicle evaluating the seat configuration during testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/David DeHoyos
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir grabs a lunar geology tool from a tool rack on Lunar Outpost's Eagle lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/James Blair
NASA astronaut Joe Acaba prepares to climb on top of Intuitive Machines' Moon RACER lunar terrain vehicle to get to a science payload during testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/Josh Valcarcel
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir puts a science sample inside of a storage box on Intuitive Machines' Moon RACER lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/James Blair
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio (left) and NASA spacesuit engineer Zach Tejral (right) sit inside Astrolab's FLEX lunar terrain vehicle evaluating the display interfaces during testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/James Blair
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins stores science payloads on Astrolab's FLEX lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA/Robert Markowitz
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