NASA Tests Lunar Rovers in Arizona Desert
Friday, November 07, 2008
NASA
NASA's Small Pressurized Rover configuration of the basic lunar rover.
NASA's Small Pressurized Rover configuration of the basic lunar rover.
What's got six wheels and operates in very low gravity?
The answer: NASA's new lunar rover, informally called the "Chariot," which is currently being tested in two different configurations in the Arizona desert.
The rover basically looks like a big metal spider on wheels, and can be driven as such by a spacesuit-wearing astronaut.
Add a pressurized cabin, and it's a high-tech self-propelled Airstream trailer, with beds, a kitchen and a toilet.
The next step: to take the battery-powered vehicle out for a three-day spin by itself, without any support.
The rover is part of NASA's Constellation program, which aims to get astronauts back on the moon, permanently, by around 2020.
• Click here to read more about this on the National Geographic Web site.
• Click here for NASA's official lunar rover page.
