Thursday, September 17, 2009

Lunar Electric Rover



I just read this Technology Review article on NASA's Lunar Electric Rover (LER) which recently went through extensive "road tests" in the Arizona desert, simulating a two week moon mission. This is no Apollo-type "dune buggy" but more of a pressurized lunar RV. It's got some amazing capabilities. The video shows the assembly of the vehicle (for the presidential inaugural parade in Washington last January) and then some driving footage in some desert-like terrain, including a part where it drives sideways! The way the spacesuits dock to the vehicle is also really cool. I hope to see astronauts driving these things on the moon someday, but the way things are going it's going to be a long wait.

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