NASA's Moon Truck Goes for a Test Drive

No, this photo wasn't taken last year at Burning Man.  And no, it's not an ArtCar. This wild ride is the genuine article -- a prototype of a NASA lunar rover undergoing testing last week at the Moses Lake Sand Dunes in eastern Washington state. 

In an apparent nod to the vehicle used by the Robinson family in the 1960s "Lost in Space" TV series, this lunar truck is called Chariot, and it appeared at Moses Lake because the area's terrain is similar to the stuff astronauts will find when NASA returns to the surface of the moon in 2020.  Reporting from Moses Lake, the Seattle Times says:

With room for two astronauts, the 12-wheeled lunar truck called Chariot is a leading candidate for the moon rover of the future. Each set of wheels pivots independently. The pilots stand, strapped into turrets that eliminate the need to sit down — something very tough to do in a spacesuit. The gold and white truck can move forward, backward and sideways like a crab. Top speed is about 15 mph.

The vehicle was originally equipped with knobby tires, [project coordinator Bill] Bluethmann said. But the scientists swapped them out for smooth versions at the suggestion of a local farmer familiar with the sandy terrain.

"We bought them here," said Bluethmann, who works on the Chariot project at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "They've performed very well."

Also making an appearance at Moses Lake was a kind of lunar RV, called ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestial Explorer), intended to allow astronauts to go on extended forays across the lunar surface without having to return to the (relative) safety and comfort of their space capsule:

And where lunar trucks and campers go, other forms of development are likely to follow.  Perhaps someday soon in the sands of eastern Washington we will soon see prototype versions of NASA's first Lunar Truck Stop, to be followed shortly thereafter by a Space KOA Kampground, with full hookups, free WiFi, and a swimmy pool for the astrokids. To Infinity... and Beyond!

(Tip of the space-visor: Stare808)

LINKS:
NASA Testst Moon Robots, Rovers, Spacesuits at Moses Lake (Seattle Times, June 17, 2008)

NASA Tests Lunar Robots and Spacesuits on Earthen Moonscape (NASA website)

PREVIOUSLY:

Tomorrow's Astronauts Will Fly Economy Class to the Moon

A Self-Guided Tour at NASA Ames Research Center

How to Turn Old NASA Space Shuttles into New Modern Artwork

(IMAGES: All photos above by Jim Bates of the Seattle Times.)

Comments

[glucoseboy]

"The vehicle was originally equipped with knobby tires, [project coordinator Bill] Bluethmann said. But the scientists swapped them out for smooth versions at the suggestion of a local farmer familiar with the sandy terrain"

How much research went into tire choice and they still get it wrong??? Hope this farmer accompany the astronauts to the moon.

[Truck Bed Covers]

I enjoyed reading about the NASA Moon Truck. It goes to show how far space technology has come.