So imagine traveling over 380,000 km from home and only being able to explore a few meters
from your airplane seat.
That’s something the Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin encountered
in their historic 1969 mission to the lunar surface.
During their 21 hour and 36-minute stay on the moon, the two astronauts only traveled
about 90 meters from their Eagle lander, collecting small samples for their return to earth.
Now fast forward 50 years, where NASA’s Artemis program is looking to travel up to
10,000 km with the next generation of lunar vehicles.
In July 2020, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) & NASA formed the Joint Exploration
Declaration of Intent, or JEDI.
Needless to say, we think the force will be pretty strong with this lunar rover.
In order to design this new lunar rover, scientists and engineers are looking to learn lessons
from the past; with goals of creating a vehicle that could go further, be more energy efficient,
and adapt to the unknown lunar terrain.
The very first lunar vehicle to be utilized was the Lunar Roving Vehicle, or LRV for short
in 1971.
But, you might also know it as the Moon Buggy, named for its design similarities
to a Dune buggy.
This 4-wheel, aluminum alloy unpressurized, electric vehicle was built in just 17 months
and cost approximately 38 million dollars.
Having a way for astronauts to move safely around the lunar surface
and return to their lander quickly, was a huge leap forward.
This vastly help to extend the exploration radius, allowing Apollo 15 astronauts to travel over
27 km, which is way more than what Apollo 11 astronauts did.
But at the end of their rides, they still had to return to a pressurized environment.
And having access to a place where you’re allowed to breathe is obviously a major factor
in determining the exploration range for astronauts.
That limitation, coupled with the fact that the O.G. moon buggy wasn’t that durable,
meant that NASA had to rethink the rover.
In the late 2000’s, NASA proposed a concept for a futuristic space vehicle known as the
Lunar Electric Rover or LER.
It was set to be the first pressurized, 6-wheel omni-drive lunar vehicle,
enabling astronauts to go on longer research exploration missions.
It was customized with a mobile workspace and other really cool features like a shower
and a Suitport allowing the astronauts to get in their space suits from inside the vehicle.
This was implemented because lunar surface contamination was a real issue in the Apollo
program and sometimes dust could damage the instruments
or even get into an astronaut’s lungs.
The LER prototype made a public appearance at the Obama inauguration as well as performed
several test runs in the Arizona desert.
It seemed to hit everything we were looking for: distance, energy efficiency, and adaptability.
However, the LER never actually made it to the moon, the program was canceled in 2010
as a part of the larger Constellation Program because of delays and over spending.
Now, let’s start talking about the new and improved vision from JEDI.
Not only does this agreement bring two major players to the table, but it also describes
the plans for both Lunar Gateway and lunar surface exploration.
This is an absolutely huge accomplishment considering JAXA has already begun developing a self-driving,
pressurized lunar rover, with the help of a major car company.
Surprisingly, I’m not talking about Tesla.
Instead, Toyota is helping us ditch the concept of inflatable tents and underground bases,
as we look at pressurized mobile space vehicles.
The brand new rover, nicknamed the “Lunar Cruiser”, looks like the first pressurized
space Winnebago and will help us explore new parts of the moon.
According to JAXA, this massive 6-wheeled vehicle will be crewed by two astronauts but
will be able to fit four in case of an emergency.
And, unlike the Moon Buggy, which utilized two 36 volt batteries to zip around the moon,
the Lunar Cruiser will pack some serious power by utilizing fuel cells, allowing crews to
explore the lunar surface for up to 14 days with a maximum range of 10,000 km!
Some early concepts have even shown the Cruiser with a large rollup solar panel
for some additional power.
Although JAXA and Toyota are mainly relying on simulations and concept data right now,
their plan is to work toward a full-scale prototype by late 2021 with hopes of launching
a flight model in the latter half of the 2020’s.
Even though we currently don’t know a whole lot about the new Lunar Cruiser outside of
a few amazing concept drawings and some simulation data,
this next generation lunar vehicle could revolutionize off-world exploration as we know it!
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