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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNasa Administrator Jared Isaacman, with acting Associate Administrator Lori Glaze and Moon Base Program Executive Carlos Garcia-Galan, holds a news conference on updated plans for the agency\u2019s Moon Base initiative for a long-term lunar presence, at Nasa headquarters in Washington, DC, the United States, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) awarded two companies contracts on Tuesday to develop 21st-century versions of the moon buggies astronauts drove in the Apollo missions of the early 1970s.<\/p>\n
Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado, and Venturi Astrolab of Hawthorne, California, will each receive about US$220 million to build the vehicles.<\/p>\n
Carlos Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n, who heads Nasa\u2019s program to build a moon base over the coming decade, said the space agency wanted to have a rover ready on the moon when the next astronauts arrived. That could be as soon as 2028, when the mission known as Artemis IV is scheduled to touch down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely an objective,\u201d Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n said during a news conference on Tuesday that provided an update on Nasa\u2019s plans for building an outpost on the moon.<\/p>\n
The two new rovers \u2014 what Nasa calls lunar terrain vehicles, or LTVs \u2014 will be much more capable than their Apollo predecessors. Each will weigh about 1 metric tonne, will have the capability to drive up and down 20-degree slopes and will be able carry two astronauts. When no astronauts are around, the rovers will be able to drive themselves around, or drivers on Earth could take the wheel remotely.<\/p>\n
Both vehicles have more modest designs than what Nasa had originally sought four years ago. At that time, Nasa asked companies to make proposals for what was essentially a 10-year rental car service on the surface of the moon. The LTV requirements then included a robotic arm and a top speed of 9.3 miles per hour (mph). But in 2024, when Nasa announced the finalists, which included Lunar Outpost and Astrolab, the space agency said that only one winner would be selected and that it did not expect the vehicle to be ready until 2030.<\/p>\n
When Jared Isaacman became Nasa administrator this year, he decided to scale back the requirements and speed up the schedule. The required top speed is lower, at 6.2 mph; the robotic arm has been dropped; and instead of a 10-year contract, Nasa is now asking for it to last just a year.<\/p>\n
That will allow astronauts to take moon drives sooner. \u201cI have no doubt they\u2019ll come back and give us feedback that will inform\u201d the design of improved vehicles in the future, Isaacman said.<\/p>\n
For Lunar Outpost and Astrolab, the accelerated timeline led to a mad dash to come up with new designs to squeeze into Nasa\u2019s new specifications, which were released in late March. Proposals were due May 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to put together a really credible response, because we had done so much work in the prior phase,\u201d Jaret Matthews, CEO of Astrolab, said in an interview.<\/p>\n
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Nasa displays newly unveiled lunar base project models from Blue Origin, Lunar Outpost and other companies during a news conference on updated plans for the agency\u2019s Moon Base initiative for a long-term lunar presence, at Nasa headquarters in Washington, DC, the United States, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)<\/p>\n
The two companies now have to race again to build the rovers in 18 months. But Justin Cyrus, CEO of Lunar Outpost, pointed out that the lunar vehicle used by the Apollo astronauts was developed in just 17 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we have one more month than they had during Apollo,\u201d Cyrus said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be tight, but it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nasa also announced that Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, had been awarded a contract worth up to $468 million to take the rovers to the moon.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Nasa also awarded a $75 million contract to Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, to carry four robotic drones, under development at Nasa\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, to provide reconnaissance of the lunar surface in the south pole region, where the Artemis astronauts will land.<\/p>\n
Those drones will be able to quickly hop from one place to the next.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will help us build a digital terrain map of different landing sites on the moon and prospect moon base sites,\u201d Garc\u00eda-Gal\u00e1n said. \u201cSo, all of those things are going to be critical for continuing understanding of where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n