NASA has posted a video of testing the chassis of the smallest commercial lunar rover
In October at the NASA Space Center. Kennedy began testing the smallest commercial lunar rover created by Astrobotic Technology. The lunar rover is being created under the CubeRover program, which will lead to the emergence of inexpensive planetary reconnaissance vehicles, as happened with CubeSats in the field of creating small and inexpensive satellites. To date, CubeRover has passed over 150 mobility tests and has shown good prospects.
The CubeRover Astrobotic rover is being tested in a bunker that simulates the lunar surface with an abundance of dust and rocks. Tests are carried out both on the rover’s ability to make manoeuvres of varying degrees of complexity, and on the reliability of protecting the nodes from dust. Manoeuvring capability is tested on 11 sets of wheels with different ground contact profiles.
It is assumed that CubeRover will become an assistant in the exploration of the moon during the third phase of NASA’s Artemis mission in 2024 when astronauts are planned to land on the surface of our planet’s natural satellite. A small rover will not take up much space in the luggage of astronauts, and at this stage in the development of astronautics, every gram of payload will remain critical.
The dimensions of the CubeRover, we recall, are about 45 cm with a weight of 4 kg. Undercarriage design and manoeuvrability will be important, but not critical, challenges. Protecting electronics, motors and batteries from cold temperatures during long moonlit nights will be more challenging. The developers promise to solve this problem within the next two to three years.
