How Artemis Astronauts Will Traverse The Moon

How Artemis Astronauts Will Traverse The Moon

Around half a century ago astronauts landed on the Moon and struggled to get around. Between the available technology and the pressurized spacesuits, they could barely walk without falling. Relative to Artemis, these initial Apollo missions were quick and could get away with a lack of mobility. However, on NASA’s upcoming missions to the lunar surface, astronauts will have more ways to move than ever before.

Days ago NASA provided new details on its next-generation Lunar Terrain Vehicle or LTV. It’s meant to allow astronauts to go farther and conduct more science as they explore the south polar region of the Moon during Artemis missions. Combine this with new modern day spacesuits designed specifically for this application and the experience will be very different.

Here I will go more in-depth into the new lunar vehicles, exactly how they will work, what to expect in the coming months, and more.

New Lunar Vehicle

During the last three Apollo missions, 15, 16, and 17, astronauts used the Lunar Roving Vehicle or LRV. This battery-powered buggy built by Boeing, had a mass of 462 pounds (210 kg) without payload. It could carry a maximum payload of 970 pounds (440 kg), including two astronauts, equipment, and cargo such as lunar samples, and was designed for a top speed of 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h), although it achieved a top speed of 11.2 miles per hour (18.0 km/h) on its last mission.

Each LRV was carried to the Moon folded up in the Lunar Module’s Quadrant 1 Bay. After being unpacked, each was driven an average of 30 km, without major incident. As of today, these three LRVs remain on the Moon. To put in perspective the importance these vehicles played, one Apollo 17 astronaut was quoted saying, “The Lunar Rover proved to be the reliable, safe, and flexible lunar exploration vehicle we expected it to be. Without it, the major scientific discoveries of Apollo 15, 16, and 17 would not have been possible; and our current understanding of lunar evolution would not have been possible” he said.

Despite these comments and what the rovers provided, they were far from perfect and built on relatively short notice. Only four days ago on the 26th NASA tweeted saying, “History making missions will require a next generation ride. @NASA is seeking proposals from industry for a LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) that will transport astronauts across the Moon to explore during #Artemis missions: “

Specifically, Artemis astronauts will drive to explore and sample more of the lunar surface using the LTV than they could on foot. NASA will contract LTV as a service from industry rather than owning the rover. The process of contracting services from industry partners allows NASA to leverage commercial innovation and provide the best value to U.S. taxpayers while achieving its human spaceflight scientific and exploration goals. “We want to leverage industry’s knowledge and innovation, combined with NASA’s history of successfully operating rovers, to make the best possible surface rover for our astronaut crews and scientific researchers,” said the manager of NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility program.

The LTV will function like a cross between an Apollo-style lunar rover and a Mars-style uncrewed rover. It will support phases driven by astronauts and phases as an uncrewed mobile science exploration platform, similar to NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers. This will enable continued performance of science even when crews are not present on the lunar surface. Artemis astronauts will use the LTV to traverse the lunar surface and transport scientific equipment, extending the distances they can cover on each moonwalk.

Under the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services request for proposals, NASA has provided requirements for companies interested in developing and demonstrating the LTV, including an approach that encourages companies to produce an innovative rover for use by NASA and other commercial customers for multiple years. Engineers will be able to operate the LTV remotely to transport cargo and scientific payloads between crewed landing sites, enabling additional science returns, resource prospecting, and lunar exploration. This will expand scientific research opportunities on the Moon during uncrewed operations, allow scientists to investigate future surface mission locations, and inform research goals and objectives for each site. 

In order to handle the unique environment near the lunar South Pole, which includes permanently shadowed regions and extended periods without sunlight, the LTV will need to incorporate several systems to support different operations. Some of the more critical systems include advanced power management, semi-autonomous driving, state-of-the-art communication and navigation systems, and protection from the extreme environment.

As part of the proposals, companies are required to provide end-to-end services, from development and delivery to the lunar surface, to execution of operations. Each rover must be able to carry two suited astronauts, accommodate a robotic arm or mechanism to support science exploration, and survive the extreme temperatures at the lunar South Pole. The company will be asked to successfully demonstrate the LTV in the lunar environment prior to using it in a crewed capacity.  

Increased Mobility

While these Lunar Terrain Vehicles will play an important role, NASA expects crewed operations beginning with Artemis V all the way in 2029. Prior to crew arrival, the rover will be used for uncrewed and commercial activities once it lands on the lunar surface. Proposals for the LTV services contract are due July 10, 2023, with the contract award scheduled for November 2023.

What this means is that there will be a few different crewed missions first before they have access to this specific vehicle. Thankfully, lunar vehicles are not the only piece of hardware upgraded for the upcoming Artemis missions. As partially mentioned prior, spacesuits are another important piece of equipment that have a significant effect on an astronaut’s general mobility. During the Apollo missions, astronauts could barely pick something up or move like a normal human. Videos of the missions show countless clips of astronauts falling or jumping around like a bunny as they attempted to get from point A to B. If they did fall over then it was a struggle to get back up.

Late last year, Axiom Space announced it was awarded the first task order under its NASA Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) Contract. Under the $228 million task order, the Houston-based company will commence the development of next generation astronaut spacesuits to support the Artemis lunar missions.

Just over 1 month ago the new spacesuit was revealed in the form of a prototype with a full fleet of training spacesuits to be delivered to NASA by late this summer. The spacesuit will provide astronauts with advanced capabilities for space exploration while providing NASA commercially developed human systems needed to access, live and work on and around the Moon. The advanced spacesuit ensures astronauts are equipped with high-performing, robust equipment and is designed to accommodate a wide range of crew members.  

Leveraging NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit design, the Axiom Space spacesuits are built to provide increased flexibility, greater protection to withstand the harsh environment and specialized tools to accomplish exploration needs and expand scientific opportunities. Using innovative technologies, the new spacesuit will enable exploration of more of the lunar surface than ever before.

The company points out that spacesuits perform at the edge of exploration, so mobility and agility are core to the AxEMU design. In a quote they said “Utilizing innovative soft and hard joints for an increased range of motion will enable astronauts to walk on the Moon more effortlessly, perform more precise geological and scientific tasks, and translate on space stations easier, all while maximizing comfort. An agile architecture enables our AxEMU to meet the needs of individual, commercial, and government customers with a broad set of requirements, resources, and mission objectives. Tailored to those needs and developed to last, the suit can be maintained on orbit, reducing the time and cost required to operate missions that deliver results to benefit the future of robust innovation in low-Earth orbit and beyond.”

In terms of continued use, they describe it as a cost-effective multipurpose spacesuit, built for any mission, designed to be safer and more agile while meeting the rigorous requirements for each environment with minimal changes. It utilizes features to withstand the dusty environment of the lunar surface and maintain critical interfaces that enable safe and effective extravehicular activities in microgravity. They also built it around the astronaut mitigating single-point failures by integrating redundant components optimized to keep the user safe while they return to the spacecraft. All of which meant to help facilitate the next group of astronauts and eventually a base on the Moon.

Conclusion

NASA just announced a contract opportunity for companies to create the future Lunar Terrain Vehicle. With exploration a main focus of the Artemis missions, this hardware will be crucial in traversing the surface of the Moon. With the addition of modern spacesuits, it should not only be much easier but also safer. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.