Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) are collaborating on a new lunar vehicle for NASA to use throughout their upcoming Artemis space missions to the moon.
"Surface mobility is critical to enable and sustain long-term exploration of the lunar surface. These next-generation rovers will dramatically extend the range of astronauts," Lockheed Martin executive vice president Rick Ambrose stated in a press release.
Earlier in the year, NASA told many of their companies that they "require a human-class rover that will extend the exploration range of" astronauts throughout missions for the agency's Artemis program. The NASA program, which was announced by the Trump administration and continued on by President Joe Biden, is composed of many missions to the moon's orbit and surface in the upcoming years.
NASA's desire to have a next-generation lunar vehicle made note that they should use the most modernized, latest technologies, such as electric vehicle systems, autonomous driving, and hazardous terrain capabilities.
Lockheed Martin stated that their next-generation lunar vehicle is "being designed to traverse significantly farther distances to support the first excursions of the moon's south pole, where it is cold and dark with more rugged terrain."
Artemis astronauts will go farther than any astronaut has ever dared to venture and look more into the Moon's surface than ever before to explore crucial scientific findings. This type of mobility is a giant step toward empowering and maintaining long-term explorations of the lunar surface. The science that will be conducted by the Artemis astronauts will aid NASA in coming to a greater grasp of the fundamental planetary processes that align our solar system, and will help us to more strongly comprehend and protect the Earth.
"These next-generation rover concepts will dramatically extend the exploration range of astronauts as they perform high-priority science investigation on the Moon that will ultimately impact humanity's understanding of our place in the solar system," said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Space.
The collaboration between Lockheed Martin and General Motors has made strong leeway in the sense of creating a development plan for a NASA rover on an Artemis mission. The lunar vehicle has been specifically designed to cover cold and dark surfaces, where no astronaut has ever dared to go. In the same way, the teaming of Lockheed and General Motors has made a new accomplishment toward NASA's rover, in ways that many would not expect or think.