This engineering model will help NASA with the final design for the Viper lunar rover.<\/p>\n
NASA has what amounts to a moon sandbox at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The agency took a model of its new Viper rover out to play in conditions that mimic the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
\"We call this maneuver the 'Moon shimmy,'\" NASA's Ames Research Center team tweetedMonday, along with a video showing the rover wiggling its wheels in a large soil bin filled with lunar simulant.<\/p>\n
\"Test data will be used to evaluate the traction of the vehicle and wheels, determine the power requirements for a variety of maneuvers and compare methods of traversing steep slopes,\" NASA said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n
Viper stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. The rover's purpose is to wheel around the lunar south pole on a hunt for water ice, which it'll also sample. This is the same region of the moon NASA is targeting for its crewed Artemis mission in 2024.<\/p>\n
NASA has ambitious plans to return astronauts to the moon and to establish an ongoing human presence there. Local water resources could help sustain that dream.<\/p>\n
The Viper engineering model is used to test the technologies and hardware that will go into the finalized machine. NASA is hoping to deliver the golf cart-size rover to the moon in late 2022. NASA will be delighted if it receives an icy welcome.<\/p>\n
Now playing: Watch this: NASA unveils new next-generation spacesuits <\/p>\n
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See NASA's new lunar rover test out its 'moon shimmy' on Earth - CNET<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This engineering model will help NASA with the final design for the Viper lunar rover. Continue reading