And another rover! Monaco-based company Venturi Space announced that it has teamed up with American company Astrolabe to design a new lunar rover. It will be used to test key technologies for their rover intended for astronauts on the Artemis mission.
Venturi and Astrolab jointly designed the rover. Flax which must be deposited on the moon by the starship’s first lunar flight. This rover May well be selected by NASA to transport astronauts for Artemis missions from next decade. And to check out the technologies Flaxthey created. flip over (Flex Loaner Innovation Platform)).
A prototype to test key technologies
put FlaxVenturi has developed a new wheel suited to lunar and Martian conditions. Recently, Venturi also developed a new battery to allow the rover to survive the lunar night, which corresponds to 15 days on Earth. The company also manufactures chassis, avionics, solar panels used for power supply, communication systems and SoftwareSoftware Piloting
So that the first demonstration of the mission Flax As risk-free as possible, designed by Venturi and Astrolabe. flip overwhich will specifically test the wheels, batteries and allow them to learn how to operate on the moon. The design of flip over presented to the public this Tuesday at the International Congress ofAstronautAstronaut is MilanMilan.
Towards take off next year?
When Rover flip over Will it ride on the moon? We ignore it. flip over Capable of carrying up to 30 kg of scientific equipment or experiments. But the primary mission is to demonstrate the technology.
To go further, Futura asked Antonio Delfino, director and co-founder of Venturi Space, a few questions.
Futura: The keyword for this mission is TRL. what is it
DF : TRL [pour Technology Readiness Level] There is a technology maturity index that ranges from 0 to 9. “9” means airworthiness. We are at level 6 for the wheels, a little less for the battery. The goal of this mission is to reach 9.
Futura: What’s left to do to hopefully start next year?
DF : The technologies we test with. flip over Be as simple as possible, or take those that have already been tested a lot. The goal is to be ready by June 2025.