A Vehicle That Can Carry Cargo and People on the Moon Has Been Developed

Humanity’s space exploration continues unabated. In the past days, we have reported that the US army plans to send satellites to ‘patrol’ the lunar orbit to ensure the safety of spacecraft for space missions. In addition, within the scope of space exploration, many countries and companies are planning to organize commercial and scientific missions to the Moon and Mars in the coming years, and they are considering establishing colonies to maintain our existence there.

As you can imagine, superior technologies are needed to perform these missions successfully and to provide safe transportation in places with different gravity than Earth, such as the Moon and Mars. Now, a step has come from a US-based company in this regard. Venturi Astrolab aerospace company introduced a vehicle that can be used in future Moon and Mars missions.

Able to carry cargo and people on the Moon’s surface

According to the news, Venturi Astrolab; He unveiled a brand new rover he calls FLEX, which is planned to be used to transport cargo and people on the surface of the Moon and eventually Mars. In the statements, it was stated that it is planned to create a fleet of these vehicles, which are planned to be used in NASA and commercial space missions, in the future, while it was noted that FLEX may be of great importance for the long-term existence of humanity on the Moon and Mars.

According to the explanations, this rover, which has been developed in accordance with the surface of the Moon for now, can lift loads from the surface by ‘crouching’ and carry it with the help of a part in its body. It is also among the statements that FLEX, if it can be built in the required size and shape, can carry different types of loads, have the feature of semi-autonomous maneuvering, can be remotely controlled and allow the crew to travel on it.

Astrolab CEO, Jaret Matthews, also stated in his statements that the goal of the vehicle and the company is to help efforts to send humans back to the Moon. In addition, Matthews stated that companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have solved the long-distance vehicle problem, and they are working on transportation and logistics problems on the surface of places such as the Moon and Mars.

FLEX will be the Uber of the Moon

In addition, a prototype of the vehicle has been produced; It was also among the news that this prototype was tested by Chris Hadfield, a former astronaut working for the company in California, USA. In the continuation of the explanations, Matthews stated that they created FLEX by choosing a modular design that is suitable for continuous updating and customization, to enable it to carry as much cargo as possible. Noting that they learned important lessons from the prototype tests, the CEO added that the final version of the vehicle should have a weight of 500 kg as well as a very strong and solid hardware.

Finally, it is stated that FLEX will be designed for the cold nights of the Moon and will have features that allow it to stay warm for 100 to 300 hours with sufficient battery capacity. In addition, it is reported that the rover can generate energy using solar energy and can be sent to space by rockets and landing vehicles. CEO Matthews also humorously says that FLEX could be the UPS, FedEx, and Uber of the Moon.