Mobility is what the Apollo astronauts found out. The Apollo lunar rover changed how astronauts could explore the lunar surface.
The major scientific discoveries of Apollo 15, 16, and 17 would not have been possible without it.
As NASA refines its plans for the return of humans to the Moon, commercial companies are contributing to the range of options that will be available for transportation across the lunar surface.
Chris Hadfield shared his experience driving a new rover called the FLEX in this video. Hadfield drove the rover across a landscape reminiscent of the Moon or Mars near Death Valley, California. Hadfield says in the video that the rover is fun to drive.
The vehicle can drive two astronauts for eight hours, with enough energy capacity to survive the extreme cold of a lunar night, up to 300 hours in total darkness, according to information from the company.
Astrolab wants to design, build and operate a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity's presence in the Solar System.
FLEX has a cargo capacity of about the same as a light-duty pickup truck. It will.
The company says they are developing FLEX to support human operations, robotic science, exploration, logistics, construction, resource utilization, and other activities critical to enabling a sustained human presence on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The future of human space exploration on the Moon and Mars will be dependent on surface mobility.
There is more info on the FLEX rover here.
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