The nuclear-powered PROMISE rover could map lunar terrain and search for resources ahead of future Artemis astronauts.
(Image: Nasa)Nasa is exploring an unexpected new way to strengthen its Artemis lunar exploration programme by sending a spare version of its Mars rover to the Moon.
During the agency’s latest Moon Base programme update, Nasa revealed that it is considering repurposing PROMISE, a full-scale engineering model originally built to support the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars missions, into a lunar rover capable of exploring the Moon’s south pole.
If approved, the mission would give the decades-old test rover an entirely new purpose while helping NASA prepare for a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.
From Mars test rover to lunar explorerPROMISE, short for Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration, was originally developed at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a ground-based engineering model of the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.
The nuclear-powered PROMISE rover could map lunar terrain and search for resources ahead of future Artemis astronauts. (Image: Nasa)
Nasa is exploring an unexpected new way to strengthen its Artemis lunar exploration programme by sending a spare version of its Mars rover to the Moon.
During the agency’s latest Moon Base programme update, Nasa revealed that it is considering repurposing PROMISE, a full-scale engineering model originally built to support the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars missions, into a lunar rover capable of exploring the Moon’s south pole.
If approved, the mission would give the decades-old test rover an entirely new purpose while helping NASA prepare for a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.
From Mars test rover to lunar explorer
PROMISE, short for Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration, was originally developed at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a ground-based engineering model of the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.
