NASA has found promise for its moon mission in the spare parts and test models of the rovers sent to Mars. PROMISE is the name of its planned new rover destined for the moon’s south pole.
The rover is part of a new push from NASA, including investments and contract awards, that will help the agency put people on the moon.
NASA will build the rover PROMISE from components and test vehicles on Earth that serve the current rovers on Mars: the Perseverance and Curiosity. NASA said the technology and hardware can withstand the Moon’s icy south pole environment by using nuclear power.
“Using proven hardware, software, and Mars rover operation approaches significantly reduces cost and enables integration and testing of the complex PROMISE rover on a shorter timeline,” the agency said in a news release. “NASA has assessed the compatibility of the hardware with the lunar environment and determined it can tolerate the harsh conditions found near the Moon’s South Pole.”
The agency plans to send PROMISE to the moon in 2028 for an 18-month mission. The vehicle will investigate potential landing sites on the south pole, drill and collect lunar dust and explore the terrain. In addition to the drill, NASA said the vehicle will have “spectrometers for analyzing the chemical composition of surface material, temperature and radiation sensors, and visible-light cameras.”
Blue Origin was awarded a base contract with NASA for PROMISE, “with an option period worth an additional $140 million based on performance to deliver PROMISE to the lunar South Pole.”
The agency also announced other awards for moon and Earth transportation services. These awards will help with Orbital Transfer Vehicles, or OTVs, vehicles that have been compared to freight trucks.
“To demonstrate those capabilities, NASA awarded six task orders as part of the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. The awards were given to Arrow Science and Technology, Blue Origin, and Impulse Space to integrate and transport Moon Base cargo.”
To further work and development on the moon, NASA also plans to gather parts for a Mini-Communications and Solar Tower, or minicast. The companies hired for that include Redwire, Yank Technologies and Blue Origin’s Honeybee Robotics.
The agency also expanded the next phase of its commercial program to deliver equipment and supplies to the moon. These new CLPS 2 contracts are with the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
NASA selected eight companies to help with future moon deliveries: Blue Origin, SpaceX, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, iSpace US, Lockheed Martin Space, Voyager Technologies and Northrop Grumman Space Systems.
According to NASA, “the CLPS 2 framework is a 10-year, multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity master contract with a combined maximum value of $10 billion.”
NASA also increased the value of the current CLPS 1.0 contract from $2.6 billion to $4.2 billion “to support initial Phase One Moon Base objectives.”
