NASA has revealed in some photographs the new electric vehicles that will transport its astronauts.
Not everything at NASA is ships and space shuttlesOddly enough, the US space agency also uses common vehicles to transport your staff. This is now news after the organization has made public that its astronauts from the Artemis mission they already have your new CTV transport vehicles available.
A few days ago, in an official statement made by Tiffany Fairley, from NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center, she let everyone know that the space agency had received her fleet of vehicles manufactured by Canoo Technology Inc from Torrance, Calif. As detailed, and could be verified by a photo which was attached, have been delivered a total of three vehicles.
Totally electric, zero emissions and respectful with the environment, that’s how they are
The Crew Transportation Vehicles (CTV) as ExtremeTech has called them are three oval-shaped cars decorated with the official insignia of NASA and the Artemis program. Apart from this, and as has been made public, the vehicles are fully electric hence generate zero emissions and they are respectful with the environment.
For the rest, and looking a little at his characteristicsthis fleet will be able to transport each a maximum of four astronauts with their Space suits, as well as support staff, including a special suit technician. In addition, in other compartments, space has been left for crew members They can carry special equipment and their own belongings.
Although the change of transport of astronauts in NASA doesn’t seem important, the truth is that at a symbolic level it is. The first thing is that with the appearance of these vehicles CTV says goodbye definitely to the well known and famous Astrovans. A van adapted for transporting the astronauts to the ship, which was long and naturally ran on gasoline.
The second thing is that with this addition to your vehicle park the NASA sends a message. Apart from space exploration and sending crew members to stations that orbit around the earthis also committed to the shift towards a better management and respect for the environment.
NASA has three shiny new vehicles to add to its crew transport fleet!@canoo delivered three custom-built electric SUVs to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center that will be used to transport Artemis crews to the launch pad for each mission. pic.twitter.com/CylqMOYnR9
— Space Explored (@space_explored) July 12, 2023
The truth is that CTVs have come to stay and it is expected that we will see them when the space agency is finally encouraged to launch Artemis II. A program that already has experiencedUnfortunately, numerous delaysalthough there is talk of the end of 2024 for it to finally start up. We will have to wait.
On the other hand, if you have loved CTV, you should know that the canoo company He plans to put them up for sale, although there is still no firm release date. As ExtremeTech has commented, the prices of these vehicles will start from the $39,950 on “Delivery” models smaller than those used by NASA. So it is to be expected that the identical models those that will transport the astronauts cost more.