We have talked to you on countless occasions about the vehicles and robots that roam the Martian soil, but this type of invention also exists on the surface of the Moon. One of the curiosities that perhaps you did not know is that currently the unique rover that runs through our satelite this made in China. NASA recently presented its VIPER rover, which claims to be the ‘mapper’ of the Moon before humans set foot on it again. However, it seems that a students group they could be faster than the American organization.
Leaving NASA on its home turf, this is the curious Iris rover
Recently, thanks to the information published in Bloomberg, we have learned about the work of a group of students of the Carnegie Mellon University. As they explain in the tweet that we show you below these lines, the rover they have created, if everything goes according to plan, will be the first American lunar robot, the first planetary rover created in a university and the first planetary ‘nanorover’. This Iris rover has been designed and manufactured by almost 300 studentswho intend to get it off the ground heading to the moon the next May 4th.
We’re @CarnegieMellon‘s Iris Lunar Rover going to the Moon at the end of 2021!
? First American mole mobile robot
? First university planetary rover
? First planetary nano-roverThanks in advance for the ride @astrobotic and @ulalaunch! pic.twitter.com/1ioj3QlzgD
— Iris Lunar Rover (by Carnegie Mellon University) (@cmu_iris) May 17, 2021
If you have ever seen an image of a rover, you should know that Iris is nothing like the large vehicles created by space agencies. This rover from Carnegie Mellon University has the size approximate of one shoe box and weighs about 2 kilograms, which can make it the smallest and lightest exploration vehicle that has ever traveled on the Moon. This built in carbon fiber and the main reason why it is so small is so that it can be part of a private flightin this case by the company Astrobotic Technologywhich will carry 14 payloads on its next flight.
The exact price the university has had to pay for the Iris rover to board the Astrobotic Technology flight is not known, but the Total budget of the project has amounted to more than 700,000 euros, which have been funded in part by the university and also by private donors and a crowdfunding campaign. Almost 1,000 people have contributed to the fact that Iris has been created and travels to the Moon and that is why they will be represented in the form of a text file inserted inside the rover.
The iris abilitiesyes, they are not comparable to those of other vehicles, since the rover only has a front and rear cameras. Its movements on the lunar surface will not be easy, since it does not have sensors, only a antenna to cast live signalto locate yourself correctly and detect objects, but in exchange, you will have the opportunity to do detailed photographssince it will be centimeters from the ground.
Founder Dwight D Eisenhower Foundation date 07-29-1958 Alternative name National Aeronautics and Space Administration Number of employees 18000