Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026

[Jessica-stormlover]

Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026
The rover's size enables it to serve as an unpressurized passenger vehicle, experimentation point, and payload delivery vehicle all at once.
By Adrianna Nine April 4, 2023

Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026

The rover's size enables it to serve as an unpressurized passenger vehicle, experimentation point, and payload delivery vehicle all at once.

www.extremetech.com

Thanks to a new commercial contract between SpaceX and aerospace startup Astrolab, the biggest lunar rover yet will hitch a ride on Starship when the rocket makes its debut trip to the Moon.

Astrolab announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with SpaceX regarding the transport of its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover. Per the agreement, SpaceX will use its super-tall Starship rocket and corresponding Super Heavy booster to bring FLEX to the Moon whenever SpaceX is ready to do so.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk initially hinted that Starship’s orbital test would occur sometime in late 2022. When that didn’t happen, he said there was a possibility launch would occur in February 2023, and if not then, sometime in March. We’ve now passed both of those windows. Although SpaceX has finally rolled Starship’s Ship 24 out to Starbase’s orbital launch pad, anything could happen between now and the rocket’s estimated April 10 liftoff.

This is so cool. I hope it drives into a moon cave!

 

[1srelluc]

Never been done before.

 

[JGalt]

Great. Maybe they'll find some buried pirate treasure on the moon to make up for the Social Security insolvency happening then.

You do know there were moon pirates, right?

 

[1srelluc]

Great. Maybe they'll find some buried pirate treasure on the moon to make up for the Social Security insolvency happening then.

Spain would claim it.

 

[JGalt]

Spain would claim it.

Then the IRS would just send an agent to their door.

 

[odanny]

 

[Jessica-stormlover]

I want to build a fucking domed city on the moon with thousands of people! I want to also have a 50 foot telescope on the far side of the moon.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

Great. Maybe they'll find some buried pirate treasure on the moon to make up for the Social Security insolvency happening then.

You do know there were moon pirates, right?

I'm as fiscally conservative as they come , but space exploration is important and may save the human race one day. Of course I believe that private industry will do a better job than the Government can in this area.

 

[Concerned American]

Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026
The rover's size enables it to serve as an unpressurized passenger vehicle, experimentation point, and payload delivery vehicle all at once.
By Adrianna Nine April 4, 2023

Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026

The rover's size enables it to serve as an unpressurized passenger vehicle, experimentation point, and payload delivery vehicle all at once.

www.extremetech.com

This is so cool. I hope it drives into a moon cave!

What happened to the one we left up there in 1969? Are the ash trays full?

 

[fncceo]

I'm as fiscally conservative as they come , but space exploration is important and may save the human race one day. Of course I believe that private industry will do a better job than the Government can in this area.


View attachment 773601

Any human in space is many thousands of times more vulnerable to disaster than any human on Earth.

If you're looking for a safe place for humans to live, an airless, zero gravity, frozen void filled with insanely hard radiation is probably not a sane choice.

 

[Concerned American]

Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026
The rover's size enables it to serve as an unpressurized passenger vehicle, experimentation point, and payload delivery vehicle all at once.
By Adrianna Nine April 4, 2023

Starship Could Carry Jeep-Sized Rover to the Moon as Early as 2026

The rover's size enables it to serve as an unpressurized passenger vehicle, experimentation point, and payload delivery vehicle all at once.

www.extremetech.com

This is so cool. I hope it drives into a moon cave!

There's already one up there. Only used once.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

Any human in space is many thousands of times more vulnerable to disaster than any human on Earth.

If you're looking for a safe place for humans to live, an airless, zero gravity, frozen void filled with insanely hard radiation is probably not a sane choice.

And all of your eggs in one basket is just as insane.

 

[fncceo]

And all of your eggs in one basket is just as insane.

You can put your eggs into the basket that has sustained us for millions of years, and in which all life we know exists in The Universe literally evolved, OR spread them around the floor of a Target on Black Friday.

My money is on the eggs in the basket.