Roo-ver to fetch lunar soil in human habitat moonshot
It’s one giant leap for Australia’s space program, with a lunar rover named Roo-ver to be built in Australia for a mission to collect moon soil.
Australia's moon rover has been named Roo-ver after the Australian Space Agency put four possible names to a public vote. Photo: Australian Space Agency
Roo-ver was picked for the lunar vehicle’s name, as the Australian Space Agency sets out to produce an Australian-made, semi-autonomous rover as part of NASA’s Artemis program later this decade.
The name beat out three other finalists, including Kakirra, submitted by Hamilton Secondary College, which is the Kaurna word for Moon.
NASA scientists will attempt to extract oxygen from the soil Roo-ver recovers on the moon, which could be a giant leap towards a sustainable human presence.
Weighing about 20kg and roughly the size of a check-in suitcase, the rover is likely to land in the moon’s South Pole region and will operate for a fortnight, or about half a moon day.
Two Australian consortiums are working on Roo-ver prototypes that the space agency will choose between for the moon mission vehicle.
The AROSE consortium, which includes Nova Systems Jim Whalley as a director, and the EPE and Lunar Outpost Oceania consortium each received $4 million as part of stage one of the Trailblazer program under the Moon to Mars initiative.
Australian Space Agency head Enrico Palermo said the mission will provide the nation with significant expertise and new technical skills that can be brought back to improve industries on Earth.
“Investing in missions like this lifts our whole nation – it makes our economy stronger and industries more advanced, it lifts our standing on the global stage, it keeps our brightest talent here,” he said.
“You cannot underestimate the value of what’s happening before we even get to the moon.”
The Adelaide-based space agency will also announce a $1 million funding injection for two Australian space companies, to develop more efficient solar cells to power satellites and innovative propulsion systems for small satellites.
The projects will help address climate change and the transition to a net-zero economy, while driving productivity through innovation, Palermo said.
“Not only do these projects have the potential to support future global space missions, they have applications that can be spun back down to Earth to help us respond to some of our greatest challenges like climate change.”
– with AAP
