AutoBiz: General Motors to Create NASA’s LTV
This is not the first-time car manufacturing company General Motors is working with NASA
A few days ago, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration agency (NASA) announced that car manufacturing company General Motors and aerospace company Lockheed Martin will collaborate to create a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for NASA’s Artemis mission.
The senior vice president of General Motors, Alan Wexler commented on the new project by saying, “General Motors made history by applying advanced technologies and engineering to support the Lunar Rover Vehicle that the Apollo 15 astronauts drove on the Moon. Working together with Lockheed Martin and their deep-space exploration expertise, we plan to support American astronauts on the Moon once again.”
Apart from developing the rovers, General Motors will work on autonomous driving systems to ensure the astronauts’ safety during the mission. Not to forget, the autonomous abilities of the vehicle will also help the astronauts collect samples of the moon surface with ease.
This is not the first time General Motors is working with NASA. Earlier, the company manufactured, tested, and integrated navigation and inertial guidance systems for the Apollo Moon program that comprised the Apollo 11 mission and the landing of humans on the moon in 1969. Not to forget, the company also assisted the space agency to develop the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The Lunar Terrain Vehicle that the two companies are to design will help the space agency explore the unexplored southern part of the moon which is usually cold, dark and comprises a treacherous terrain.
Shedding light on the collaboration between the two giants, Rick Ambrose, the executive vice president at Lockheed Martin said, “This alliance brings together powerhouse innovation from both companies to make a transformative class of vehicles. Surface mobility is critical to enable and sustain long-term exploration of the lunar surface. These next-generation rovers will dramatically extend the range of astronauts as they perform high-priority science investigation on the Moon that will ultimately impact humanity’s understanding of our place in the solar system.”
Moving on to the Artemis program, NASA is aiming to send astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972. The mission is scheduled to take place in 2024 and NASA firmly believes the two mega-corporations will be able to design lunar rovers that will enable the astronauts to cover a large area of the lunar surface, especially the south pole of the moon.