Washington, September 16 (ANI): NASA has concluded two weeks of
technology development tests on two of the agency’s prototype
lunar rovers. “These tests provide us with crucial information
about how our cutting edge vehicles perform in field situations
approximating the moon,” said Rob Ambrose, Human Robotic Systems
project lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We
learn from them, then go back home to refine the technology and
plan the next focus of our research,” he added. The annual
studies featured an intensive, simulated 14-day mission. Two
crew members, an astronaut and a geologist, lived for more than
300 hours inside NASA’s prototype Lunar Electric Rover. The
explorers scouted the area for features of geological interest,
then donned spacesuits and conducted simulated moonwalks to
collect samples. The crew also docked to a simulated habitat,
drove the rover across difficult terrain, performed a rescue
mission and made a four-day traverse across the lava. Throughout
the test, the crew provide