NASA plans to send a nuclear-powered rover to the Moon’s South Pole in late 2028 to scout for water ice and other resources ahead of its first Moon base.
The agency laid out the mission on its page for the rover, called PROMISE, short for Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration. The SUV-size vehicle will be built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for a late-2028 launch and an 18-month primary mission.
Built from Mars rover parts
PROMISE will be made largely from proven hardware that supported NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers, including electronics, body structure and the driving system from a duplicate version of Curiosity used as a test bed. Power will come from a flight-spare nuclear generator, known as an MMRTG, which lets the rover work through frigid lunar nights and inside permanently shadowed craters where scientists believe ice may be preserved.
A scout for the Moon base
A commercial cargo lander will deliver PROMISE to the South Pole. Its instruments include a drill to pull up soil from about three feet down to study water ice, spectrometers to analyze its chemistry, temperature and radiation sensors, and cameras. NASA calls the mission part of the first phase of its Moon Base program, a series of robotic missions to scout, experiment and prepare for astronauts to live and work on the surface.
In plain words: This rover is due to launch in late 2028 to scout for water ice near the Moon’s South Pole before astronauts arrive.
JBizNews Desk | Pasadena, California
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