Canada’s first moon rover will quickly have a reputation because it prepares to discover a hostile lunar area

The Canadian House Company announced a competition today to name Canada’s first-ever rover mission to the moon. This unmanned mission will discover the south polar area of the moon to seek for water ice and discover its distinctive geology.

I’m a professor and planetary geologist. I’m additionally the principal investigator for Canada’s first rover mission to the moon and a member of the science team for the upcoming Artemis III mission, the primary human journey to the moon since 1972.

A Canadian first

It’s nearly two years to the day that Canadensys Aerospace Company and its crew was chosen to construct the Canadian lunar rover.

This mission is vastly important as a result of it is not solely the primary rover that Canada will ship to the moon, however it is going to be the first-ever Canadian-led mission to a different planetary physique.

Whereas Canadian know-how has made it to the surface of the moon and Mars earlier than, it is at all times been on missions led by different nations.

Not that it is a dangerous factor: science is barely potential by collaboration. But it surely’s a testomony to the caliber of Canada’s house group that, for the primary time in historical past, we’re within the driver’s seat.

Canada’s first rover mission is actually a team effort. Supporting Canadensys are seven Canadian firms that can construct varied elements of the rover and its science devices.

I’m proud to steer the science crew, which incorporates school and college students from six Canadian universities in Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia. Consistent with the spirit of collaboration in house, we even have a number of scientists from the USA and the UK on our crew.

One of many science devices can be being supplied by the John Hopkins College Utilized Physics Laboratory, supported by NASA. In return, Canada will get a launch from NASA.

What’s in a reputation?

Each mission wants a reputation, however not every little thing is equal on the subject of naming spacecraft. Satellites, for instance, are sometimes named in a really practical means—like Radarsat, Canada’s flagship satellite tv for pc program.

On the subject of rover missions, nonetheless, NASA has been selecting inspirational names for the reason that early Nineteen Nineties with its first Mars rover, Sojourner. Then got here alongside Spirit and Opportunity in 2004 adopted by Curiosity eight years later.

The newest arrival on Mars was Perseverance in 2021, which is at present rising from a deep meteorite influence crater referred to as Jezero.

NASA’s aim in naming its rovers is to encourage curiosity in science, know-how, engineering and arithmetic (STEM); this has undoubtedly been a huge success.

The connection to rovers has additionally turn into deeply private, evident within the outpouring of grief when Oppy—the nickname given to NASA’s Alternative rover—was declared “dead” in 2019.

The European House Company adopted swimsuit with its vastly common animated stories for the Rosetta mission—the primary mission designed to orbit and land on a comet—that depicted its Philae lander with a backpack and yellow helmet.

4 potential names

The names of NASA’s collection of Mars rovers are inspirational and seize the hunt of exploration. In distinction, the Apollo and Artemis applications and plenty of different house missions had been named after figures in Greek mythology. Different mission names have historic connotations; some additionally allude to the tradition and values of the nation main the mission.

For Canada’s first moon rover, the Canadian House Company has provide you with a shortlist of 4 potential names that conjure up varied traits of Canada in addition to capturing the spirit and objectives of the mission:

1. Athabasca—A well-known river that flows from the Rockies by Alberta to Lake Athabasca. Canada’s rivers have been used for millennia and proceed to be pathways of discovery, transport and change.
2. Braveness—A reputation that will be consultant of the work that has led to the Canadian lunar rover mission.
3. Glacier—Not solely are glaciers related to the polar areas of Canada, however one of many objectives of the rover mission is to seek out water ice on the moon.
4. Pol-R—A phrase play on polar. Canada is a polar nation and the rover mission will probably be touchdown within the south polar area of the moon.

The online voting form to call Canada’s first rover mission to the moon is open till Dec. 20, 2024.

The work continues

As our crew waits for Canadians to decide on the identify of our mission, we’re laborious at work on all facets of its design and implementation.

In June, we acquired the inexperienced gentle for our preliminary design evaluate geared toward assessing whether or not the unique design met all the necessities set forth by the federal government of Canada, and that the dangers, price and schedule, had been all acceptable.

We’ve not chosen a straightforward mission for Canada’s first journey to the moon. We’re going to one of the hostile areas of the lunar floor: the South Pole. Due to this, our rover should survive very lengthy and chilly lunar nights, the place the temperature can drop beneath -200°C for as much as 14 Earth days.

We additionally should pack all of the {hardware}, plus our six science devices, into the rover, which is the scale of a small espresso desk and weighs solely 35 kilograms.

I not too long ago supplied an replace on the science of our soon-to-be-named mission on the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy. Along with speaking about our science devices, I additionally delved into the three fundamental goals of the mission:

1. To research the geology of this distinctive area of the moon the place, up to now, no human or robotic has ever been.
2. To seek for water ice, a serious discovery within the a long time for the reason that Apollo missions. The moon was regarded as devoid of water, however satellite observations recommend deposits of water ice could also be current on this polar area. However we’d like boots on the bottom—or wheels, in our case—to substantiate these satellite tv for pc observations.
3. To check the radiation surroundings of this area in preparation for the return of people to the moon.

Canada’s lengthy involvement in house rovers

Over the previous 20 years, the Canadian House Company has funded the development of a collection of prototype planetary rovers starting from small so-called nano-rovers to large machines able to carrying two astronauts. Our new lunar rover has plenty of heritage behind it.

If not for the delay to the launch of the European House Company’s ExoMars rover mission, initially scheduled for 2022, Canada would have already had wheels on Mars. The wheels, chassis and drive practice for the Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover was built by Canada’s MDA Space. Launch is now set for 2028.

Canada has additionally set its sights on a a lot larger moon rover. Introduced within the 2023 federal budget, Canada goals to construct a lunar utility vehicle that can assist to move cargo, carry out science investigations and assist astronauts on the moon.

This rover will probably be a serious contribution to the NASA-led Artemis program. Following the flight of Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on the upcoming Artemis II lunar flyby mission, the Lunar Utility Car, Canadarm3 and different Canadian contributions to the Artemis program will guarantee a Canadian will at some point stroll on the moon.

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