Astrobotic's MoonRanger rover a step closer to lunar mission

On the 52nd anniversary of the day Apollo 11 blasted off and headed for its historic moon landing, Astrobotic has taken a “giant leap” toward its own moon landing.

The Pittsburgh-based aerospace company has announced the autonomous rover MoonRanger it partnered with Carnegie Mellon University to create, has passed another NASA review and is in the final stage of preparation for its mission to the lunar South Pole in 2022.

By passing what NASA calls its “Key Decision Point” (KDP) review, MoonRanger’s cost, schedule, and technical design are now considered viable, meaning it’s been greenlighted to go ahead with its mission.

Built to be no bigger than a small suitcase, MoonRanger will map the moon’s surface using a Neutron Spectrometer System. It will search for evidence of water ice up to a meter beneath the lunar surface. Its small size and mass gives MoonRanger the kind of mobility needed to explore lunar pits, investigate magnetic swirls and deploy instruments on the moon’s surface.

Water would be an important natural resource the U.S. could utilize if it decides to build a base on the moon. Using visual odometry with a stereo camera system and a sun sensor, the rover can orient itself on the lunar surface as it conducts its search.

“MoonRanger will be the first truly autonomous micro-rover on the lunar surface,” said Joe Zimo, Astrobotic’s lead systems engineer for planetary mobility. “It is designed to map its surroundings and make intelligent navigational decisions based on what it sees.”

Two years ago this month, NASA’s Lunar Surface and Instrumentation and Technology Payload program awarded a $5.6 million contract to Astrobotic and its partner, CMU, to develop an autonomous lunar rover.

MoonRanger’s next major milestone comes in Feb. 2022 with what NASA calls a System Integration Review. After that, the rover will be fully assembled, tested, and integrated with a lunar lander.

“This is an ambitious mission with a relatively miniscule budget when compared with past rover missions of similar scope,” said Zimo. “I commend our team for developing such a capable, meaningful system and mission.”