Is this how we'll go around the moon as humans? A weird rover that may take two men through the lunar landscape has been revealed by a space firm, and it looks like a huge pram.

A weird rover that may take two men through the lunar landscape has been revealed by a space firm, and it looks like a huge pram.

As a new prototype, a strange-looking lunar rover that looks like a huge pram has been revealed.

The new interplanetary rover from aerospace company Venturi Astrolab is designed to transport freight and humans.

It intends to construct a fleet during the next decade to assist NASA and private companies in establishing a presence on the moon.

The FLEX rover, which stands for Flexible Logistics and Exploration, would squat and lift packages off the lunar surface.

Rovers can move semi-autonomously and be controlled from afar, and there are high expectations that they will be utilised on Mars.

This strange-looking lunar rover resembles a gigantic pram more than anything else, but it's actually a new prototype that will take humans around the moon's surface in the future decades.

The buggy, which was created by aerospace firm Venturi Astrolab, will also be able to squat down and lift cargoes from the lunar dirt before taking them under its belly and dumping them where they are needed.

It will be designed particularly for lunar terrain and might one day be used to transport humans around Mars.

Venturi Astrolab intends to build a fleet of the rovers over the next several years in order to become the moon's "UPS, FedEx, and Uber."

It intends to assist NASA and private firms in establishing a long-term presence on Earth's sole natural satellite, but has not disclosed the cost of the rover.

The FLEX rover, which stands for Flexible Logistics and Exploration, has a'modular payload concept,' which allows it to carry a range of payloads as long as they are designed to a standard size and shape.

The buggy can be operated remotely, move semi-autonomously, and even be adapted to incorporate a crew interface, allowing astronauts to sit onboard while driving on the moon's surface.

Venturi Astrolab was founded by a group of industry-leading planetary rover and robotics professionals in Hawthorne, California.

Riding in a car: Venturi Astrolab, a California-based aerospace company, has shown a lunar rover prototype for use on the moon.

The FLEX rover, which stands for Flexible Logistics and Exploration, has a'modular payload concept,' which allows it to carry a range of payloads as long as they are designed to a standard size and shape. It has been put through its paces. Chris Hadfield (shown right), a retired NASA and Canadian Space Agency astronaut, engineer, and author who serves on Astrolab's board of advisors, participated in a five-day field test to provide comments on the vehicle's design and performance.

Historically, planetary rovers have been custom-built and launched once per decade, frequently at a cost of billions of pounds, according to the business.

Because it is built on a modular payload interface that facilitates intermodal transit, FLEX, it believes, is far more compatible with NASA's eventual goal of maintaining a sustained presence on the moon and Mars (from lander to rover and back).

'There needs to be an efficient and cost-effective transit network all the way from the launch pad to the final outpost for mankind to actually live and function in a sustainable fashion beyond Earth,' said Jaret Matthews, founder and CEO of Astrolab.

'There is now a gap in the last mile, which Astrolab exists to fill.'

Later this decade, NASA plans to send the first woman and the next man to the moon. However, the project has been beset by delays, with the launch date being pushed back from 2024 to 2025, with the trip now looking unlikely to take place until 2026, according to US space agency authorities.

Meanwhile, through their separate enterprises SpaceX and Blue Origin, billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are developing landers to transport humans to the lunar surface, as well as examining the possibility of longer journeys to Mars.

Other businesses are working on robotic vessels that will transport freight to the moon.

While SpaceX and Blue Origin work on long-distance transportation, Matthews thinks that his business, Venturi Astrolab, will'solve the local transit problem.'

Before joining SpaceX, he worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers that were flown to Mars in 2003.

Matthews and his co-founders launched their new firm in January 2020.

It has already produced a full-scale prototype of FLEX and just conducted a test drive in Death Valley in California.

Retired Chris Hadfield, a NASA and Canadian Space Agency astronaut, engineer, and author who serves on the board of advisors for Astrolab, participated in the five-day field test to provide comments on the vehicle's design and performance.

'As we go from the Apollo era of pure exploration to today, when people will be living on the moon for extended periods of time, the equipment will need to alter,' Hadfield added.

'When we establish somewhere, we need to transport more than just people; we also need to move hardware, freight, life support equipment, and other items.'

All of this is contingent on mobility. It was not only fun to operate FLEX, but it was also interesting to see its size, capabilities, and get a sense of what this rover can achieve.'

The goal is for FLEX to be able to transport as much cargo as feasible, thus the modular architecture, and Matthews compares his company's notion of an uniform payload to how shipping containers are built to certain international standards on Earth.

'We've created a payload-agnostic mobility platform that can function inside an ecosystem of transportation systems, cars, and tools,' he added.

'By being able to receive, carry, and deposit any payload that conforms to what will be a standard and open interface, FLEX achieves a wide variety of utility.'

The final rover, according to Astrolab, would weigh roughly 1,100 pounds (500 kilogrammes) and is designed particularly for lunar terrain.

The lunar night, a two-week period when the moon is plunged into darkness and temperatures can dip below -208° Fahrenheit (-130° Celsius), will be able to survive FLEX's insulation and'sufficient internal battery capacity.'

The rover will keep warm for between 100 and 300 hours near the moon's south pole throughout the night before using its exterior solar arrays to produce energy once the sun rises again, according to the corporation.

Last year, NASA issued a request for proposals for a 'lunar terrain vehicle' that may transport future Artemis humans over the Moon's south pole, and Astrolab has been in contact with NASA.