Keep Roving

In preparation for the first crewed lunar mission in half a century, NASA is prototyping a new Moon rover — and it looks like some pretty distinctly Earth-bound vehicles.

Announced in a NASA press release, the new Ground Test Unit (GTU) is currently in development at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

As photos of the prototype in action show, it’s already been taken for a joyride by some big names: astronaut Kate Rubins, the first person to ever sequence DNA in space, and Apollo 17 pilot-turned-senator Harrison “Jack” Schmitt.

Those photos also show that the lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) looks, for some reason, a lot like a mix between a tractor and a golf cart — and the agency didn’t mention why, exactly, it was built to look that way.

Private Partnership

Though there’s little explanation about those visual references, NASA did explain how this LTV prototype, which will never be sent to the Moon, was built.

Earlier this year, the American space agency contracted three private companies — Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab — to create components for the GTU.

“The Ground Test Unit will help NASA teams on the ground, test and understand all aspects of rover operations on the lunar surface ahead of Artemis missions,” NASA engineering lead Jeff Somers explained in the press release. “The GTU allows NASA to be a smart buyer, so we are able to test and evaluate rover operations while we work with the LTVS contractors and their hardware.”

Designed to carry two astronauts, the GTU also has additional capabilities allowing for it to be operated remotely, which makes it sort of sound like it can be “summoned” a la Tesla.

Because we’re curious, Futurism has reached out to NASA to ask if either tractors or golf carts were used as references for this GTU prototype — and we’re hoping the answer will be yes to both.

More on NASA’s lunar ambitions: Scientists Outraged at Canceled NASA Moon Mission Plead Congress to Reconsider