NASA works on the Artemis Program, that will seek not only to return human beings to the Moon, but also to do so permanently. The multimillion-dollar investment by the United States government includes other details, as electric vehicles to transport astronauts.
They are vans with enough width so that Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Gregory Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen can transfer with their suits to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, before traveling to our natural satellite.
Canoo Technologies he was in charge of creating these strange electric vehicles, officially named Crew Transport Vehicles (CTVs) with designs that make them resemble spaceships.
“We are thrilled to be a part of the Artemis missions and to deliver NASA’s first zero-emissions-built mission crew transport vehicles,” said Tony Aquila, president and CEO of Canoo.
“This is a very proud day for Canoo and all of our partners who have worked hard to ensure that we meet our part to transport astronauts for the first nine miles of each launch.”
This is NASA’s electric cars for the Artemis Program
Following the style of a 7-seater van from the Canoo company, each car is fully equipped, with all the comfort for the transfer to the SLS mega-rocket. Although they do not specify it in the press release, it has a range of 321 kilometers of autonomy, with 350 HP.
on the outside, the cars are white with black rims, and are emblazoned with both the NASA logo and the Artemis Program logo.
The distance between the base and launch pad 39B is 6.8 kilometers, and thanks to Canoo Technologies it will be possible to travel with the greatest comfort, each astronaut ready with their Orion Crew Survival System, the space suit for Artemis.
NASA’s Artemis II Mission is expected to launch in 2024, which will transport Koch, Glover, Wiseman and Hansen to orbit of the Moon, to return immediately to Earth. A year later, they will step on the surface of our satellite, following the path blazed by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 Mission.