Prototype Lunar Rover Explored Moon-like Surface

Space.com

Ottawa company Mission Control is developing software for the United Arab Emirates' Rashid rover that will land on the moon.  Here you can see their prototype rover, Max, exploring a simulated lunar surface.  Credit: Space.com

Transcript

00:00 Hey, it's Elizabeth Howell coming to you from Ottawa, Canada for space.com.

00:04 Check out all the snow. It hasn't stopped snowing here for months and months.

00:08 What I'm doing here today is looking at a really cool Ottawa company called

00:12 Mission Control.

00:13 They are working on an artificial intelligence system for a moon rover called

00:18 Rashid that is going to be landing on the moon in just a few months.

00:21 And right here,

00:22 I'm going to be going inside and driving a lunar rover of my own.

00:27 So be sure to follow along and I'll bring you through the adventure.

00:31 Hey folks, I'd like you to meet Max.

00:34 That's Max the lunar rover behind me.

00:37 I'm going to be filming with Max at a very short time,

00:41 learning how to drive on the surface of the moon.

00:44 Check out this simulated environment that I'm sitting in.

00:47 This is where Mission Control tests out its rovers and its

00:52 software to make sure everything is working properly. And as you can see,

00:57 the lighting, which is from a big lamp,

00:59 just in front of me is simulating those harsh shadows that you can see on the

01:03 moon. And so just right there, you can see how it's super sharp.

01:06 And it makes it a little bit more difficult to navigate,

01:10 which is exactly the point.

01:11 You want to make sure that you're doing that in the simulation before you

01:15 actually bring the hardware out into space.

01:18 Also what you see here are some rocks. Some of them are simulated,

01:23 some of them are hollow, and they have some little craters as well.

01:26 And this was designed by a geologist to try and figure out the best environment

01:31 possible to make sure these rovers are ready,

01:33 because you want to make sure you're ready for space before you actually get

01:36 there. All right, I'm going to be driving this one soon.

01:39 So I'll see you very shortly.

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