Moscow. October 12. INTERFAX - The Australian Space Agency has signed an agreement with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to create a rover for exploring the surface of the Moon, which is scheduled to be sent in 2026, NASA announced on its website on Tuesday.
"The agency (NASA - IF) has signed a new agreement with the Australian Space Agency, which will help both countries in the missions of astronauts and robotics on the Moon," the report says.
"In particular, a consortium of Australian enterprises and research organizations will develop a small rover capable of operating on the lunar surface. The lunar rover will be able to extract and transfer lunar regolith (crumbled rocks and dust) to the NASA ISRU resource extraction system on a commercial lunar module. Such a rover can be sent to the moon no earlier than 2026," the release notes.
As part of the agreement, the Australian government will allocate $150 million. Technologies will be developed to help human exploration on the moon and scientific missions of both agencies. Australian experts call the development of robotic systems for working on the ground, as well as sensor and resource-extracting technologies, their main task.
With the help of ISRU, experts will try to extract oxygen from the lunar regolith. According to NASA, the lunar soil contains oxygen in the form of chemical compounds with elements like iron and silicon. Testing this technology on the rover will help in the development of larger and more powerful equipment in the future so that astronauts can use the resources extracted on the Moon to create rocket fuel and other materials and substances necessary for the mission.
