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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Astrobotic wins NASA award to produce small lunar rover [spaceflightinsider.com]

Astrobotic, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, has been selected by NASA to receive a Phase II SBIR award to develop a small lunar rover capable of carrying on small scale science and exploration on the Moon and other planetary surfaces.

Astrobotic's CubeRover [astrobotic.com] should weigh in at approximately 4.4 lbs (2 kg). It is designed to utilize its lunar payload delivery service to provide NASA and potential other customers accessibility to the lunar surface at a very low cost.

Following up on the success of Cubesats, the deployment of which opened up satellite access to non-government entities such as smaller scale companies and universities, it is hoped that the CubeRover will use a standardized architecture allowing other members of the space exploration community to develop new systems and instruments that are all compatible with the CubeRover's architecture.

See also: Astrobotic ready to become delivery service to the Moon [spaceflightinsider.com]

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