Canada’s first-ever lunar rover is tasked with finding water ice on the moon, which could eventually enable longer lunar missions.
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The first Canadian vehicle to land on the moon is still under construction for its planned mission in 2026. During its mission, it will travel through the moon’s south polar region to find water ice in the ground.
“Water is one of the most important resources we can look for, because the less we need to bring from Earth, the more we can use there, and the less it costs to go to the moon and potentially build longevity.” presence,” said Chris Herd, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta and one of the scientists involved in the mission.
The mission will focus more on the moon’s permanently obscured southern region, as these areas act as “cold traps” for the presence of water ice.
“Any kind of surrounding water vapor is attracted and then trapped in these cold areas,” Herd claimed.
“We will be able to use […] mostly Canadian tools with contributions from NASA and not the other way around, he added. Our American partners are also very excited as this is a new way of doing things for them and we have been good partners in space exploration for years.”