NASA recently introduced three new all-electric vehicles designed to transport the next generation of lunar astronauts to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center. These eco-friendly minivans, crafted by California-based EV startup Canoo Technologies, can accommodate four astronauts wearing their launch spacesuits. In addition to the astronauts, the vehicles will also carry essential personnel like a spacesuit technician and specialized equipment needed at Launch Pad 39B for NASA’s crewed Artemis moon missions.
The first in this series, Artemis II, is scheduled for November 2024 and will take four astronauts on a fly-by of the moon. According to NASA’s Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the collaboration with Canoo focused on ensuring both safety and comfort for the crew on their way to the launchpad. He expressed confidence that the new vehicles would instill a sense of pride in everyone involved in the Artemis missions.
Historically, NASA used “Astrovans” for transporting astronauts during the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, shuttling them from the crew quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the launchpad. While the route to the launchpad remains the same, the mode of transport has evolved with current technological advancements.
In the coming year, these new electric vehicles will be used for astronaut training exercises at the spaceport. By the time Artemis II launches in 16 months, the vehicles will play a crucial role in ferrying the astronauts to the SLS rocket. This marks the beginning of the first crewed lunar flight in fifty years, with the astronauts then boarding the Orion spacecraft.
A successful Artemis II mission will set the stage for the first crewed lunar landing since 1973 and pave the way for establishing a permanent astronaut base on the moon. This base is envisioned as a launch site for the first human mission to Mars. The journey, starting in an electric vehicle on Earth and culminating in a Mars lander, promises to be an extraordinary adventure.