NASA's Lunar Mission to Feature First Astronaut-Robot Collaboration

NASA has selected the Lunar Outpost Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform, or MAPP, to be the first robotic rover to operate on the Moon alongside astronauts. MAPP will assist in characterizing the surface plasma and behavior of lunar dust, which is critical for astronaut safety and mission success.

Nicky Fox, NASA's associate administrator for science, stated that deploying science instruments on the lunar surface is part of NASA's effort to create an interplanetary survival guide for human explorers.

Justin Cyrus, founder and CEO of Lunar Outpost, noted that this mission marks their seventh contracted mission, showcasing their capability to provide mobility and robotics in support of lunar research.

The Artemis II mission, set to launch in 2026, will test the Orion crew spacecraft with four astronauts flying near the Moon, followed by Artemis III in 2028, which aims to land humans on the Moon for the first time in over 50 years since Apollo 17.