Moses Lake chosen for lunar vehicle test

MOSES LAKE – NASA sees enough similarities between Central Washington’s landscape and the moon’s that it’s testing a prototype of a lunar vehicle here this summer.

NASA is preparing to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 to build a lunar outpost. As part of that preparation, it’s testing a prototype of a 1-ton lunar truck called the Chariot.

NASA expects to begin testing the vehicle near the Grant County ORV Park on June 2 or June 3 and finish about 12 days later, said Lucien Junkin, a robotics engineer and the design lead with the Johnson Space Center.

A dry run of the Chariot is being conducted this week at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a less harsh environment than Moses Lake, Junkin said.

NASA scouted sites around the country before picking Moses Lake. The city was selected because of the room it offered and because the sandy surface in Grant County is somewhat like the lunar surface, Junkin said.

“We just want to stress that hey, this is America’s vehicle,” he said. “We thank everyone in Moses Lake. They need to come out and see what we’re doing and ask questions.”

At times, space-suited crew members will be walking around conducting mock science experiments. They will also run tests on leveling ground with the Chariot, which will have a bulldozer blade attached to it.