NASA plans to put men and first woman on moon by 2024 and Adelaide could be a key part of it

Adelaide scientists are helping NASA’s Artemis Mission to return men, and the first woman, to the moon. by the mid-2020s.

Sarah Cannard is an Adelaide engineer crunching numbers to help support an international mission that wants to put the first woman on the moon.

NASA’s Artemis Mission plans to return men and the first woman to the moon by the mid-2020s in order to establish a sustained and safe presence there.

So that can happen though, unmanned moon vehicles must be able to prepare the moon’s surface with infrastructure to support landing and other activities for a lunar life.

Dr Cannard is leading a federally-funded feasibility project that this week began to develop the pilot concept for a remotely-operated moon construction rover, which could be used in the Artemis Mission and others.

Dr Sarah Cannard is part of the Australia Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE) founding member Nova Systems at the University Gallery at MOD, on North Tce. Picture: Keryn Stevens

The lead engineer is based in Adelaide as part of Australia Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE) founding member Nova Systems.

“In the 1960s and 70s, we had the Apollo era of missions and now we are about to go into the Artemis era – we will be the Artemis generation so that we can have a sustained presence on the moon and a launch pad to explore the solar system, especially Mars,” Dr Cannard said.

“We have an opportunity to be part of this and create history.”

But, she said, much like building a house, someone needed to do the groundwork and prepare the foundation first for the Artemis Mission.

“The construction rover we are hoping to develop will help establish basic, but essential foundational services for landing and instrumentation sites … and to support lunar infrastructure activities,” she said.

It would also collect and deliver soil and loose rocks for critical research. The feasibility project is expected to finish next year.

“In the 1960s and 70s, we had the Apollo era of missions and now we are about to go into the Artemis era – we will be the Artemis generation so that we can have a sustained presence on the moon and a launch pad to explore the solar system, especially Mars,” said Dr Cannard.

“We will be part of history if we can get this project up and running in Adelaide,” she said.