Recommended reading

Portrait of a moon buggy | Space photo of the day for May 19, 2025

News
By published

Though it will never fly to the moon, NASA's test unit for a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) is helping inform the design and development of the commercial rovers now vying to go there.

an eight-wheeled moon buggy with a spacesuited astronaut at its controls is seen in a building with its lights turned on.

NASA's prototype for a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) is seen lit in white and blue in an award-winning photograph. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Stafford and Helen Arase Vargas)

NASA's prototype for a lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) glows in this 2024 portrait.

What is it?

As NASA plans to return humans to the moon as part of the Artemis program, the space agency is looking at how to enable astronauts to work on the lunar surface at the south pole. Those efforts included the design of an unpressurized rover prototype, known as the ground test unit.

The eight-wheeled prototype was used to evaluate different rover concepts, leading up to and through the April 2024 selection of three companies — Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab — to supply lunar terrain vehicles (LTV).

“The Ground Test Unit [helps] NASA teams on the ground test and understand all aspects of rover operations on the lunar surface ahead of Artemis missions,” said Jeff Somers, engineering lead for the ground test unit in October 2024. “The GTU allows NASA to be a smart buyer, so we are able to test and evaluate rover operations while we work with the LTV contractors and their hardware.”

Where is it?

The Ground test Unit was designed, developed and tested at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. This photo was taken inside the West High Bay Tower of Johnson's Building 49.

Why is it amazing?

Well, don't take our word for it — photographers Bill Stafford and Helen Arase Vargas were awarded third place award for this portrait of the ground test unit as part of NASA Headquarters' 2024 Picture of the Year contest.

Want to learn more?

You can read more about NASA's needs for an unpressurized moon rover and the selection of U.S. companies to build lunar terrain vehicles (LTV).

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Robert Z. Pearlman
Robert Z. Pearlman
collectSPACE.com Editor, Space.com Contributor

Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.