Axel rover
Company Name: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
Potentially available for future missions
Planned Mission(s): Moon Diver (Cancelled)
First Mission Launch: Proposed for 2025 (cancelled)
Payload Delivery Locations: First mission was planned to land at Tranquillitatis Pit in Mare Tranquillitatis
First Mission Lander: To Be Announced
Rover Mass: To Be Announced
Rover Dimensions: Wheel Height - 0.9 m, Rover Width - 1.5 m
Payload Bay - Available Mass: The rover will carry at least three instruments inside the wheels, with space available for more.
Power Source Type: The lander provides mechanical support, power, and communication with the rover through its tether.
Power Generation and Usage: The lander provides mechanical support, power, and communication with the rover through its tether.
Communications Available: The lander provides mechanical support, power, and communication with the rover through its tether.
Expected Working Duration: One lunar day (≈14 Earth days)
First Mission Rover Manifest:
1) Enhanced Engineering Camera (EECAM) is a trio of high-resolution cameras to capture the macroscale and microscale morphology and of the regolith and near and far pit walls with 20-megapixel colour stereo images.
2) An Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS, based on the Mars Science Laboratory mission) to measure the elemental composition of both regolith and lavas.
3) Multispectral Microimager (MMI) to characterize grain, vesicle, and crystal size as well as capture spatially resolved mineralogy.
4) The rover also carries a surface preparation tool, which creates a fresh, flat surface for the instruments to examine when needed.
5) The rover houses a winch on board, which pays out the tether as it rolls across the surface and rappels into the pit. The rover would carry up to 300 m (980 ft) of tether, so however far the bottom of the cavern is, Axel should be able to descend deeply enough.