Tests of a VIPER prototype (Image: NASA)

A new lunar rover is under development by Lockheed Martin
and Goodyear as NASA gears up for a return to the moon.

Unlike the rover first used during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971,
built to last only a few days and for short trips, the new lunar
vehicle is being built for extended use. And this time, it’s not
just for NASA.

Aside from Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio, and Lockheed
Martin, MDA of Canada will provide its commercial robotic
arm technology for the vehicles.

The companies anticipate having their first vehicle on the
moon’s surface at the same time as NASA’s mission, planned
for 2025.

Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene A. Cernan makes a
short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the early
part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity.

On June 3, 1965, Ed White became the first American to walk in
space when he ventured outside the Gemini capsule into the
vacuum of the cosmos. He was among NASA’s Astronaut Group
2, an elite group of nine astronauts selected for the Gemini
program.  (Space)

Edward Higgins White II
(November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967)

While in orbit 170 miles above Earth, Navy Captain Bruce McCandless
II became the first human being to perform an untethered spacewalk, when he exits the U.S. space shuttle Challenger and maneuvers
freely, using a bulky white jet pack of his own design.

Bruce McCandless II (Byron Willis McCandless)
(June 8, 1937 – December 21, 2017)

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Tyrus Raymond Cobb
(December 18, 1886– July 17, 1961)

(Nicknamed The Georgia Peach)

At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong (above),
240,000 miles from Earth, spoke these words to more than a
billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar
landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to
walk on the surface of the moon.