See the HUGE Moon Rover specifically designed for Starship! Meet the Astrolab FLEX!!

Meet the Astrolab FLEX Rover up close and personal! Exclusive interview at Space Symposium in Colorado Springs!
#space #spacex #nasa
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[@stephenetridge2584]

Angry absolutely loving the channel. No recycled material with computer voice overs…all new and original content with a very human enthusiastic and informative focus. Stay angry sir.

[@NAKEDGARDENER]

You should come join us in the Discord server. Lotsa fun and even more informative content.

[@earlpelton9630]

This!

[@denniscastellanos4117]

X

[@josephshealey]

---What he said

[@classic_sci_fi]

Excellent. This is the firs vehicle I've seen with the capability of moving things around on the Moon or Mars. This kind of space 'forklift' is exactly what is needed!

[@bigjohn697791]

I think ASTROLAB has a big head start on the competition. The design is super smart. If I was a betting man my money would be on this to win.

[@direbearcoat7551]

I think they said that they were selected. One of three companies to take part. Or maybe I heard them wrong?

[@jamescobban857]

The Astrolab proposal will not fit on *either* of the landers proposed for Artemis V or VI. It is totally dependent on the SpaceX HLS and its enormous payload bay and 100 tonnes capacity. However after Artemis IV when SpaceX already will have made at least three deliveries to the Lunar surface, and paid off the cost of its customizations for the HLS, it seems likely that companies like Astrolab will have the ability to pay SpaceX for delivery without needing to go to Congress to beg for another BILLION dollars.

[@zachb1706]

@@jamescobban857they’re not taking a seperate rover for each Artemis mission. One benefit Astro Lab has is it’ll already be going to the moon for Artemis 3. Honestly it seems like be best option out of the 3 but we’ll see

[@BBBrasil]

Astrolab seem to be heavily betting on Starship. Robotic first steps on industrializing the moon fits on Elon philosophy, the best worker is no worker, put a robot there.

[@shaung949]

@@jamescobban857 The Nasa contract is for a rover that will last 10 years on the moon.

[@antonzanki8398]

With all of these amazing adaptive lunar subsystems being developed specifically for working with Starship, including the forward momentum of Starship development itself, it’s hard for me to imagine this marvelous future not happening, even if it will take longer than planned.

[@TheAngryAstronaut]

This is only the beginning. Wait until my Airbus interview. They are behind Starship 100%!!

[@stevedemarest276]

There's quite an interesting SpaceX/Starship-based ecosystem developing!

[@oscarsorensen210]

As a mechanic it makes me wonder if they'll need us on the moon! Would be an awesome job looking after a fleet of lunar vehicles

[@Subatomic_Vulcan]

With extensive knowledge of electric vehicles and computer software, I'm almost positive they'll need mechanics.

[@kendalle2744]

This is the kind of content that keeps me coming back. Great job in providing unique videos on so many aspects of space and return to the moon.

[@BBBrasil]

Daim, I love this journalism, real human on real stuff

[@catbertz]

Driving that rover looked super fun! Can't wait to see it in action!

[@michaelburke750]

15 KpH!! 15 KpS and you’re not coming back down… 😂😂😂😂

[@TheAngryAstronaut]

ROFL

[@svendrastrupandersen5866]

Great interview! Thanks! A couple of sharp angles and precise answers. That worked really well. Thank you!

[@g.f.martianshipyards9328]

It does look like a really great rover.

[@rolfjacobson833]

welcome back to colorado springs!

[@ross077]

The more I see of the Astrolab FLEX rover, the more I think it's a simple, practical design with a surprisingly high level of technical maturity at this stage of the competition.

[@antonnym214]

Thank you for your always excellent interview! The graphics are terrific and that is a very cool Astrolab Flex design! You have to love the modularity of the payload. Looks like they built a prototype for real, and not just CGI mock-ups. That airless wheel design looks a lot like Michelin's.

[@bgovero5516]

This is a great interview! I love that Astrolab has already developed, tested and iterated on multiple prototypes. They remind me a lot of Tom Mueller's Impulse Space - former SpaceXers taking the company ethos into product fields that SpaceX can't let itself get distracted by right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Astrolab, Impulse and others end up getting acquired by SpacedX down the road once SpaceX is out of the development weeds of Starship, full reusability, and fuel depots.

[@2150dalek]

This is the machine for the moon. Small, expandable, very practicle design.

[@owenwilson25]

Superb ❤ thinking in what they wanted their Rover to do, and looks like they'll successfully implement it 👍 These are the kind of people NASA needs.

[@dirgemcelvoy2583]

Great to hear the information from the horses mouth, great interviews.

[@davidhanna8470]

I bought a truck. Not because i knew what it was going to be used for, but because i ended up hauling tons of hay, pulling cars out of ditches, mudholes and snowbanks. Delivering food to snowed-in folk in winter. Hauling water. Packing the jump seat with passengers. You build it, they will figure 101 ways to use it. "Hey, astronaut Jim, looks like our Space Pizza land a few moon kilometers away..." "O.K., astronaut Chad, take the lunar rover to pick up the space pizza, the keys are on the space kitchen counter next to the spacephone." Like that will never happen.

[@tylersimplot13]

cool project

[@pedrosura]

I have been thinking about… what if they landed Starship horizontally. Made it like Space 1999 vehicle. How much easier to interact with the surface. The high CG, the elevator the lunar surface.. it all makes it very risky. Rover is very cool. I was wondering about power requirments, surviving a lunar night, the power budget for the vehicle. The requirments appear very tough to meet

[@logansmall5148]

The problem with landing horizontally is they would have to add a lot of reinforcement to it that is already in place for vertical landing. Don't know the exact numbers but it would probably be 20 tons or more of structural reinforcement to keep it from just buckling in the middle or ends. The reason to land vertically is you already have to make it strong in the vertical orientation to withstand launch and just being on the pad.

[@pedrosura]

@@logansmall5148 Sure, it would only land horizontally in 1/6 gravity with a weight 1/6 of the ship. But you could get rid of a lot of problems. Have you seen Space 1999. Thats the idea. How to guarantee a vehicle of that size does not topple over? The risk of that elevator. pros and cons for everything, no perfect solution..

[@stevengoyette3165]

I hope you get to evaluate all of them in person!

[@roypateman470]

Looks real good best one I’ve seen 👍

[@jdubruyn]

🤓Nice😎

[@stephengarrity9702]

Watch Apollo 15 and 16's footage of the rover driving and there is a constant bouncing. Two guys standing while operating the vehicle are going to be bounced around. The better have restraints to keep them from being catapulted off!

[@RichardMeret]

Great video, thanks for your hard work.

[@dhl1544]

good one.

[@realamerican5813]

This is a nice all-around rover! I am curious about which tires they will be using, b/c they showed 3 or 4 different tires.

[@NexGen-3D]

Telehandler for the moon!

[@craigmackay4909]

It’ll be quite different looking up at the moon knowing there is a base with astronauts up there 🤘🏽

[@Tinman_56]

I wish all 3 rovers end up on the moon, not only for NASA but for science in general. NASA missions are great, but the science needs to be expanded exponentially for the good of humanity 😀

[@markoconnell804]

Cool

[@johnbuchman4854]

They need to name it "El Dorado" in homage to Michael Nesmith's song!

[@Ryan-mq2mi]

Love your channel, man. Nice selection of topics and well made video. I'm new, gonna check around a bit more, and will likely show support in some way.

[@jakelynbrook]

A Luna “Low Rider.” 😮😅🇺🇸😎👍🤔🤫🚀👽🛸👌🧐😆 8:27

[@DeanIllinger]

Excellent coverage, and the Astrolab machine seems to be an exquisitely well-designed machine. Hope it does all the other requirements (survives the lunar night, makes its own power via solar, can be operated remotely) as well as it looks like it has gotten the Mobility and Payload Flexibility Nailed. If the opportunity presents itself again, ask them what they've done to mitigate the electro-statically charged lunar regolith. Apparently that's a huge must-have capability for the Space Suit developers. Deano

[@zachb1706]

A simple solution to the dust is electrically charging the outer surface of the rover. That’s what they plan on doing for the space suit.

[@JesseBusman1996]

Thanks for the great content!

[@josephezechukwu1960]

The rover makes sense 👌 love it ❤

[@aaaaa5272]

It does not make sense to me. Far too complicated.

[@NeilABliss]

A couple questions that you seem to have the inside track on being able to answer. Related to this and others. 1) How big of a Sierra space inflatable could be stowed in it's collapsed state in a Starship? 2) How big of a sierra space inflatable fits into the 1 cubic meter capacity of this rover? 3) Would the maximum size possible in both cases be related to weight, or volume? Ie perhaps a starship could carry a bigger one in its hold..but it wouldn't have the lift capacity..hypothetically.

[@brettbrewer6091]

Very cool! It sounds like they are going to do things with the suspension and controls along with computer controls that will make these far more stable then any of the Apollo astronauts could have dreamed of.

[@trespire]

So this is the Thunderbird 2 of lunar rovers ? Looks fit for purpose.

[@MuzixMaker]

They should paint it green.

[@alexlabs4858]

Get you some high quality lavaliere mics good sir. Great vid.

[@YouTube_username.]

It's a great vehicle, I wonder if the light bar is a Lara Croft jeep reference?

[@markmoore5222]

Surprised you didn't ask how to do the cool inchworm maneuver and didn't ask what the buttons do 🤠

[@you-know-who.]

They should put a fly wheel in that thing so it stays level when it gets air

[@thomasreese2816]

Seems like it wouldn't be a huge engineering challenge to make sections pop in to extend the 'legs' or 'top', once actually on the surface. Could double the height or width with relative ease to significantly increase capabilities

[@straighttalk2069]

Great video, it seems Astrolab is an offshoot of SpaceX as the CEO Jaret Matthews says he is an X SpaceX employee. I can see other SpaceX employees starting their own companies soon, one for moon habitats another for moon power plants, hydroponics, waste recycle and the list goes on. GO SpaceX.

[@Martinmack333]

did they give any ideas on how they will lower it to the lunar surface? Via the elevator? Partially assembled and then final assembly on the lunar surface?

[@espeterson522]

It looked like Chris Hadfield in the video presentation, driving the rover

[@zachb1706]

Because it was

[@johnruckman2320]

What are its limitations in terrain mobility? How about modularity and adaptability for varied functions (changeability) like some farm equipment and construction tool equipment? Could it be both wheeled and walker for more difficult terrain? Could it be adapted for mining exploration?

[@cbgardenmaryland]

"when speaceX lands"

[@ReggieArford]

Can you fit a bulldozer blade or front-end loader bucket on it? There's a big need for earthmoving equipment to set up habitation places.

[@carlosguevara5154]

joystick is good, I guess with only like 1 bottom, I guess it will be pretty hard to push those in a space suit, what can they do about it?

[@stevenlewis7669]

Is it self righting?

[@JoeShmoism]

What about maintenance and rrpair on the moon?

[@ulrichmietz8232]

As the astronauts are standing on this vehicle while driving it, is there any security thingy to keep them from falling off on bumpy terrain?

[@zachb1706]

I’m sure they would have considered that and determined it wasn’t a big issue. It only travels at 15km/h and maybe the suspension and heavy suits make it a non issue. But I’ll add that they can also sit facing the opposite direction.

[@scottyshipbuilder]

How can you get “air” on the moon?

[@stevenlewis7669]

He knows the cargo bay door size? Please do tell!

[@philpaquette6025]

aliens wont let us back on the moon any time soon

[@Ryan-mq2mi]

Interesting that they are a "startup" out of Hawthorne. He said he worked for Spacex, but you have to wonder logistically if there's some advantage to being so close to Spacex and honestly I'm asking myself if Elon/Spacex aren't kind of in on this. lol, like it's their way or making and having much influence on the design and capabilities, without it being Spacex the company itself. Hum... I used to live in Hawthorne. I was shocked Spacex set up base there. It's not like it's San Fransico, Bellevue/Redmond, Silicon Valley or something, so I have trouble believing it was independently picked as homebase to a startup.

[@merkridge8780]

How is this up against a cybertruck?

[@Edmund_Mallory_Hardgrove]

It's April 2024. There is no way Starship lands on the Moon by late 2026. A unmanned Starship flyby by late 2026 would be ambitious.

[@aaaaa5272]

What should the purpose of a flyby mission be? A crash would be better, then they at least have some raw material on the moon to work with.

[@Edmund_Mallory_Hardgrove]

@@aaaaa5272 Maybe I should have said, a flyby and return mission, and that's being very optimistic.

[@rogerveium3753]

Does it come with a moon roof?

[@zachb1706]

No rover is complete without a moon roof!

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

6:08, 6:35 wouldn't that be a little bit of sᴘᴀᴄᴇ?

[@changeagent228]

Anyone else think the wheels might be too small and dig in to the regolith?

[@tewman]

What, no lasers???

[@aaaaa5272]

Yea, we request powerful lasers!!

[@drmachinewerke1]

Just put a ev motor on a VW pan with lift shocks

[@patrickb2862]

I like it but it needs seats for long distance travel... Instead of standing

[@zachb1706]

It has seats. They show it off in the demonstration

[@patrickb2862]

@@zachb1706 no they don't have seats in this video. They show them standing up in entire video..

[@zachb1706]

@@patrickb2862 I meant in the demonstration on their KZbin channel.

[@zachb1706]

@@patrickb2862 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqTGq4psYtBkpJYm21s

[@aaaaa5272]

The rover seems far too complicated(read over-engineered). I definately prefer the Keep It Simple approach, like e.g. a tractor at which you can attach/mount different tools.

[@monkeyboy4746]

I think the cargo door on the side of the rocket will actually be used for space burials, I think that could be a revenue producer for Elon Musk, burying people in low Earth orbit.

[@kastenolsen9577]

Prediction:: Starship as a lunar lander will fail.

[@yvonnesteen2327]

I wish you were more angry about HLS not being ready in time for Artemis 3. You're kind of the lil kitty cat astronaut on that issue. 🐱

[@vensroofcat6415]

If Starship can't land on the Moon due to no mechazilla there, how do they get this large rover from orbit to surface?

[@zachb1706]

What? It will land there

[@vensroofcat6415]

@@zachb1706 you mean crash land? Starship isn't designed to land in wild spaces. It needs spaceport. It's designed that way. It will do because "but he said so" doesn't really work on the Moon. Not even on YT for most.

[@zachb1706]

@@vensroofcat6415 Starship HLS will be specifically designed for landing on the Moon, with legs that will spread its base and autostabilise, and thrusters near the top to prevent dust being kicked up. It doesn’t need a mechazilla like they plan to use on Earth.

[@vensroofcat6415]

@@zachb1706 there will also be Santa Claus and Rudolph closer to the end of the year. I'm just saying this rover is huge and there is no lander that capable yet.

[@darksars3622]

I wonder why he left space x, HMMMMMMMM

[@jonowack]

The term “getting some air” doesn’t seem to fit the moon. Since there is no air.

[@jamescobban857]

Astrolab and it's competitors are competing to deliver a single purpose vehicle for a SINGLE customer. That means they must recover many years of development costs from a single sale. That strikes me as unwise, and an unfair imposition on taxpayers. Would it not be cheaper to instead develop a version of an existing EV that is adapted to the characteristics of the Moon? That way you offload most of the development cost onto other customers here on Earth. If I were Musk I would have a team working on designing modifications of Cybertruck to make it work on the Moon. The main reason SpaceX was enabled to make the lowest bid for the HLS was because most of the development cost of Starship is being paid by *other* customers and investors, not NASA.

[@unitrader403]

not really adaptable.. suspensions of all EVs on the market are at least 6 times oversized, and if it not an adaptable suspension the springs are probably far too stiff, and the cooling systems are all inadequate, (rely on outside air) also it is not practical to get in and out of them while in a spacesuit. also *any* car on the market is far too heavy if you want to use other launch vehicles with less payload capacity. if you want that requirement the vehicle must be under 300kg. these changes make it basically a an entirely new development.

[@terrillfloyd]

Angry astronaut.How come they never showed them deploying the lunar rover when they made the moon landings and never shut them pulling it out of the lamb setting it up on folding it