Camera Phones Plaza

NASA has presented several lunar vehicles over the years, but all of these could only fit 2 or 3 persons. If we ever get to build bases on the Moon or Mars, how are we going to transport stuff or larger groups of people from one place to another? We need bigger vehicles. For this particular reason, NASA has just came up with a large vehicle design – the Moonstream.

Getting help from a young designer, NASA managed to adapt the sports utility vehicle design to the rough terrain found of the Moon or Mars. By scaling up the spidery walking legs of NASA’s ATHLETE rovers, the massive Moonstream is believed to be capable of slowly but smoothly traverse Mars’ uneven surfaces with a giant payload of people and hardware.

Moonstream is a sort of Godzilla compared to the Phoenix rover that landed on Mars a week ago. Moonstream’s pilot navigates from a separate, elevated pod at the front of the vehicle, while the rest of the crew can chill in the comfy main cabin, furnished with all the amenities you would expect in a Martian tour bus.

The designer explains that he was inspired by nature’s wonders, citing the turtle shells and the stance of giraffes as eloquent sources. But the image above doesn’t quite prove that. Moonstream appears to be some sort of giant DLP projector on wheels. Anyhow, this vehicle is supposed to be used in the near-future Moon and Mars exploration missions.