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Moonstream Rover Could Finally Make Yuppies Happy On Mars
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 11:30 AM on June 5, 2008
A young designer has adapted one of man's greatest achievements - the S.U.V. - to the Martian landscape. By scaling up the spidery walking legs of NASA's ATHLETE rovers, the massive Moonstream would be able to slowly but smoothly traverse Mars' uneven surfaces with a giant payload of people and hardware.
The Phoenix straining its wiry little arm to scrape some ice off the ground isn't a terribly impressive expression of NASA's billions, but the Moonstream looks forward to a time when the space program's spending will be a little more apparent. The pilot (or conductor, or driver, or Mum) navigates from a separate, elevated pod at the front of the vehicle, leaving the rest of the presumably large crew to do whatever they want in a cushy main cabin, furnished with all the amenities you would expect in a Martian tour bus.
The designer claims to have taken cues from nature, citing the turtle shells and the stance of giraffes as inspirations. To be completely honest though, it looks like a DLP projector with wheels. Anyway, all this Phoenix talk just serves to remind everyone how lame it is that we aren't driving around on Mars already, and the Moonstream wouldn't be a bad way to do it.
[Anthony Sims via DVICE]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
pneublet
Posted 11:53 AM 5/6/08
As much as I like seeing work from Art Center on your page, let's get some of the product design department on here.
pneublet
Kaiser-Machead
Posted 11:50 AM 5/6/08
@ChoadNamath: Yeah poo-poo to you too. I plan to go to Cape Canaveral to hiss at shuttle launches.
Kaiser-Machead
OMG! Ponies!
Posted 11:49 AM 5/6/08
@strider_mt2k: Is that Darth Vader doing "Squish Your Head"?
OMG! Ponies!
strider_mt2k
Posted 11:47 AM 5/6/08
@ChoadNamath: I find your lack of faith disturbing...pinchy pinchy....
strider_mt2k
pevans34
Posted 11:46 AM 5/6/08
That will be a spectacular achievment, should any of us live to see it. that would make the moon missions look like beer runs in comparison.
anyway dibs on top bunk
pevans34
ChoadNamath
Posted 11:42 AM 5/6/08
Um, yeah, when it comes to space, you kind of want things to be small and light... Building a vehicle that can traverse the Martian surface is trivial compared to the engineering it takes to get it there.
ChoadNamath
DanyBrancho
Posted 11:39 AM 5/6/08
i guess martians use macbook air's (check Pic #3)
DanyBrancho
Technogen
Posted 11:37 AM 5/6/08
0 chance of being made any time soon, thats way to heavy for something for us to send to mars.
Technogen
SuperCollider
Posted 11:34 AM 5/6/08
This is like Mass Effect's Mako with standing room. I love it!
SuperCollider
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 12:25 PM 5/6/08
More yummy Nasa/Moon posts please, oh-boy oh-boy oh-boy, Mmmmm.... (rubbs tummy)
MagnoliaBoy
sharkilepsy
Posted 12:24 PM 5/6/08
did someone say Johnnycab?
sharkilepsy
Kaiser-Machead
Posted 12:22 PM 5/6/08
@turi319: People need frontiers. Without them, we sort of implode.
Kaiser-Machead
turi319
Posted 12:18 PM 5/6/08
why the sudden interest in space again? did they find gas up there?
turi319
bluesdealer
Posted 12:05 PM 5/6/08
Someone already beat me to the "Mako" label.
bluesdealer
skittlzncombos
Posted 12:03 PM 5/6/08
@ChoadNamath: It will be light....once it gets there!
skittlzncombos
Barry99705
Posted 12:44 PM 5/6/08
@turi319: Not that it would matter. It would cost too much to get it back to earth to be worth while.
Barry99705
DeadWriter
Posted 12:53 PM 5/6/08
What do you mean "exact fare only"!
I left my wallet on Earth!
DeadWriter
USMarty
Posted 12:52 PM 5/6/08
add some 24"'s on there and I'm in.
USMarty
DeadWriter
Posted 1:32 PM 5/6/08
I meant to post the following in this thread:
Where have I seen this design before?: Moon Patrol
+ Watch video
DeadWriter
Ragnaroknroll
Posted 1:55 PM 5/6/08
Why does everyone think we have to make it here and send it there? The ideal scenario would be to manufacture it there once we've colonized it, in the future... when all of us are dead and can't have one. Ah, crap.
Ragnaroknroll
skittlzncombos
Posted 1:47 PM 5/6/08
@DeadWriter: Count me in on that one.
skittlzncombos
JordyT
Posted 2:02 PM 5/6/08
Sorry, but this makes no sense whatsoever. The reason for the rover wheel configuration is to handle the surface at it's scale. When scaled up a standard 'Range Rover" type vehicle would be more than enough to handle the martian surface, no need to have 6 spider legs on a slow moving shipping container like this..
JordyT
John Herrman
Posted 2:34 PM 5/6/08
@JordyT: It's just a concept, but I got the impression that the legs would allow it to keep level (moving very slowly, of course) so as to make the onboard lab and living quarters usable. It's not as much a transportation device as it is a Mars mobile home.
John Herrman
DirtySocks
Posted 2:31 PM 5/6/08
A giant projector on wheels?
DirtySocks
Maxwells_Nylon_Hammer
Posted 2:28 PM 5/6/08
@JordyT: Have you seen any of the pics that have come back from Mars? It's damn rocky up there. [www.daviddarling.info]
You can't use a "Range Rover" configuration because it needs axles and differentials which adds weight and gets smashed up from stuff banging into it as it goes underneath.
In this configuration the motors are in the hubs so you've got big rims to accommodate them. You also get 6 wheel drive and skid-steer steering so it can turn in it's own length.
As for the giant round hole in the side? I guess that's to stop air from building up inside the cabin.
Maxwells_Nylon_Hammer
heroineworshipper
Posted 3:10 PM 5/6/08
A lot easier to draw the pictures than actually do it. Let's stick to drawing pictures.
heroineworshipper
Yeebles
Posted 5:28 PM 5/6/08
@DanyBrancho:
It is there to remind people of earth. You know, of air and all.
Yeebles
Bloodboiler
Posted 9:03 PM 5/6/08
That's nice. Now make it so that it can be packed in less than one cubic meter that weights 150kg or less. Or fail my design for reality course.
Actually, you already failed by designing a buss when small two person pickup truck would be far more useful.
Bloodboiler
Geisrud
Posted 11:09 PM 5/6/08
I've seen a lot of turtles in my day, and I've never seen one that looks like that. And a six wheeled giraffe?
I must have flunked my 6th grade field trip to the zoo.
Geisrud
1timeonly
Posted 12:26 AM 6/6/08
it's good to see oscar mayer finally breaking into future tech advertising....
1timeonly
liquidsoapdispenser
Posted 12:04 AM 6/6/08
Clearly a rip-off of the starring vehicle in the 1976 TV show, Ark II
+ Watch video
liquidsoapdispenser
Gann
Posted 12:30 AM 6/6/08
You gotta love the complete lack of visible systems, when our current space equipment is all functionality. I guess in the future, Jobs gets bored and starts designing for Nasa. And that wooden slab table in the last pic must weigh a ton at least. I hope it's from martian wood, because that would cost a fortune to bring from Earth.
Gann
ideaman2020
Posted 1:00 AM 6/6/08
I want to see spinning rims and purple lights that spell out "JUICY".
Oh, and at least 10 Bluray players on board...
ideaman2020
icegnome
Posted 1:46 AM 6/6/08
I don't mean to kill the party..... But if we're bringing giant cars to mars... why wouldn't we bring a bulldozer and put in one of those ... oh I don't know... those things we use here... make things smoother.... oh yeah... a ROAD?
icegnome
SeattleTed
Posted 2:48 AM 6/6/08
We're gonna fly to the effing moon to go for a drive.
SeattleTed
bxstrb
Posted 4:09 AM 6/6/08
that is one giant webcam
bxstrb
furt1v3ly
Posted 5:46 AM 6/6/08
Fenders. It needs fenders. Without fenders it is just a giant dust-cloud generator. 1/3g on Mars or 1/6g on the Moon, either way the front wheels just seem designed to cover the view-port window with dust. The first moon buggy had fenders... they figured this stuff out in the 50s. Get with the program!
furt1v3ly
AdolfSatyr
Posted 6:52 PM 5/6/08
You say, "The Phoenix straining its wiry little arm to scrape some ice off the ground isn't a terribly impressive expression of NASA's billions..." Shooting a robot 36 million+ miles into space and having it hit its target, safely land, and send critical data so we can get this SUV up there some day? I call that impressive.
AdolfSatyr
spec24
Posted 11:48 PM 5/6/08
Haven't these idiots heard of things like a Jeep or a Hum-Vee? Billions of dollars spent on upscaling a stupid tiny rover to solve the problem of traversing Mars when people here on Earth in their garages have already solved these problems. This kind of design is fine for a very tiny, unmanned vehicle, but it's absurd and the designer is an idiot. Talk about keeping your costs up.
spec24