Wireless Wednesday Live: Nicola Buck, Chief Marketing Officer, Castrol

Rick talks with Nicola Buck of Castrol about Castrol's role in a lunar exploration mission.

The mission is a collaboration between Castrol, Lunar Outpost and MIT Media Lab

The first ever commercial rover to explore the surface of the moon is due for its lunar landing within the coming days. On Monday March 10th, within days of the anticipated lunar landing, key talent behind the joint mission will be available for interview.

Have a watch:

The joint mission, involving Castrol, innovative space start-up Lunar Outpost and MIT Media Lab is forecast to land on the lunar South Pole onboard the IM-2 lunar lander, named Athena.

The mission involves Lunar Outpost’s MAPP (Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform) Rover, the first ever commercial rover to land on the Moon and AstroAnt, the smallest ever robot to be involved in lunar exploration.

The MAPP Rover, will be the first Rover to reach the Lunar South Pole, make the first collection and sale of space resources in human history and also deploy the first cellular network on another planetary body.

As it explores the lunar landscape collecting soil samples and drilling into the moon’s surface it will deploy the tiny AstroAnt robot from its ‘garage’ on top of the rover. The same size as a toy car, AstroAnt will move around on top of the rover collecting thermal data and measurements.

AstroAnt has been designed to perform tasks in space by MIT Media Lab in collaboration with Castrol and if the lunar test proves successful it could pave the way for the use of swarms of AstroAnts capable of inspecting and diagnosing the status of future spacecraft, rovers and landers.

The lunar south pole region is regarded as a compelling place for future exploration missions and even a potential location for a future manned lunar outpost. These machine-driven missions are designed to pave the way for astronauts to return to the lunar surface, as NASA plans to do as soon as 2027.

MAPP Rover & AstroAnt have undergone extensive testing on a mocked up lunar surface as well as mountainous areas of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands where surface conditions and extensive lava tubes are one of the most moon-like surfaces found on earth. (included in supporting B-Roll)

Through this collaboration, Castrol is providing advanced space-grade lubricants developed to withstand the extreme environment of the lunar surface. This ensures the AstroAnt robot’s motors continue to function as it sits on top of the Rover and collects thermal data and measurements, enabling the team at Lunar Outpost’s Mission Control to monitor its performance and ensure that it is operating effectively.

Castrol has worked in the space industry for over seven decades on everything from the Apollo missions to the Space Shuttle program and the International Space Station. Its unique space-grade lubricants keep space mechanisms moving in the most extreme vacuum environments, where failure is not an option.

See more at www.castrol.com.