KSC-2012-3271

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – This overhead view of the prototype rover Artemis Jr. for NASA’s Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction, or RESOLVE, project was taken in a test facility behind the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and provides a clear view of its solar array, as well as the placement of the ramps that provide it with an avenue to mount or dismount the prototype lander beneath it. RESOLVE consists of a rover and drill provided by the Canadian Space Agency to support a NASA payload that is designed to prospect for water, ice and other lunar resources. RESOLVE also will demonstrate how future explorers can take advantage of resources at potential landing sites by manufacturing oxygen from soil. NASA will conduct field tests in July outside of Hilo, Hawaii, with equipment and concept vehicles that demonstrate how explorers might prospect for resources and make their own oxygen for survival while on other planetary bodies. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis