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NASA Wants Fast Moonbuggies and Solid Lunar Lander

coondoggie writes "NASA may have its eyes on the Sun and Mercury this week but it is clearly focusing on the moon for the future. NASA is soliciting proposals from the scientific and aerospace communities for design ideas for its next lunar lander. NASA officials said the Altair spacecraft will deliver four astronauts to the lunar surface late during the next decade. According to NASA Altair will be capable of landing four astronauts on the moon, providing life support and a base for weeklong initial surface exploration missions, and returning the crew to the Orion spacecraft that will bring them home to Earth. And while they won't be flying to the moon but rather flying around the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., the space agency has set April 4-5 as the dates for 'The 15th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race'. The race is for high school and college teams where they build and race their lightweight, two-person lunar vehicles. More than 40 student teams from 18 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada and India have already registered." My proposal just features a domo-kun mouth and giant pink ears attached to an El Camino. Money please!

3 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Re:NASA Wants Fast Moonbuggies by C0rinthian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Only if it's called The Crushinator.

  2. No room for Bender, huh? by Big_Monkey_Bird · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fine then. I'm going build my own lunar lander. With blackjack, and hookers. In fact, forget the lunar lander and the blackjack. Ah, screw the whole thing.

  3. Apologies to the Simpsons. by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can you name the Moonbuggie with four wheel drive,
    Smells like a steak, and seats thirty five?
    Lunorero! Lunorero!
    Well, it goes real slow with the hammer down
    It's the country-fried Moonbuggie endorsed by a clown
    Lunorero! Lunorero!
    Hey, hey!
    Twelve yards long, two lanes wide,
    Sixty five tons of American pride!
    Lunorero! Lunorero!
    Top of the line in Lunar works,
    Unexplained fires are for the managers of the dorks!
    Lunorero! Lunorero!
    She blinds everybody with her super high beams
    She's a rock-crusin', sand-spuin' drivin' machine
    Lunorero! Lunorero! Lunorero!
    Whoa, Lunorero! Whoa!

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.