---
title: "NASA’s Lunar Rover Prototype Looks Like If a Tractor and a Golf Cart Had a Baby"
description: "In preparation for the first crewed Moon mission in 50 years, NASA is prototyping a new Moon rover that looks a lot like a tractor/golf cart."
date: "2024-10-05"
modified: "2024-10-05"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-lunar-rover-prototype-tractor-golf-cart"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "artemis"
  - "Moon Rover"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA’s Lunar Rover Prototype Looks Like If a Tractor and a Golf Cart Had a Baby

![In preparation for the first crewed Moon mission in 50 years, NASA is prototyping a new Moon rover that looks a lot like a tractor/golf cart.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/nasa-lunar-rover-prototype-tractor-golf-cart.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA / James Blair\</em\>*

## Keep Roving

In preparation for the [first crewed lunar mission in half a century](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-rocket-crewed-moon-mission-launch-site>), NASA is prototyping a new Moon rover — and it looks like some pretty distinctly Earth-bound vehicles.

Announced in a [NASA press release](<https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasa-prepares-for-lunar-terrain-vehicle-testing/#:~:text=As%20crewed%20Artemis%20missions%20near,use%20beginning%20with%20Artemis%20V.>), the new Ground Test Unit (GTU) is currently in development at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

As photos of the prototype in action show, it's already been taken for a joyride by some big names: [astronaut Kate Rubins](<https://www.nasa.gov/people/kate-rubins/>), the first person to ever sequence DNA in space, and Apollo 17 pilot-turned-senator [Harrison "Jack" Schmitt](<https://www.nasa.gov/former-astronaut-harrison-schmitt/>).

Those photos also show that the lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) looks, for some reason, a lot like a mix between a tractor and a golf cart — and the agency didn't mention why, exactly, it was built to look that way.

## Private Partnership

Though there's little explanation about those visual references, NASA did explain how this LTV prototype, which will never be sent to the Moon, was built.

Earlier this year, the American space agency [contracted three private companies](<https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-companies-to-advance-moon-mobility-for-artemis-missions/>) — Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab — to create components for the GTU.

"The Ground Test Unit will help NASA teams on the ground, test and understand all aspects of rover operations on the lunar surface ahead of Artemis missions," NASA engineering lead Jeff Somers explained in the press release. "The GTU allows NASA to be a smart buyer, so we are able to test and evaluate rover operations while we work with the LTVS contractors and their hardware."

Designed to carry two astronauts, the GTU also has additional capabilities allowing for it to be operated remotely, which makes it sort of sound like it can be "summoned" [a la Tesla](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/man-uses-tesla-summon-car-locked-parking-garage>).

Because we're curious, *Futurism* has reached out to NASA to ask if either tractors or golf carts were used as references for this GTU prototype — and we're hoping the answer will be yes to both.

**More on NASA's lunar ambitions:** [*Scientists Outraged at Canceled NASA Moon Mission Plead Congress to Reconsider*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-outraged-canceled-nasa-moon-mission>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)