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Move over Phoenix: Moonstream Mars rover, the best view of the Red Planet
We've sent the Phoenix lander to Mars, now it's time to send the Moonstream bus-sized rover.
Anthony Sims, a student at the Art Center College of Design, conceptualized the Moonstream rover after forms found in nature, such as turtles and whales, and modeled it after working NASA designs. Each wheel, for instance, can be locked and walked upon just like NASA's Athlete robot. Inside, astronauts will find a cabin built for comfort and security, with space that allows some privacy as well as ample room to work and sleep. Form isn't fighting function here, either — the driver lies against an independently suspended pod that allows the pilot to spot troublesome terrain as well as remain stable through rough riding.
Sims' design was cool enough to begin with, but he went ahead and did something we love: he made a scale model of the Moonstream for us to drool over.
Check out the gallery below for more views of the Moonstream rover — everything from renders, the conceptualized interior, and the finalized model.
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Anthony Sims, via AutoMotto
By L at 5:26 PM ON 06/04/08
Strange to find so many hot chicks wearing designer clothes on Mars.
By murc at 6:50 PM ON 06/04/08
hmmmm....its ok.
But it would cost a fortune to build and send to mars. and its just not practical, the table is huge and unnecessary, were not going to send people to Mars so they have a giant table for poker night.
By MO. at 7:11 PM ON 06/04/08
It looks really nice, but it doesn't look like it has much stuff on the inside...where are the capsules? the wires? the confusing controls? I would love to check Moonstream out on earth.
By NegativeImpact at 10:29 AM ON 06/05/08
Where will experiments take place? The interior is rather sparse in technical gear. What sort of drive is it? Electrical? Statistics? How fast does it move? How long can it sustain a crew on one "tank of gas"? While it looks pretty and is a great idea, I see no function filling aparatus on the interior. Going to Mars is going to be a huge undertaking and to think we'd go that far for a Sunday drive is rather inane.
Oh, and is that a glass table?
By Space Engineer at 8:00 PM ON 06/05/08
This guy has no idea what he is doing...go make some SUVs. Looks like this one would get horrible mileage too...What do you need a table that runs the entire length of the vehicle for??? It's hard to get past that right off to even consider any of the rest of the design...
By Zergy at 9:44 PM ON 06/05/08
First of all I've seen this guys work at auto design websites and this is a future concept vehicle meant for the moon and not mars hence "Moonstream". Second, who said this vehicle runs on gas? Even if it does the moons low gravity and zero atmosphere will allow this vehicle to travel far distances with minimal fuel. Finally, this vehicle is meant to carry a certain amount of people so the size and the things that need to be carried on isnt that far fetched and the interior design is just conceptual
By Knight at 3:23 PM ON 06/15/08
Okay, Murc and Space Engineer: This is CONCEPT ART. I'll say it again, CONCEPT ART. Oh and Space Engineer, why don't you try too make one of these. I bet you can't. The table could probably be used for equipment, or a medical area. Or it could even be taken out. Like I said, it's CONCEPT ART. Let me spell it out, C-O-N-C-E-P-T A-R-T.
By WagD at 7:47 AM ON 02/05/09
Yes, Space Engineer, please list your industrial design achievements, as well as your position at Nasa or JPL.
The same goes for the others, please tell us what you've done, providing links to web pages where we can see your works of genius.
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
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WagD:
Yes, Space Engineer, please list your industrial design achievements, as well as your position at Nasa or JPL. The...More »