Canada is sending a lunar rover to the moon for the first time and is allowing its residents to help name it.
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is sending this rover to the moon on a mission to aid the international community in finding evidence of water ice, which they say is a key component of future human space exploration.
According to the CSA, the Canadian rover will land on the south pole of the Moon and will then begin its mission to gather scientific data in collaboration with NASA.
The rover’s mission is to send data back to Earth after gathering geologic and mineralogic information on samples at several different locations.
It will achieve this by using onboard tools and instruments developed by Canadian scientists and engineers.
However, this rover is still without an official name. So the CSA is asking Canadians to vote for their favourite of the following options:
- Athabasca: named after the river flowing from the Rockies through Alberta to Lake Athabasca
- Courage: prompted by the courage of those involved in the lunar rover project, which has taken over two-decades to plan thus far
- Glacier: Water ice is what the rover will be searching for, so this name is apt and was inspired by the Canadian north’s dynamic glaciers
- Pol-R: A play on the word polar, which refers to Canada’s northernmost regions
Voting will be open from November 20th to December 20th. Click here to vote for your favourite!
The mission to send the lunar rover on its mission is slated to take place no earlier than 2026.
