A Group of College Students are Sending a Rover the Size of a Shoebox to the Moon

The Iris lunar rover, built by around 300 students from Carnegie Mellon University, is set to launch in May and will be the first privately-made American robot to explore the surface of the moon. It is also the first student-built rover and the smallest and lightest one yet. The rover weighs only 2 kg (4.4 lbs) and will fly on a private rocket carrying 14 payloads to the moon. The launch marks an exciting step for the Iris Lunar Rover team who have worked for years towards this mission. The team will also control and operate Moonshot Mission Control, the control center for Iris based in CMU’s campus in Pittsburgh.

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Photo Credit: Gino