The European Space Agency has signed a contract with French firm Comex to develop a two-year Trailer project that will test how well the two rovers can work together on a future lunar mission.
For the Trailer project, researchers will develop a system that includes two rovers that can be remotely controlled from Earth or from a station in orbit around the Moon. The devices, working "together", would search for resources on the lunar surface that could support a possible future colony.
The rovers that will be tested under the program were named Tractor and Wain (the first, according to the ESA, is "flexible and powerful", the second, according to the agency, is an "active trailer" - it has limited movement and navigation, while it can be something like a scientific laboratory for the preservation and study of samples). ESA has already shared an image showing - in artistic representation - these vehicles on the lunar surface.
The Trailer project will be developed over two years by the French company Comex, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence Robotics Innovation Center (DFKI RIC) and the Austrian Liquifer Systems Group.
