Canoo an American start-up for electric vehicles was chosen by NASA over Oxcart Assembly to build a vehicle for transporting astronauts to the Launchpad inspired by the US Airstream trailers first launched in 1936. This vehicle will be used to transport astronauts of the Artemis mission launched by NASA to land the first woman or person of colour on the south pole of the moon.
With that being said, the other participants in the design submitting contest were not that bad either especially Oxcart Assembly’s effort is worth praise. Oxcart Assembly (Dallas, Texas) poses as a "decentralized, multi-disciplinary cooperative" that has majored in audio-visual projects so far which includes producing motion graphics for NASA and SpaceX’s Launch America missions. When the work order for this particular crew transport vehicle was released, NASA had listed some partners out for assistance. While IBM and Red Hat were betrothed with the "human-centred design approach" to the project, Hoonigans and Airstream were sorted out for their vehicular experience.
Oxcart Assembly’s entire aluminium body was inspired by the Airstreams’ caravan buses which are both eccentric and sustainable along with the intricate design of leg bars around the vehicle. The shiny aluminium design reminds us of Star Wars while being lighter than steel, the material makes the bodyweight of the car adjustable opening space for other essential requirements.
The airless tires as illustrated in the design could give it a futuristic look which would blend very well with the aura of space. A cutback front bumper and also a cutaway at the rear is an innovation with a desire to maximize approach and departure angles to improve off-road capability.
This sophisticated space buddy runs on the electric drive as listed in the series of requirements put down by NASA aiming at zero-emission vehicles. Their concept is loosely based on Airstream because it resembles the use of sustainable and affordable aluminium.
Just like at an airport we need to be carried to the aircraft by bus, this vehicle will ferry the astronauts from NASA’s Operations and Checkout Building to the Launchpad at Kennedy Space Centre, a total distance of 10 miles. The tenderers were seeking a blueprint of a crew transporter with a range of at least 50 miles, fitting 8 heads and featuring almost 60 cubic feet of cargo storage. The vehicles would have to fulfil the criteria for running eight hours straight with an HVAC system for automatic heating or cooling.
The Oxcart Assembly design was a finalist in the award process, according to the company, though it states that "at the end of the day it came down to an $1145 price differential."
Though we won’t be able to able to catch a glimpse of this vehicle by Oxcart Assemble at NASA’s Launchpad, it’s good to learn about such an advanced and attractive design with sustainability at the back of one’s head. Nevertheless, it is expected that Canoo will overdo our expectations in the making of their version of a crew transporting vehicle for NASA.
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