NASA Considers Deploying Spare Mars Rover PROMISE to Moon’s Polar Regions]
NASA has announced plans to potentially send a spare Mars rover to the Moon, with officials revealing the vehicle has been named PROMISE — an acronym for Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping and In-Situ Exploration.
The rover originally served as the engineering test model for Curiosity and Perseverance, the two SUV-sized vehicles currently operating on Mars. With both Mars missions well-established, NASA evaluated whether a third rover was still needed on Earth.
“The question was posed: What if we send it to the moon?” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman during a recent update on the agency’s lunar base development plans.
PROMISE would be nuclear-powered using plutonium heat to generate electricity, enabling operation through the Moon’s extreme polar night conditions — periods of two weeks of continuous darkness with temperatures dropping below 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
“Long traverses, getting into those very hard-to-reach areas, just like Curiosity and Perseverance have shown us on the surface of Mars — that would be awesome,” said Carlos García-Galán, who leads NASA’s Moon Base program.
NASA also awarded contracts to four additional robotic landers to deliver scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface by late 2028.
The contracts went to companies previously engaged by NASA, though with mixed outcomes from earlier missions.
Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh received two lander contracts totaling $297.9 million. The company’s initial attempt in 2024 suffered propulsion system failure and never reached the Moon.
Intuitive Machines of Houston secured one lander contract for $148.3 million. While their first two landers reached the surface successfully, both toppled over and could not complete planned operations.
Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas won a $144.2 million contract — representing NASA’s only successful commercial lunar lander mission to date.
