Artemis astronauts will need a vehicle on the moon. NASA hired 3 companies to design it

For the first time in five decades, American astronauts are on the cusp of returning to the moon.

NASA's Artemis missions, the first lunar program since the Apollo era, aims to send astronauts back to the moon ahead of the larger goal of one day reaching Mars. And when the day comes in about two years that those intrepid explorers make it to the lunar surface, they'll need a vehicle that can help them navigate the celestial body's crater-pocked terrain.

The U.S. space agency announced Wednesday that it has hired three companies to create preliminary designs for lunar vehicles that can be driven and can also operate autonomously. Of those three companies, only one will ultimately be selected to build the vehicle that will make it to the moon, NASA said.

Here's what to know about the planned vehicle and the historic Artemis lunar missions ahead.

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Why NASA needs a lunar terrain vehicle

NASA began seeking proposals in May for a next-generation lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) to help astronauts traverse and transport cargo across the moon's unexplored south polar region during upcoming Artemis missions.

Officials do not anticipate that the vehicle will be ready by the time astronauts of Artemis III make their way to the moon's surface sometime in 2026.

The vehicle, which would be used for crewed operations beginning with Artemis V in 2029, is intended to be a cross between an Apollo-era lunar rover and an uncrewed Mars rover like Perseverance or Curiosity, NASA said. Giving the vehicle robotic, remote operation capabilities will allow for scientific tests and exploration to continue even when astronauts are not present on the moon, according to NASA.

NASA had asked companies to create proposed designs that accommodate two suited astronauts and include a robotic arm or other mechanism. The vehicle will also need to be able to survive the extreme temperatures of the lunar south pole, a region where water ice is thought to be abundant.

Water ice in the region would not only help sustain astronauts on the surface, but it also would be a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel as NASA looks ahead to missions to Mars.

“We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot, increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries,” NASA Chief Exploration Scientist Jacob Bleacher said in a Wednesday statement. “With the Artemis crewed missions, and during remote operations when there is not a crew on the surface, we are enabling science and discovery on the moon year around.”

How to watch NASA's lunar vehicle announcement

The televised event took place at 4 p.m. EST Wednesday at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The news conference aired live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the U.S. space agency’s website.

NASA's official YouTube channel provided a live stream of the even and also released a 90-second trailer about the autonomous vehicle after the announcement.

Watch it here:

Astronauts will return to moon as part of Artemis missions

In previous years, NASA and space agencies in other nations have once again set their sights on the moon in a renewed interest in reaching the lunar surface.

For the United States, American astronauts have not set foot on the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972. NASA's Artemis program hopes to get the nation back to the moon to establish a base of operations ahead of crewed trips to Mars.

NASA had intended to launch its Artemis II astronauts into orbit by the end of the year on a 10-day trip circumnavigating the moon, ahead of a moon landing itself a year later for Artemis III. But the Artemis program missions have since been delayed by at least a year after NASA encountered a slew of issues, including a battery flaw on the vehicle that will ferry astronauts to the moon.

In the meantime, preparations have continued to ensure the program stays on track.

In mid-March, SpaceX conducted its most successful test yet of the Starship rocket that will one day ferry U.S. astronauts to the moon's surface. NASA had awarded the company a $2.9 billion contract in 2021 to develop the first commercial human lander for its Artemis III mission.

The contract for the lunar terrain vehicles is worth up to $4.6 billion over the next 15 years, NASA said. Under the contract, NASA would not own the vehicles themselves but is instead only purchasing the service of creating them.

One of the companies selected to design the lunar vehicle, Houston-based Intuitive Machines, was also the private company that in February became the fist commercial entity to ever land an uncrewed spacecraft on the moon's surface. NASA, which was the primary customer for the mission, paid a hefty sum to have a payload of scientific instruments included aboard the lander to collect data that will help the agency prepare for its own lunar missions.

Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colo.; and Venturi Astrolab of Hawthorne, Calif. were also selected to come up with preliminary designs, according to NASA. The agency will work with the three companies for a year before NASA will choose one of them for the demonstration phase.

“We look forward to the development of the Artemis generation lunar exploration vehicle to help us advance what we learn at the Moon,” Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said in a Wednesday statement. “This vehicle will greatly increase our astronauts’ ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions.”

Contributing: James Powel

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA hires 3 companies to design lunar vehicles for Artemis missions