Students set to land first US rover on the moon — before NASA

After 65 years of lunar exploration, the USA is lastly going to place its first autonomous rover on the moon. However this mission received’t be helmed by NASA engineers — as an alternative, it’s the brainchild of a devoted group of faculty college students.

The Iris rover was developed by college students, school and alumni at Carnegie Mellon College in Pennsylvania over the span of three years. It’s being carried to the moon as a part of NASA’s Business Lunar Payload Companies (CLPS) program, the company’s foray into partnering with the industrial house trade. Initially, it was scheduled to launch in late 2021 or early 2022, however setbacks in NASA’s moon agenda delayed the launch to this spring.