The Canadian Space Agency is calling on Canadians to help them name the first Canadian rover on the Moon.
Designed and built by Bolton Ontario’s Canadensys alongside other industrial & academic partners, the primary mission of the Canadian lunar rover is to explore the Moon’s south polar region for water ice, no earlier than 2026.
The mission is one of many contributions from Canada towards the Artemis program, which seeks to put astronauts on the Moon within the decade. It, alongside CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen slated to become the first non-US citizen to orbit the Moon (no earlier than September 2025), are pillars of Canada’s contribution to the Artemis program.
Cast your vote, Canada
From Nov 20 – Dec 20 2024, Canadians of all ages can cast their vote on the Canadian Space Agency’s website for their favourite name, with four pre-selected options:
Athabasca
Athabasca is a river flowing from the Rockies through Alberta to Lake Athabasca. Canada’s rivers and streams have been the routes of the continent for millennia and continue to be pathways of discovery, transport and exchange. The names of the rivers also reflect Canada’s diversity and heritage. Future rovers from our fleet could continue this trend by taking names of other Canadian natural wonders.
Courage
To be brave and confident to do what you believe in, Courage is representative of the work that has led to the Canadian lunar rover. This lunar rover mission is the outcome of over two decades of building and refining our expertise in rover technology with Canadian industry and academia.
Glacier
Glaciers are made of ice, and that is what the rover will be looking for: water in the form of ice. The name also appeals to Canada’s northness: glaciers are important features of Canada’s West and Arctic. Our country is home to approximately 20% of Earth’s glacier ice volume (excluding the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets).
Pol-R
Creative spelling of Polar, which refers to regions close to the North Pole or South Pole. A big part of Canada is located in the north polar circle, and the rover mission will be landing in the south polar region of the Moon.
When asked if a nickname had been given to the Canadian lunar rover in January 2024, CSA program scientist Caroline-Emmanuelle Morisset responded by saying “that’s a hot topic at the CSA and I can’t say any more than that! There are a lot of people thinking about what we should name it. I think that Canadian lunar rover is great, but it could be greater than that name.”
One suggestion from the crowd was PolarRover—not too far off from one of the options:
https://x.com/rory_mg/status/1750702059345563702
What’s in the Canadian lunar rover?
Canada is all-in on this rover, with 5 of 6 payloads on the rover being Canadian. Details on each of the payloads, per the CSA:
- 🇨🇦 Lunar Hydrogen Autonomous Neutron Spectrometer (LHANS): Detection of hydrogen, one of the best indicators of water ice, will be the primary purpose of the instrument. It will also have the capacity to detect other key elements such as iron and calcium. This payload is provided by Bubble Technology Industries (BTI) from Chalk River, Ontario.
- 🇨🇦 Radiation Micro-Dosimeter: This payload will allow scientists to assess how much radiation human crewmembers and lunar infrastructures will be exposed to. It will provide data on the radiation environment through time for the lunar south pole. It will be integrated by BTI and Canadensys, with support from Leap Biosystems.
- 🇨🇦 Multipectral Imager (MSI): This imager uses LEDs of various wavelengths selected to identify minerals such as pyroxenes, olivines, hematite, spinel, but also water ice. It is provided by Canadensys.
- 🇨🇦 Stereo-Cameras: This payload will produce 3D information of the surroundings for rover navigation, and will help with mineral identifications. Canadensys is developing it.
- 🇨🇦 NISA-1000: This imager data combined with the Stereo-Cameras data will help detect the presence of mafic minerals (rich in iron and magnesium) and surface water ice. This payload is also developed by Canadensys.
- 🇺🇸 Lunar Advanced Filter Observing Radiometer for Geologic Exploration (LAFORGE): This multispectral imaging infrared radiometer will measure heat coming from the lunar surface to determine the temperature, thermal inertia and composition of geologic materials on the Moon’s surface. This is a NASA-sponsored payload being built by Johns Hopkins University – Applied Physics Laboratory.
Canadians have until Dec 20, 2024 to cast their vote on the CSA’s website for what Canada’s first lunar rover will be named.
