Canadian Space Agency competition: vote for your favorite name of the Canadian lunar rover

What will be the name of the first Canadian vehicle to set foot on the lunar surface? It’s up to the people to decide by December 20.

Athabasca, Glacier, Courage or Pol-R. Here are the names that the Canadian Space Agency is proposing to Canadians who will name the first Canadian-designed rover scheduled to set foot on the lunar surface in 2026.

The Agency is looking for “a name that is representative of its mission or that evokes the Canadian space program, its past or its future” but says it is hesitant when faced with a “decisive choice” and is asking for help from the population.

Athabasca refers to an Alberta river and carries the symbolism of the water routes which were used to transport the First Nations and explorers from elsewhere.

Courage personifies the determination necessary to carry out the Canadian lunar rover mission over twenty years.

Glacier refers to the very mission of the rover which will search for frozen water under the lunar surface.

Pol-R is a homophone of the adjective “polar” which recalls that a large part of Canada is located on the north pole of the Earth; the rover will also target a pole of the Moon, but to the south.

Big challenge

During an exercise on terrain imitating lunar soil to which The Journal was invited on October 30, in Longueuil, the director of space exploration development at the Canadian Space Agency, Martin Bergeron, explained that the challenge will be significant for the little robot since it will have to survive a lunar night of 14 days during which the temperature will drop below -200°C.

He indicated that this will be the first time that an autonomous vehicle made in Canada, remotely controlled from Earth, will be sent into space for an extended mission.

To vote, visit the Canadian Space Agency website here.