NASA’s Nuclear-Powered Lunar Rover Concept: "PROMISE" | JPL

NASA’s Nuclear-Powered Lunar Rover Concept: "PROMISE" | JPL

NASA is considering a mission concept for an advanced, nuclear-powered rover to be deployed to the Moon’s South Pole as part of the agency’s Moon Base plans.

The Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration (PROMISE) mission concept relies on the Curiosity Mars rover mission’s testbed rover. Elements of the Perseverance Mars testbed rover shown in this video could be used as well. As exact duplicates of Curiosity and Perseverance, the testbed rovers are equipped with flight-proven engineering systems capable of carrying technology as well as science instruments that would advance Moon Base efforts. 

With a radioisotope thermal generator on board as a constant source of heat and power, PROMISE could operate without the need for solar power in the Moon’s frigid permanently shadowed regions, where water ice, a potential resource for astronauts, is likely to be found.

Both Curiosity and Perseverance were built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the two missions operate their vehicle system testbed rovers at the Mars Yard. Curiosity launched in 2011 and landed on the Red Planet in 2012; Perseverance launched in 2020 and landed in 2021.

Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Duration: 1 minute, 21 seconds
Release Date: June 30, 2026

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