College Students to Launch First Private American Rover to the Moon

A team of university students from Carnegie Mellon University is set to launch the first privately-made lunar rover, Iris, onto the Moon's surface on May 4th. Weighing just 2 kilograms, the rover will demonstrate its technology and take scientifically-relevant images. The team will work in shifts to monitor the rover's progress and health during its 60-hour mission. Iris will be the first civilian team to put a rover on the Moon and the smallest and lightest rover ever deployed. It will be carried to the Moon aboard a United Launch Alliance "Vulcan Centaur" rocket alongside a multi-purpose payload.