General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Argo J4 rover prototype formerly on display at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

1.4 m

Width

1.7 m

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Space Technology

Category

Space science

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

This rover and accompanying props were on display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum after it was received by the corporation in 2018 until August 2023.

Canada

Ontario Drive & Gear Limited (ODG) of New Hamburg Ontario, built 15 or so lunar and planetary rover prototytpes ordered by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tested a few of these in areas that simulated the surface of the Moon or Mars. One of the most interesting prototypes produced by ODG is the Artemis Jr. This electric four-wheel drive lunar rover prototype was completed in 2012 for use in with a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project / program / mission known as RESOLVE, for Rego-lith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction. Now renamed Re-source Prospector, this project / program / mission would see a water-seeking rover land in the Southern polar region of the Moon, in 2020. In any event, NASA was so impressed by Artemis Jr.’s potential capabilities that it abandoned an already selected rover, possibly of its own design, before the Canadian rover was even completed. Incidentally, one of these capabilities was an intelligent self-navigation system. The Argo J4 offered to the corporation was designed and built in parallel with Artemis Jr. The two have the same structure, for example, but only Artemis Jr. carries the equipment needed for trials at CSA or NASA test sites. ODG built the Argo J4 with its own money, so it would have a test vehicle to support its own projects. The acquisition of the Argo J4 would fill a gap in the national aerospace collection. It would also allow the museum to interpret a lesser known but very interesting element of the Canadian space program.

Function

Practical tests of applicable technologies to lunar rovers prototypes.

Technical

The extreme environment of space led to the development of a variety of features present in the Argo J4 offered to the museum corporation. One only needs to mention its rugged lightweight structure made of aluminum alloy. The suspension, engine gearbox and tilting mechanism of the chassis were also designed in house. One of major achievements of ODG’s Space Robotics Division was a metal wheel known as the Titanium Interlaced Rim Enabling Lunar Exploration and Surface Sampling (TIRE-LESS). The name and acronym are quite clever, i.e. tireless as in “no tire” and as in “does not get tired.” Combined with a proper suspension, these TIRELESS wheels allow a vehicle to move across all sorts of terrain, from soft sand to bare rock. The Argo J4 offered to the museum corporation is fitted with four TIRELESS wheels.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

On the front silver body component: " ARGO /. AMPHIBIOUS UTV /. CROSSCHASM " On the interior section of the silver body: " ARGO-202 " On the white tag stuck onto the black camera: " 192.168.0.1 /. BVJL 885 " On the bronze motor components: " MAGMOTOR TECHNOLOGIES INC. /. WEST BOYLSTON MA. 01583 /. PART: 730420046 REV.B /. MODEL: BFA42-2F-200FH /. SERIAL: 11031113001 " On the black uprights, label reads in part: " BANSBACH /. EASYLIFT /. NORTH AMERICA /. MADE IN GERMANY "

Missing

Appears complete.

Finish

Rover vehicle with a silver metal body. The surface of the front silver component has a red synthetic push-down button. The silver body has numerous silver metal screws. The proper right side of the silver metal component has a black synthetic corrugated tube that connects to the top black horizontal bar. The center of the black horizontal bar has a mounted white camera. The horizontal bar also has two black cameras that are connected through the corrugated tube. The interior section of the silver body has a black metal outline with silver metal screws. The rover has four tire-less wheels consisting of a series of small rectangular metal plates with screws, nuts and bolts. The metal wheels are painted in blue with five silver metal nuts and bolts each. Each metal small rectangular plate has orange discoloration. Each side of the rover has a bronze colored metal motor component. The rover has a two black uprights supporting the horizontal bar holding the three cameras. There is also two silver metal diagonal uprights connected to the black uprights to the base of the rover.

Decoration

N/A