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NASA leadership stopped by Astrolab to check out FLIP before it heads to Cape Canaveral for launch later this year. NASA Program Manager for the Moon Base Carlos García-Galán and Chief Architect for the Moon Base Nujoud Merancy toured our clean room with Astrolab CEO Jaret Matthews and gave our rover a send-off.

On a @Delta flight and they are playing a piano concerto of Sweet Child O' Mine. I feel personally attacked.

Relieved to see FLIP make it through thermal vacuum testing and grateful to all those at @Astrolab_Space who worked around the clock to prepare and execute this test. This is the same chamber we used to qualify the Dragon docking system when I was at @SpaceX . This 15ft diameter chamber, located El Segundo's Smoky Hollow, has played an important role for many historically important spacecraft and systems over the decades, but I believe this is the first Moon rover to pass through there. Thanks to @ElementTesting for supporting.

With FLIP rover vibration testing completed successfully last month, let's dive into the results. The sounds you are hearing in the background of this video were designed from live sounds captured during the week and a half of vibe testing. During these tests the rover was subjected to the highest structural loads and most stressful vibration environment it will ever experience. Launch will be less stressful than what it has already survived. Health checks during and after testing show that FLIP came out the other side in pristine condition. Before tests like this, the engineering team makes approximations about what the hardware can handle. Now that they have accelerometer data, the team is correlating the structural model with the data from the test. This will allow the engineers to conduct the final round of structural analysis to certify the rover for launch. One more step towards the launch pad and lunar surface.

FLIP Rover Vibration Testing: Complete  Full analysis of the data to come, but all initial indications from the test are positive. Another major hurdle on the path to the launch cleared.

Mass properties testing. Center of gravity and moments of inertia confirmed at @elementdefense. The kind of data that doesn’t make headlines, until it does. One more milestone closer to launch.

"...SpaceX can’t build all of it alone. The people who build the lunar Alcoa, the lunar Caterpillar, and the lunar Union Pacific will be among the titans of the twenty-first century." This is what @Astrolab_Space is all about.

So badass.

A year and a half ago our FLIP rover was just an idea for a tech demo. This past week, it deployed its solar panel for the first time. The tight timeline for FLIP has put our team to the test but also proved we can build and deliver space-ready hardware.

Say cheese!📸 Our FLIP rover is ready to snap pics on its lunar trip! The rover has two solar panel mast-mounted cameras provided by Canadensys, providing 360 views. This picture of our team was taken by one of those cameras after the first vehicle-controlled solar array deploy.

Congratulations to @NASA and the Artemis II crew on the successful lunar flyby today and for setting a new distance record for humanity! And thank you to NASA for the invitation to watch the launch up close last week with my family. We even made a cameo in the highlight reel below! It was incredible to witness history being made as we return to the Moon, this time to stay. Wishing the crew a safe return to Earth in the coming days.

Incredible leadership from @NASAAdmin : it's time to build a Moon base and @Astrolab_Space is ready to help!

Thanks to @NASA for the invite to their Ignition event at NASA Headquarters today sharing how they are accelerating America’s return to the surface of the Moon. We’re proud that our FLEX rover is positioned to support the next era of lunar exploration, from the establishment of a Moon base to constructing infrastructure to power the lunar economy.

Our FLEX rover is designed to fly on and work alongside a variety of lunar landers, such as Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1. FLEX is the last mile lunar delivery solution, ready to work on cargo operations, handling payloads brought by landers to the lunar surface.

the spice must flow...

Today is the anniversary of Day-1 of @Astrolab_Space : January 6, 2020 @rdbilling and I set out to build a rover that will enable humanity’s multi-planet future from a cozy 10’ x 10’ shared office space. 6 years later: more than 100 people are a part of Astrolab, we’re an official contractor for @NASAArtemis program, and we're flying our first rover to the Moon this year. Can’t wait to see what we accomplish in the next 6 years!

Thanks to @CBSMornings for the feature on FLEX this morning and coming out for a rover test drive!

It was an honor to congratulate @rookisaacman in person yesterday, shortly after he was sworn in as @NASAAdmin. The team at @Astrolab_Space and I are looking forward to working with him in shaping the future of the lunar economy.