The Steam Deck has been spotted controlling the Astrolab FLEX rover, a NASA-backed vehicle intended to traverse the Moon’s surface.
Valve’sSteam Deckhas been used in some highly creative ways. From being spotted at Disneylandcontrolling Star Wars droids, to being part of atruck driver’s dashboard. Now, even the frontier of space isn’t unheard of for the handheld, as the future Lunar Terrain Vehicles set to traverse the Moon could be controlled with the Steam Deck.
This month NASA hosted a news conference thatannouncedthree teams set to further develop the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle.)
The vehicles are set to help NASA astronauts explore the moon’s surface as part of Project Artemis. Venturi Astrolab, one of the three companies awarded the $1.9 billion-worth NASA contract,posted a videoto its YouTube Channel to officially announce the news, where the Steam Deck made a small cameo.
In the video, which stars astronaut Chris Hadfield, the Steam Deck can be seen in an astronaut’s hands, while controlling the Astrolab FLEX rover. While the celebratory video by Astrolab doesn’t reference the handheld by name, the Steam Deck can be clearly spotted in multiple shots of the footage.
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Astrolab hasn’t revealed any official details about how the Steam Deck is utilized in its LTV project. Yet, if selected, the Astrolab FLEX rover, and the Steam Deck, could make an appearance on the moon in a demonstration mission.
Rosalie Newcombe was a Senior Tech Writer on Dexerto’s UK team. Rosalie is an expert on all things handhelds, and has been picking them up since the original Game Boy, all the way up to the Steam Deck. They have covered hardware for PCGamesN and Custom PC.
