Canada's first moon rover is being developed for Artemis mission

This is one of the lunar rover prototypes. A prototype is the first version of something that helps people test out their ideas

Canada is building its first ever rover for exploring the Moon.

The Canadian company Canadensys Aerospace hopes that by learning more about the Moon, people might one day be able to use it as a base to travel even further into space.

This will be the first Canadian-led planetary exploration attempt.

The rover will hopefully be landing on the Moon's south polar region in 2029, which is one of the most hostile places on the lunar surface.

What will the rover be like?

Engineers Adam Abdulahad and Misha Hartmann are working on a prototype of the rover

The rover will be 35kg, which is about the weight of a male German Shepherd dog.

Engineers are currently testing out different materials to see which can survive the Moon's harsh conditions.

At night temperatures can drop down -200C (-328F), but in the daytime it can get extremely hot and reach 100C (212F). This makes finding a material that can stand both extremes is difficult.

Dr Christian Sallaberger, the President and CEO of the aerospace company, says designing the wheels is also very challenging.

That's because the Moon is covered with a sticky layer of fragmented dust and rock called regolith, that Mr Sallaberger calls "velcro dirt".

Dirt particles on Earth have a rounded shape, lunar dirt is "all jagged", which "just gums up mechanisms".

What will it do?

Previously it was thought that the Moon was really dry, but when scientists re-analysed some samples in 2008 they discovered particles of water

The Canadian vehicle is going to the Moon as part of a wider projected called the Nasa Artemis programme.

Artemis has a huge mission, to see if humans can sustainably live on the Moon.

So this rover will play an important part in that research as it will try to find water and measure radiation levels on the lunar surface, which will help future astronauts.

Dr Gordon Osinki is the mission's chief scientist.

He says that one of the heaviest things they need to transport is often water, so finding some that's already there would make a big difference.

The Canadian Space Agency decided to hold an online competition to choose the vehicle's name, and the winner is expected to be announced soon.

What do you think the Moon rover should be called? Would you like to visit the Moon?