Man on the dunes

NASA tests a prototype of a one-ton lunar truck called the Chariot Friday at the Grant County ORV Park.

NASA is preparing to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 to build a lunar outpost. Moses Lake was selected as a testing site because of the room it offered, said Lucien Junkin, a robotics engineer and the design lead with the Johnson Space Center. The sandy surface in Grant County is somewhat like the lunar surface, he added. Testing continues through Thursday.