Lunar Rover facts
While investigating facts about Lunar Rover Video and Lunar Rover Vehicle, I found out little known, but curios details like:
NASA considered using motorcycles on the moon as a simpler alternative to the Lunar Rover.
how lunar rover works?
The "tires" on the Apollo lunar rovers were made of a woven mesh of zinc-coated piano wire with titanium treads to keep them from sinking into the lunar soil. The tracks they left are only 1/2" deep.
What powered the lunar rover?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what is a lunar rover. Here are 19 of the best facts about Lunar Rover Model and Lunar Rover Badge I managed to collect.
what happened to the lunar rover?
-
24 astronauts flew around the moon. 12 of those walked on the lunar surface, and 6 of those drove a lunar rover on the moon. 3 astronauts have been out to the moon twice, and of those 3, 2 of them have landed. Nobody has been on the moon more than once.
-
Apollo 17 Astronaut Gene Cernan ripped the fender off their lunar rover by accident, and fixed it with standard gray duct tape and a map.
-
Polonium was used in the Lunokhod 1 and Lonkhod 2 lunar rovers, as well as in other satellites.
-
The most expensive car in the world wasn't even designed to drive on Earth. There were a total of four lunar rovers manufactured for the last three Apollo missions at a cost of $38 million, or $9.5 million per rover.
-
The apollo lunar rover had a harmonic drive at each wheel, which is an unusual type of gearing that has no backlash and can achieve gear ratios up to 320:1 using three components.
-
To capture that video of the lunar module leaving the moon at the end of the Apollo mission, they left a camera on the rover and an operator at mission control would command the camera to tilt up as the module ascended
-
Apollo 17 Crew Used Duct Tape to Fix the Fender of their Lunar Rover, while on Moon.
-
The first hybrid vehicle was sold in 1900, invented by Ferdinand Porsche. It's design was studied by NASA and Boeing to create the Apollo program's lunar rover module
-
The lunar rover had wheel fenders to keep the highly abrasive dust from damaging components. After accidentally ripping one off, Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt created a makeshift one from lunar maps and duct tape, saving the mission.
-
Astronaut Eugene Cernan set the lunar top speed record of 11.2 mph (18.0 km/h) in the Lunar Rover
Why was the lunar rover made?
You can easily fact check why can't we see the lunar rover by examining the linked well-known sources.
In 1993 video game developer and space-tourist Richard Garriott purchased the inactive Soviet Lunar Rover Lunokhod 2. He later attempted to claim sovereignty of the Moon.
Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott had Boeing make miniature aluminum license plates that he brought with him on the Lunar Rover. - source
How good of a Off-Roader the Lunar Rover is on Earth - source
In the late 1960’s we were this close to motorcycling on the moon, which might be the most awesome thing you can do on two wheels. Built as an alternate to the Lunar Rover (LRV), NASA wasn’t entirely confident that Boeing would have the LRV ready for the Apollo 15 mission...
In the late 1960’s built as an alternate to the Lunar Rover (LRV), NASA wasn't entirely confident that Boeing would have the LRV ready for the Apollo 15 mission, and explored using a two-wheeled vehicle instead for helping astronauts bound around in the Palus Putredinis. - source
When was the lunar rover invented?
After Apollo 11, NASA seriously considered equipping astronauts with jetpacks called Lunar Flying Units (LFUs), which would let them zoom above the Moon's surface at up to 70 mph (110 km/h). After two contracts and seven months of feasibility studies, NASA opted to use lunar rovers instead.
