Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Tag: moon

July 31, 1971 – The first drive on the moon
This Day

July 31, 1971 – The first drive on the moon

Apollo 15 LRV on the moon In a truly out of this world event, US astronauts David Scott and James Irwin became the first people to drive an automobile on a lunar surface on this day in 1971. The not so casual cruise occurred during the Apollo 15 NASA mission to the moon, with the buggy taking to the lunar dust the day after their craft made a successful landing.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc1I6iU4C8E The Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRV) were built by Boeing under contract from NASA. The first came to a total cost of $38,000,000. The moon buggies weighed in at about 460 pounds each, and were foldable for easy transport. LRVs were used during the final three Apollo missions to the moon, 15, 16 and 17. The vehicles allowed astronauts to cover greater distances during survey ...
December 19, 1972 – The final Lunar Roving Vehicle is left on the moon
This Day

December 19, 1972 – The final Lunar Roving Vehicle is left on the moon

The final manned mission to the moon, Apollo 17, began its journey home on this day in 1972, leaving behind the last Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The LRV acted as ground transport for astronauts and equipment, allowing for otherwise impossible research and exploration. The departure of Apollo 17's crew saw the third and final LRVs abandoned on the moon. Apollo 17’s crew, Commander Eugene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans and five mice, utilized the LRV to travel as far as 20.1 kilometers in a day. They (probably not the mice) traveled as far as 7.6 kilometers from the lunar module landing craft. Schmitt stated that without the machine, "the major scientific discoveries” and “our current understanding of lunar evolution” would have been ou...

If you learned something today,

please buy me a beer!