Washington Business Fall 2019 | Washington Business | Page 39

washington business
moon buggy, by the numbers:
apollo 14
(no rover) apollo 15 apollo 16 apollo 17
jan. 31-feb. 9, 1971 july 26-aug. 7, 1971 april 16-27, 1972 dec. 7-19, 1972
eva duration (hr:min) 9:23 18:33 21:00 21:30
driving time (hr:min) n/a 3:02 3:26 4:26
surface distance
covered: (miles) 3.3 17.3 16.6 22.3
average speed (mph) n/a 5.7 4.8 5.0
samples returned (lb) 93.2 170.4 211 243.6
mission dates:
The first moon rover was deployed for the Apollo 15 mission
with David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin. Apollo 15 was
the ninth crewed space mission and the fourth to land on the
moon. Between 1971 and 1972, three Apollo missions used moon
rovers to both extend the area that could be explored and assist
with the collection of moon rock samples to be returned to Earth.
There were a variety of LRV models built, some scaled and
some partial, for systems testing and astronaut training (around
eight in all). In honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing
this year, the Museum of Flight in Seattle ran a special exhibit,
Destination Moon, from April to September that included an
engineering mock-up LVR. Boeing built four moon-ready rovers,
one that accompanied each of the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions,
and one that ended up being used for parts after the cancellation
of the Apollo 18 mission.
The approximate cost for the first rover was $38 million.
In short, this means that in addition to tidal rhythms and
curbing Earth’s axial “wobble” to make our planet’s climate
livable, the moon has contributed directly to Washington
being a globally competitive state built on a solid foundation of
innovation, a world-class workforce, and a quality of place second
to none.
For the space flight, the rover was folded and stowed on the
lunar module. Astronauts would manually unfold and deploy the
rover after landing on the moon.
The moon buggies were completely battery-powered vehicles,
carrying two 36-volt batteries. Each four-wheeled, lightweight
rover weighed 462 lbs., had a payload capacity of 1,080 lbs.,
were built to travel a total distance of 35 miles within a five-mile
radius of the lunar module, and were designed for a top speed of
13 km/h.
Maneuverability of the moon rover came from separate front
and rear steering motors. Each wheel had its own electric drive,
and the front and rear wheels could pivot in opposite directions
to give the rover a turning radius of just 10 feet. All the joints
and rotors were hermetically sealed to protect moving parts from
getting clogged with moon dust.
The rover could be maneuvered by either the right or left-
seated astronaut. Since there was limited mobility in a spacesuit,
the rover was steered by a T-shaped hand controller positioned
in front of and between the two seats, as opposed to the
conventional steering wheel of an Earth-bound car. They could
function in both the sunlight and the extreme temperatures of
moon shadows, like the ones cast by the sides of craters and
ridges.
The rovers were designed to carry two astronauts with their
equipment and the lunar samples the astronauts collected. The
Apollo 15 crew collected 170 pounds of surface material samples.
Compared to 49 pounds collected by the Apollo 11 crew and
93 pounds collected during Apollo 14, the addition of the rover
significantly helped advance scientific knowledge of our planet’s
orbital companion.
An additional manufacturing feat: the moon buggy was
developed in just 17 months from start of the contract to finish. It
performed all functions on three successful moon landings without
incident. Harrison Schmitt, one of the two last men to walk on the
Moon as part of Apollo 17 and a speaker at AWB’s Policy Summit
in 2009, credited the rover with advancing science. “Without [the
Lunar Rover], the major scientific discoveries of Apollo 15, 16, and
17 would not have been possible; and our current understanding of
lunar evolution would not have been possible,” he said.
These Washington-made moon buggies remain on the moon.
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