Apollo 15 astronauts drove first man-made car on Moon on this day in 1971, details inside

After astronaut Neil Armstrong made most historic leap for mankind by stepping on moon, on this day in 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin deployed first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) on Earth’s natural satellite. It was first off-planet automobile ride that astronauts too to explore landing site which was Hadley-Apennine. NASA astronauts on Lunar module ‘Falcon’ spent nearly three days on Moon and in totality, first rover, traversed at least 28 kilometres (17 miles) on lunar surface. Apollo 15 mission returned about 76 kilograms of moon rocks to planet Earth. 

Credit: @NASAhistory/Twitter

main objectives of Apollo 15, that was also first of Apollo ‘J’ missions, was to explore Hadley-Apennine region, set up and activate lunar surface scientific experiments, make engineering evaluations of new Apollo equipment, and conduct lunar orbital experiments and photographic tasks. deployment of first LRV on moon made exploration and geological investigations at landing site more enhanced. During this mission, Scott and Irwin t only completed a record of 18 hours 37 minutes of exploration but also became first ones to travel 17.5 miles in first car that humans have ever driven on moon.

Credit: NASA/MSFC

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'An Apollo 15 Parama'. Credit: Apollo 15 Crew, USGS, NASA

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What were specifications of first Lunar Rover Vehicle?

first Lunar Rover Vehicle was one of most famous electric vehicles of its time and still remains a techlogical marvel. It was built by Boeing in 17 months and it could t only carry two astronauts geared up with heave suits but it could store rocks and dirt collected by m. main aspects that dominated design of first man-made vehicle that was driven on moon were weight and performance. 

rover was taken to Moon in a folded formation and packed into a cargo hold. When Scott and Irwin landed on Earth’s natural satellite, y used a system including pulleys, reels, and tapes to lower vehicle from payload bay. After which rover took over automatically. This LRV was 10 feet, 2 inches long with a 7.5-foot wheelbase and 6-foot tread width. It was also less than 45 inches high. "tires" were t made of rubber but zinc-coated woven steel strands attached to rim and discs that were formed of aluminium.

Credit: NASA

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