Dune Buggies on the Moon, Part 1

Final Apollo missions to the moon

Apollo 15 Astronaut Jim Irwin loading the Lunar Rover

Image: NASA (Public domain)

We humans will probably visit the moon again within the next twenty years. Until that time the Apollo missions remain the last steps taken off our planet. On the final three Apollo visits, NASA astronauts pursued bold mission objectives that could not be met walking on their feet alone. The astronauts needed to explore well beyond the immediate vicinity of their landing craft, the Apollo Lunar Module. Starting with the Apollo 15 mission in 1971, the Lunar Roving Vehicle brought astronauts several miles out from their landing craft.  On Apollo 17, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt drove their moon buggy over 20 miles total. At one point they were nearly 5 miles from the landing craft! Driving out so far showed tremendous confidence in the engineering of the buggy as well as the depth of courage and curiosity of the Apollo teams.

Article series continued here:  
Dune Buggies on the Moon, Part 2
Dune Buggies on the Moon, Part 3


Ice Moon Station will publish more on the Apollo missions in future posts.  
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