Jos Kirps is the creator of several software and web projects, including Galaxiki, a fictional galaxy where site members can get their own solar system and the Open Source CorneliOS webOS.
The Lunar Rover (sometimes also called the "moon buggy", and officially named Lunar Roving Vehicle - LRV) was a surface exploration rover used on the Moon during the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions.
The original vehicle was developed in only 17 months by Boeing (although there were cost overruns), it was mostly made of aluminium and had a top speed of about 8 mph (13 km/h) and a weight of 463 lb (210 kg). A total of four rovers had been built, but only three were used as Apollo 18 and further missions had been cancelled.
The rover was first used on July 31, 1971 during the Apollo 15 mission and finally allowed the astronauts to expand the range of their lunar explorations - previous missions only allowed short walking distances around the landing site. In case of a technical malfunction the astronauts would have been force to walk back the way to the landing site, therefore the traverses were limited in the distance. But all three rovers performed well and didn't cause any major problems.
The LRV was an electric so that it could operate in the vacuum of the Moon. Each wheel had its own 200W electric drive and brakes, it had both front and rear steering motors and was powered by two 36V non-rechargeable batteries. A colour television camera was mounted on the front and could be remotely operated by Mission Control, which allowed far better television coverage of the EVA than the earlier missions. A large mesh dish antenna was mounted on a mast on the front center of the rover.
The rover was operated using a hand controller situated between the two seats, control and display modules were situated in front of the handle and gave information on the speed, heading, pitch, power and temperature levels. All movements were continuously recorded and the overall direction and distance back to the landing site were computer controlled.
All three NASA rovers have been abandoned on the Moon where they can still be found today, although they are far too small to be visible on the surface using telescopes.
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