Lunar and Planetary Rovers
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Lunar and Planetary Rovers The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars ``There is nothing so far removed from us as to be beyond our reach, or so hidden that we cannot discover it.'' Rene Descartes Anthony H. Young Lunar and Planetary Rovers The Wheels of Apollo and the Quest for Mars Published in association with Praxis Publishing Chichester, UK Mr Anthony H. Young Aerospace Historian Miami Florida USA SPRINGER±PRAXIS BOOKS IN SPACE EXPLORATION SUBJECT ADVISORY EDITOR: John Mason B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. ISBN 10: 0-387-30774-5 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Springer is a part of Springer Science + Business Media (springeronline.com) Library of Congress Control Number: 2006930590 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. # Copyright, 2007 Praxis Publishing Ltd. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: Jim Wilkie Copy editing: Mike Shayler Typesetting: BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts., UK Printed in Germany on acid-free paper I dedicate this book to my daughters Erin and Katie, that they may one day experience the wonder of watching astronauts once again exploring the Moon. Table of contents Foreword ..................................................... xiii Author's preface................................................xvii Acknowledgements .............................................. ixx List of illustrations.............................................. xxi From concept to reality ........................................... 1 Sputnik and Project HORIZON.................................. 2 Lunar mobility studies at Marshall Space Flight Center ................ 3 The Lunar Exploration and Science Conferences of 1965 and 1967 ....... 9 The Lunar Roving Vehicle wins the mobility debate . ................11 The Lunar Roving Vehicle Request for Proposals ....................15 The Boeing-Marshall Space Flight Center collaboration................19 The LRV: a spacecraft without precedent ..........................21 The year of discontent: 1970 ....................................23 The Lunar Roving Vehicle subsystems.................................29 The Mobility Subsystem........................................29 The LRV's chassis, suspension and traction drives . ................29 A wheel like no other .......................................33 Crew Station Subsystem........................................39 Navigation Subsystem .........................................41 Electrical Power Subsystem .....................................43 Thermal Control Subsystem.....................................44 Communications Subsystem.....................................48 Stowage and Deployment Subsystem ..............................51 LRV bound for the Moon with Apollo 15 ..........................55 Training for the Moon ............................................57 The USGS Branch of Astrogeology ...............................57 Lunar vehicle testing at the USGS ................................62 A scratch-built trainer ......................................65 viii Table of contents Traverse planning and mission geologic training for the J-Missions .......68 Teaching the astronauts to be geologists.........................71 Engineering the 1-G LRV trainer.................................75 Training at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida ......................77 Training at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas.............79 Visual simulation training at Marshall Space Flight Center .............82 Zero gravity and reduced gravity training ..........................82 Training ± an astronaut's way of life ..............................84 To the Hadley Plains .............................................85 Checking out the first LRV .....................................85 The landing site, mission rules and lunar science .....................89 Meticulous planning ........................................91 LRV closeout................................................95 Launch day ± 26 July 1971 .....................................96 Rendezvous with the Moon .....................................98 The standup EVA ...........................................100 EVA-1: deploying the Rover and the first traverse ...................100 Learning to drive on the Moon ..............................102 Returning to the Lunar Module ..............................109 EVA-2: exploring the Apennine Front ............................112 Station 6 and 6A .........................................114 A spectacular discovery at Station 7...........................117 Closeout of EVA-2........................................118 EVA-3: recovering the deep core sample and returning to the Rille ......119 The first Lunar Grand Prix .................................120 Exploring Hadley Rille.....................................121 Closing out EVA-3........................................123 Return and splashdown .......................................125 Re-entry and return to Earth ................................127 Mysterious and unknown Descartes .................................129 Cutbacks in the program ......................................129 Landing site selection, mission planning and pre-launch activities. .......132 Descartes is selected .......................................134 Launch day ................................................136 Goornogo................................................138 Down among the rocks ....................................139 EVA-1: to Plum and Buster Craters ..............................141 The largest rock sample ever collected .........................144 The second Lunar Grand Prix ...............................146 EVA-2: south to Stone Mountain ...............................147 Losing the fender extension .................................149 Lunar dust problems ......................................152 EVA-3: North Ray Crater, House Rock and Shadow Rock ............155 Table of contents ix It's further away than you think..............................157 Leaving Descartes for home....................................160 A safe return ............................................161 Destiny at Taurus-Littrow ........................................163 Apollo 17 crew selection ......................................165 Apollo 17 landing site selection .................................166 Mission and EVA traverse planning..............................168 Pre-launch activities ..........................................171 The night launch of Apollo 17 ..................................173 Landing at Taurus-Littrow.....................................174 EVA-1: an eventful day .......................................176 A fender crisis averted .....................................178 On to Station 1 ..........................................182 The lunar dust problem returns ..............................184 Back inside Challenger .....................................187 EVA-2: solving the fender problem and crater exploration .............189 Towards the South Massif ..................................191 Unexpected discoveries.....................................193 Closeout of EVA-2........................................196 EVA-3: The last day on the Moon...............................199 Towards the North Massif ..................................199 The Sculptured Hills.......................................202 Van Serg Crater ..........................................203 The era of lunar exploration draws to a close....................205 Returning home .............................................207 The end of the Apollo era .....................................207 The quest for Mars .............................................209 The Viking missions..........................................209 Pathfinder and Sojourner ......................................212 Early rover prototypes .....................................212 Rover designs evolve ......................................214 Pathfinder and Sojourner design ..............................216 OntoMars.............................................218 First wheels on Martian soil.................................220 Disaster strikes the Mars exploration program ......................224 Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity ....................225 Success under pressure .....................................226 MER from the ground up and inside out .......................228 The EDL system and lander.................................230 Race to the Cape .........................................232 The Mars Exploration Rovers begin their mission ...................233 Spirit explores Gusev Crater.................................235 Opportunity explores Meridiani Planum ........................239 x Table of contents Mars science laboratory .......................................243 The Mars Science Laboratory Mast Camera