How Did NASA Engineer a Car for the Moon? | Apollo

NASA’s first car to drive on the Moon revolutionized space exploration, giving astronauts the ability to travel farther than ever before.

Read More:
The Lunar Rover was Almost as Badass as the Astronauts Who Drove it
“Apollo 15 marked the start of serious geological training for astronauts. Irwin and Scott underwent extensive fieldwork, including using a geological rover (“Grover”) as part of their training. Worden’s training for lunar mapping while alone in orbit involved flying over new terrain to practice the fine art of geomorphological interpretation from above.”

When We Blew Up Arizona to Simulate the Moon
“In the late 1960s, NASA created an off-world analogue with dynamite and fertilizer bombs outside Flagstaff, Arizona, so that astronauts could train for the Apollo missions.”

Looking Back at NASA’s Strange Mobile Lunar Laboratory
“Once upon a time, NASA had big plans for the Moon… back in the early 1960’s NASA commissioned General Motors to build the MOLAB, a mobile geological laboratory that would have allowed astronauts to live and work away from a planned lunar base for up to two weeks, collecting samples and learning more about the composition of the Moon.”
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The path to the moon traced a dangerous line of risk and reward. In a race against time, the Apollo Program challenged our scientific capabilities and redefined the boundaries of humanity. To celebrate NASA’s 60 years of exploration, Seeker is going back in time to relive each Apollo mission, taking viewers on a ride to an entirely new world.

Seeker explains every aspect of our world through a lens of science, inspiring a new generation of curious minds who want to know how today’s discoveries in science, math, engineering and technology are impacting our lives and shaping our future. Our stories parse meaning from the noise in a world of rapidly changing information.

[stephen_l]

0:47 that’s basically every time I do anything in real life.

[KittyBoom]

Space travel was so much easier back then. We used to play golf and ride dune buggies on the moon.
Today, we don't even leave Earth's orbit.

[evaristegalois]

I wanna go to the moon only so I can escape these awful "Big Chungus" memes going around

[alexhatfield]

Slick and professional presentation. Some of the slickest and exciting Apollo movie footage came from the shots travelling at "speed" on the Rover, bouncing over the surface of the moon. Wish I had one. Wish I was there.

[rocktcatU]

The lunar worm actually sounds like a great idea, because no dust could ever enter the drive mechanisms.

[dennislaw]

Director : hey boy, don't drive too far, you'll probably bump into painted background, time to return.

[dartmaster]

No mention that an Engineer from GM came up with this design? GM continued with development of a lunar rover even after NASA had given up on the idea. The GM engineer made a working model that demonstrated how it would collapse and fit into quadrant 1 of the LM and "drove" it into Von Braun's office.

[unleashingpotential-psycho]

With hard work and persistence, anything can be accomplished.

[widget]

Kinda sad that half of the comments are space deniers and half are obsessed with the presenter... I just love the history of the technology and the exploration of the challenges they faced.

[nursesteve]

from drawing board to a production model that actually worked in one year! Phenomenal

[kathynavarro-sochel]

My father-in-law helped develop a piece for the first rover; our family’s name to fame!

[AnPerson]

Did you know that low oxygen levels in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus of the brain can induce yawning

[DaveHammondDublin]

General Motors

The company provided guidance systems, accelerometers and the batteries that powered the lunar module. However, the manufacturer may be better known for creating the Lunar Rover used in the Apollo 15 mission, which became the first vehicle to drive on the moon's surface on August 1, 1971.19 Jul 2019

[benrobinson]

I am so happy that space exploration is kicking of again.

[dansv]

4:30 LRV in tow is a very strange way to describe how the rover was transported to the moon.

[dennismason]

So the Moon Residents watched the Apollo astronauts driving the LRV and thought, "how wonderful this human species that has mastered the electric vehicle...oh wait...lemme see those Terran atmosphere reports again...".

[ShHeMiLeRe]

Mieczysław Bekker another unsung genius.

[Kaixo]

I just have a question, how did they do 3 days of moonwalking? Was there like a room inside the lunar-module where they slept and ate? Cuz 3 days is freaking long, I expected it to be a couple hours at most, but 72 hours?!!?

[SagarSagar-rofj]

That good footage back in time was proof that nasa is still 50yrs ahead

[BadAndy]

LRV contact was awarded to Boeing Company, but the main subcontractor was General Motors and they actually made it 💁🏻‍♂️