Lunar Roving Vehicle

Lunar Roving Vehicle
The U.S. Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle from Apollo 15 on the Moon in 1971
Overview
Manufacturer	Boeing General Motors
Also called	"Lunar rover" "Moon buggy"
Designer	Ferenc Pavlics
Powertrain
Electric motor	Four 0.25-horsepower (0.19 kW) series-wound DC motors
Transmission	Four 80:1 harmonic drives
Battery	Two silver-oxide, 121 A·h
Range	57 miles (92 km)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	7.5 ft (2.3 m)
Length	10 ft (3.0 m)
Height	3.6 feet (1.1 m)
Curb weight	460 pounds (210 kg) on Earth 76 pounds on the Moon
Chronology
Successor	Lunar Terrain Vehicle

The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is a battery-powered four-wheeled rover used on the Moon in the last three missions of the American Apollo program (15, 16, and 17) during 1971 and 1972. It is popularly called the Moon buggy, a play on the term "dune buggy".

Built by Boeing, each LRV has a mass of 462 pounds (210 kg) without payload. It could carry a maximum payload of 970 pounds (440 kg), including two astronauts, equipment, and cargo such as lunar samples, and was designed for a top speed of 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h), although it achieved a top speed of 11.2 miles per hour (18.0 km/h) on its last mission, Apollo 17.

Each LRV was carried to the Moon folded up in the Lunar Module's Quadrant 1 Bay. After being unpacked, each was driven an average of 30 km, without major incident. These three LRVs remain on the Moon.