Lunar Exploration Initiative
Briefing Topic:
Lunar Mobility Review
David A. Kring
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Lunar Mobility
• Robotic Vehicles
– Lunokhod 1 (Luna 17)
– Lunokhod 2 (Luna 21)
• Human Exploration Vehicles
– MET (Apollo 14)
– LRV (Apollo 15, 16, and 17)
– Lunar Motorcycle (for Apollo 15, but not flown)
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
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Lunar Robotic Vehicles
• Robotic Rovers
– Lunokhod 1 (Luna 17, Nov 1970)
• Explored Mare Imbrium
• 756 kg
• Rover had 1.7 m wheelbase and was ~1 m wide
• Driven by 8 rigid spoked wheels with a wire mesh rim connected to three
hoops
• Wheel diameter ~51 cm and width ~20 cm
• Operated on slopes up to 32°
• 212-220 day lifetime (~7 lunar days) per Petrov (USSR, 1972) or 322 day
lifetime (~11 lunar days) per National Space Science Data Center
• Traversed 10.54 km
– Lunokhod 2 (Luna 21, Jan 1973)
• Explored Mare Serenitatis
• 840 kg (1814 kg with lander)
• 170 cm long, 160 cm wide, 135 cm high
• Two-speeds: ~1 km/hr and ~2 km/hr
• 139 day lifetime (~5 lunar days)
• Traversed 37 km
NSSDC 1970-095A; 1973-001A
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
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Lunokhod 2
Carried 3 TV cameras, one of which was
high on rover for navigation, allowing
real-time driving by 5-man team in USSR
Powered by batteries that were recharged
by a solar panel on lid of payload bay &
a Polonium-210 radiogenic heat source
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Lunokhod 2 Mission Profile
• Earth parking orbit
• Translunar injection
• 90 x 100 km parking orbit around Moon
• Perilune lowered to 16 km and stabilized for 40 orbits
• Braking rocket puts lander in free fall
• Main thrusters fire 750 m above surface
• Main thrusters shut down 22 m above surface and secondary
thrusters ignited
• Secondary thrusters shut down 1.5 m above surface
• Landing occurs from a free fall height of 1.5 m
• Surface operations
– Dual-ramp roll-off
– Navigated while on battery
– Stopped occasionally to recharge battery with solar panel
– Hibernated during lunar night, remaining warm with radiogenic heater
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Lunokhod 2 Science
• Science Goals
– Image lunar surface
– Examine ambient light levels to assess suitability for astronomical
observations
– Perform laser ranging experiments from Earth
– Observe solar x-rays
– Measure local magnetic fields
– Study mechanical properties of lunar surface materials
• Instruments
– 4 panoramic cameras
– Astrophotometer for VIS and UV light
– Radiometer
– Rubin-1 photodetector for laser detection & French-supplied laser
corner-reflector
– Solar X-ray detector
– Magnetometer (at end of 2.5 m boom)
– Soil mechanics device (penetrometer)
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Human Exploration Vehicles
• Modular Equipment Transporter (MET) for Human Exploration
– Apollo 14 (Jan-Feb 1971)
• 75 kg (with instruments and samples)
• Hand-drawn
• 2 pneumatic tires
• 40 cm diameter tires, width of 10 cm
• Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) for Human Exploration
– Apollo 15 (July-Aug 1971), Apollo 16 (April 1972), Apollo 17 (Dec 1972)
• 708 kg (with astronauts, equipment, and samples; more than half of this
mass was the astronauts and their life support systems)
• 4 wheels composed of a flexible mesh of woven zinc-coated piano wire and
chevron-shaped titanium treads
• 82 cm wheel diameter and 23 cm width
• Battery-powered
• Lunar Motorcycle
– Designed for, but not flown on, Apollo 15
• 2 pneumatic tires
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Apollo LRV
Empty mass 218 kg
Payload mass 490 kg
Two astronauts 363 kg
Experiments, tools, & samples 127 kg
Gross Mass 790 kg
Dimensions
Length 310 cm
Wheelbase 229 cm
Overall width 206 cm
Height 114 cm
Power supply 2 parallel, non-rechargable Ag-Zn batteries (36 V)
Drive Independent motors on each wheel
Steering Front and rear independent steering
Minimum turning radius 305 cm
Wheels Woven Zn-coated piano wire with Ti-treads in
chevron pattern (50% coverage)
Maximum speed 13 km/hr
Normal cruise speed 6 to 7 km/hr
Maximum slope 19 to 23 deg
Energy consumption 35 to 56 W-hr/km
0.05 to 0.08 W-hr/km/kg
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Mobility
• Wheeled vehicles
– Based on Apollo and Lunokhod mission results
– Vehicles with round wheels work well on lunar surface if
ground contact pressure does not exceed 7 to 10 kPa
– Overcoming surface roughness and soil compaction
consumes the energy equivalent to a 1 ½ degree climb
up a smooth, rigid slope
– Surface roughness, in a relatively low gravity situation,
limits surface speed (otherwise, one bounces out of
control)
• The LRV was limited to 6-7 km/hr
• Faster speeds require larger wheels, larger wheel base,
greater mass, and/or softer suspension
HVF (COM) 91 t S9.1.11
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Lunar Exploration Initiative
Mobility
• Soft soils
– The Apollo 15 LRV spun its wheels (and got stuck) in
soft soil
– The empty LRV weighed only 38 kg in lunar gravity, so
the astronauts moved it to solve the problem. This
solution is not possible in a completely robotic mission.
– Lunokhod 2 encountered soft soils on the inside walls
of craters; the soil was particularly soft at the base of
slopes
• Normal wheel sinkage was 2 cm
• Wheel sinkage was >20 cm near impact craters
HVF (COM) 91 t S9.1.11
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Maneuvering
• Cohesion varies as a function of geologic terrain
– Cohesion on interior crater rims is less than that in
intercrater areas
– Cohesion in intercrater areas is less than that on crater
rims
HVF (COM) 91 t S9.1.11
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Slope Requirements
• LExSWG (1995) findings for rover mobility
– Impact-cratered terrains
• Old 100 m diameter crater (a common feature) has
maximum slopes of 5 to 10°
• Somewhat fresher craters have interior slopes of 15 to 20°
• A very fresh crater, 500 m diameter South Ray Crater, has
ejecta blanket and rim slopes of 7° or less; interior crater
wall slopes can be as high as 35°, but routes to crater
floors with slopes of 17 to 26° exist
• Even large craters with diameters >10 km have average
crater wall slopes <30°
• Conclusion: capability to ascend and descend slopes of
~25° is sufficient
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Slope Requirements
• LExSWG (1995) findings
– Volcanic terrains
• Near vertical walls will occur near rilles, but less steep
routes to rille floors exist
• Topographic study of Rima Prinz and Rima Mozart reveal
numerous routes to rille floors with slopes of 15 to 20°;
routes with slopes <15° also exist
• Conclusion: capability to ascend and descend slopes of
~25° is sufficient
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Trafficability
• Empirical equations for the slope-climbing ability and energy
consumed by a wheeled vehicle moving through lunar soil were
determined for Apollo’s LRV (Bekker, 1969):
– Wheel sinkage
– Soil compaction resistance per wheel
– Gross pull per wheel
– Maximum trafficable slope
• These equations failed, however, to represent the trafficability of
small rovers in lunar soils, as simulated in 1/6 G conditions on
NASA 930 (KC-135A) flights (Carrier, 1994, summarizing Scott)
• A computational method (WHEEL-E) was developed to evaluate
small rover wheel performance in lunar soils (Carrier, 1995).
These solutions are for flexible, elastic wheels on a flexible,
elastic surface, so they may potentially be modified to assess the
trafficability of tracks.
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
Summary
• Human and robotic rovers operated on the lunar surface in
the past.
• The latter operated for several lunar days & nights,
enduring cold conditions without solar power.
• The lunar surface is covered with a soft soil that varies in
depth and cohesion; a wheeled vehicle has been stuck in
this soil.
• LExSWG (1995) recommended future rovers have the ability
to climb slopes up to 25° for operations in both impact-
cratered and volcanic terrains.
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
References
• Bekker M. G. (1969) Introduction to Terrain-Vehicle Systems,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
• Carrier W.D. III (1994) Trafficability of lunar microrovers, part 1.
Lunar Geotechnical Institute document LGI TR94-02.
• Carrier W.D. III (1995) Trafficability of lunar microrovers, part 2.
Lunar Geotechnical Institute document LGI TR95-01.
• Carrier W.D. III, G.R. Olhoeft, and W. Mendell (1991) Physical
Properties of the Lunar Surface, In Lunar Sourcebook, G.H.
Heiken, D.T. Vaniman, and B.M. French (eds.), Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
• LExSWG (1995) Lunar Surface Exploration Strategy, Final Report.
• NASA Space Science Data Center, document 1970-095A.
• NASA Space Science Data Center, document 1973-001A.
• Petrov G.I. (1972) Investigation of the Moon with the Lunokhod 1
space vehicle, In COSPAR Space Research XII, Akademie-Verlag,
Berlin.
Kring/Space Sciences 2006
Lunar Exploration Initiative
