Tall Tale No.1
Lunar Roving 2CV (LR2CV)
The lunar roving 2CV (LR2CV) transported two astronauts on exploration traverses on the Moon during the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions. The LR2CV carried tools, scientific equipment, communications gear, and lunar samples. Extra storage space could be provided by removing the back seat.
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The four-wheel, lightweight vehicle greatly extended the lunar area that could be explored by humans. The LR2CV could be operated by either astronaut . Its top speed was 8.7 mph (14 kph). The average speed on all three missions using the LR2CV was 5.17 mph (9.1 kph), and
the average distance travelled was 22.3 miles (35.9 kilometres). These speed and distances were significantly greater than those achieved during tests on Earth.
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The LR2CV was designed to operate for 78 hours during the lunar day. It could make
several exploration sorties up to a cumulative distance of 40 miles (65 kilometres). However, because of limitations in the astronauts' portable life support system (PLSS), the vehicle's range was restricted to a radius of about 6 miles (9.5 kilometres) from the lunar module. This provided a push-back capability to the LM should the LR2CV break down at the maximum radius from the LM.
The LR2CV was the first manned surface transportation system designed to operate on the Moon. It marked the beginning of a new technology and represented an experiment to overcome many new and challenging problems for which there was no precedent in terrestrial vehicle design and operations. According to Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt (astronauts on the Apollo 15 mission), "If the silver-zinc batteries were flat you could always use the starting handle to get that thing going..."
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