Monday, March 24, 2008

Lunar Rover What was its power source on the moon? How was it assembled?

A visitor to my moon landing page sends the following. Click thumbnails to enlarge pictures.



THEY LANDED FIVE TIMES IN SIX YEARS AND IN 40 YEARS LATER THEY STILL DIDN'T GO BACK. THEY WOULD HAVE BUILD THE SPACE STATION ON THE MOON IF THEY WOULD HAVE REALLY LANDED. THE MOON ROVER WAS A JOKE LOOK AT THOSE TWO PICTURES + HOW IN THE WORLD COULD THEY HAVE ASSEMBLED SUCH A BIG 1952 JEEP AND DROVE IT SO EASILY WITHOUT POWER SOURCE.

jeepframe.jpg lunarrover.jpg



Wikipedia says this:
The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle was an electric vehicle designed to operate in the low-gravity vacuum of the Moon and to be capable of traversing the lunar surface, allowing the Apollo astronauts to extend the range of their surface extravehicular activities. ... Each wheel had its own electric drive, a DC series wound 0.25 hp (200 W) motor capable of 10,000 rpm, attached to the wheel via an 80:1 harmonic drive, and a mechanical brake unit. Maneuvering capability was provided through the use of front and rear steering motors. Each series wound DC steering motor was capable of 0.1 hp (100 W). Both sets of wheels would turn in opposite directions, giving a steering radius of 10 feet (3 m), or could be decoupled so only one set would be used for steering. They could also free-wheel in case of drive failure. Power was provided by two 36-volt silver-zinc potassium hydroxide non-rechargeable batteries with a capacity of 121 A·h. These were used to power the drive and steering motors and also a 36 volt utility outlet mounted on front of the LRV to power the communications relay unit or the TV camera.

Considerable money was spent on the moon buggies.
Four were made – at a total cost of $38 million. Developed in just 17 months, the 3.1-metre vehicle was powered by two 36-volt silver-zinc potassium hydroxide batteries, enabling a top speed of 8mph. - carsmoneycantbuy

How do silver-zinc batteries compare to lithium ion batteries?
Silver-zinc chemistry has three significant advantages over lithium ion, according to Dueber: It’s inherently safer because it lacks the volatile cathode makeup that leads to a thermal runaway, it’s very green since both silver and zinc are non-toxic as well as recyclable, and, perhaps most importantly, it packs 40% more energy into a battery pack than lithium ion can. Silver-zinc has a long history.... It was used by the military and aerospace where programs could afford to pay for the higher-priced silver in exchange for increased energy density. - edn

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