Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan steering the two-seater lunar rover
Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan steering the two-seater lunar rover
During the last three Moon landings, the astronauts were able to explore the areas around their landing sites with a lunar rover, which was a battery-powered vehicle with a mass of 210 kilograms. The duration of their stays on the Moon was extended to three Earth days, allowing three long excursions - each covering a distance of approximately 30 to 35 kilometres - to be carried out during the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions. This greater mobility allowed the astronauts to conduct far more intensive studies of the lunar landscape and collect many more rock samples.
