NASA engineers have been putting prototypes of future moon buggies through the paces out at a field test in the Arizona desert lava fields. Here’s a video taken on Sept. 6 showing the capabilities of the Chariot B, and it’s pretty impressive. The Chariot features 12 wheels driven by two electric motors through a two-speed transmission. It can perform in a “bulldozer” mode with up to 1814 kg (4,000 pounds) of force or cruise at up to 24 kph (15 mph). Or, in this case, it can climb up extremely treacherous terrain. The modular design also means that the steel alloy frame can be fitted with several different crew and payload combinations, including a small pressurized cabin and a sample collector.
For more on the field tests, follow the Desert RATS on Twitter, and see more images of the Chariot and the Lunar Electric Rover (LER) on Flickr.
In that video, at the 1:26 min. mark, the caption states:
Somebody should tell that caption writer: that should be its (possessive form of the pronoun it), not “it’s”.
The specifications and fact sheet of the Lunar Electric Rover are available here (PDF).
IVAN3MAN0 Thank you for the link-this LER is an awesome vehicle!!!!
“up to 4,000 pounds of force or cruise at up to fifteen miles an hour.”
Could you please use SI Units? That would be very helpful, thanks!
I’ll second the thanks for the specs. I’m awed by the functionality and versatility pressed into such a small volume!
Huh. The term that comes to mind is possessed.
Lichtecho-
Done.
Traction control an load leveling suspension with wheel to groud sensors..that thing do Great!!..(no curb feelers)..heh