On Dec 3, 10:07 pm, Totorkon wrote:
On Dec 3, 7:39 am, Frogwatch wrote:

In the late 60s and early 70s, the Soviets landed two Lunokhod rovers
on the moon that drove many km over the surface. These two vehicles
were very successful and the lander and ramp device seemed very
reliable. Instead of a completely new design, could this technology
be updated with new electronics and batteries?

The second lunokhod made it 23 miles but at 840 kg it might not be a
technology you would want to resurrect in full.

Keeping a rover operational after a fortnight at -233C (50C below the
lquifaction of oxygen) on batteries alone is a task that has been
dismissed outright, but atleast it can be tested in a vacuum chamber.

It might make sense to set up a 'battery base'. This weight dosn't
have to be carried, the PVs for recharging can be much bigger and moon
dust is an excellent insulator.

Using satellite images, a telescope the size of that on the mars MRO
would have a resolution of under an inch from a 10km altitude, paths
could be selected so that an average speed of 3mph could be
maintained. This would give a rover a range radius of 500 miles.

The USSR/Russia has nothing objective in order to support their
claims.

As far as we know, a semi-controlled impact was as good as it gets.

~ BG