Lunar Roving Vehicle, Qualification Test Unit
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Boeing Company
notes: label: Summary
content: The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) was a battery powered "dune buggy" taken to the moon on Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17. The LRV was stowed on the descent stage of the Lunar Module and deployed upon arrival at the lunar surface. The LRV was operated with a spacecraft "stick," rather than a steering wheel.
label: Summary
content: In addition to the flight vehicles, Boeing manufactured eight non-flight units for development and testing. One, the "Qualification Test Unit," was a very close replica of the units that flew. Using special test chambers, engineers purposely subjected the qualification unit to conditions many times as severe as those expected on an actual mission. When the tests were finished, given the stresses it had been subject to, the qualification unit could not safely be used in space. In 1975, NASA transferred it to the Museum.
label: Alternate Name
content: Lunar Roving Vehicle
label: Key Accomplishment(s)
content: First Human-Driven Vehicle on Another Planet
label: Brief Description
content: The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) was a battery-powered "dune buggy" taken to the moon on Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17. Stowed on the descent stage of the Lunar Module, the LRV extended the range of astronaut EVA activities by several kilometers beyond the landing site.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
title: label: Title
content: Lunar Roving Vehicle, Qualification Test Unit
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
label: Exhibition
content: Destination Moon
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19760746000
objectType: label: Type
content: SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Test Vehicles
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Aluminum chassis, zinc-coated piano wire wheels, fiberglass fenders, canvas, nylon, brass
label: Dimensions
content: Overall: 4 × 5 × 8 ft., 537lb. (121.9 × 152.4 × 243.8cm, 243.6kg)