Lunokhod 1

Lunokhod 1 was a lunar rover made by the Soviet Union. It was part of the Lunokhod programme. It was the first man made rover (vehicle) to land on another planet. It landed on the Moon on November 17, 1970. It drove around on the Moon for nearly a year, collecting information about the soil and landscape. The Lunokhod had only two speeds, 1 km/h or 2 km/h. It had four TV cameras and was controlled by a five person team on Earth.

It was lost for almost 40 years, but the space rocket which delivered the rover to the Moon was found in photos taken by the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Scientists were then able to follow the rover's tracks and found the rover about 10 km away.  They can now send laser beams to a reflector on the rover which will send them back to Earth. This will help them with measurements to find the exact centre of the Moon.

References

Category:Soviet spacecraft
Category:Moon
Category:Planetary rovers
Category:1970s in spaceflight