18 WHEELS OF STEEL TORRENTS

The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle was an electric vehicle designed to operate in the low-gravity vacuum of the Moon and to be capable of traversing the lunar surface, allowing the Apollo astronauts to extend the range of their surface extravehicular activities. Three LRVs were driven on the Moon, one on Apollo 15 by astronauts David Scott and Jim Irwin, one on Apollo 16 by John Young and Charles Duke, and one on Apollo 17 by Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt.

The Lunar Roving Vehicle had a mass of 463 lbs and was designed to hold a payload of an additional 1,080 lbs on the lunar surface. The frame was 10 feet long with a wheelbase of 7.5 feet. The maximum height was 3.75 feet. The frame was made of aluminum alloy 2219 tubing welded assemblies and consisted of a 3 part chassis which was hinged in the center so it could be folded up and hung in the Lunar Module quad 1 bay. It had two side-by-side foldable seats made of tubular aluminum with nylon webbing and aluminum floor panels. An armrest was mounted between the seats, and each seat had adjustable footrests and a velcro seatbelt. A large mesh dish antenna was mounted on a mast on the front center of the rover. The suspension consisted of a double horizontal wishbone with upper and lower torsion bars and a damper unit between the chassis and upper wishbone. Fully loaded the LRV had a ground clearance of 14 inches.

The wheels consisted of a spun aluminum hub and an 32 inches diameter, 9 inch wide tire made of zinc coated woven .033 inch diameter steel strands attached to the rim and discs of formed aluminum. Titanium chevrons covered 50% of the contact area to provide traction. Inside the tire was a 25.5 inch diameter bump stop frame to protect the hub. Dust guards were mounted above the wheels. Each wheel had its own electric drive, a DC series wound 0.25 hp motor capable of 10,000 rpm, attached to the wheel via an 80:1 harmonic drive, and a mechanical brake unit. Maneuvering capability was provided through the use of front and rear steering motors. Each series wound DC steering motor was capable of 0.1 hp. Both sets of wheels would turn in opposite directions, giving a steering radius of 10 feet, or could be decoupled so only one set would be used for steering. They could also free-wheel in case of drive failure. Power was provided by two 36-volt silver-zinc potassium hydroxide non-rechargeable batteries with a capacity of 121 A·h. These were used to power the drive and steering motors and also a 36 volt utility outlet mounted on front of the LRV to power the communications relay unit or the TV camera.

A T-shaped hand controller situated between the two seats controlled the four drive motors, two steering motors and brakes. Moving the stick forward powered the LRV forward, left and right turned the vehicle left or right, pulling backwards activated the brakes. Activating a switch on the handle before pulling back would put the LRV into reverse. Pulling the handle all the way back activated a parking brake. The control and display modules were situated in front of the handle and gave information on the speed, heading, pitch, and power and temperature levels.

Navigation was based on continuously recording direction and distance through use of a directional gyro and odometer and inputting this data to a computer which would keep track of the overall direction and distance back to the LM. There was also a Sun-shadow device which could give a manual heading based on the direction of the Sun, using the fact that the Sun moved very slowly in the sky.

1955 Chevrolet Concept Car. The 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne began life as a super star to showcase the new Chevy 265 cubic inch V-8 engine and was featured at the 1955 Motorama where it wowed the world with its futuristic design and styling cues. The car would influence future General Motors design styling cues for years to come. The most obvious is of course the rear end which at a time American cars were just getting poised for outrageous tail fins the Biscayne jumped 5 years ahead and showcased the conservative yet sporty '60s styling theme incorporated into the first Corvair. In a lesser way it also influenced the 1958 full size Chevys, with its separation of the taillight scallops. Then there's the side scoop that became a Corvette hallmark in 1956 (turned around) and lasting thru 1962. The leading edge of the front fender was an inspiration to the front fender on Bill Mitchell stunning 1963 Buick Riviera. The windshield design, in a more conservative version was used across the board on all of the 1959 and 1960 GM cars. The Biscayne’s wheel cover design was copied for Chevrolets new for 1957 14-inch wheel covers. The 4 door hardtop body configuring with center opening doors minus the "B" pillar was further engineered for the up coming 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Even the interiors door bolsters showed up in a production version, on the 1959 Chevrolet Impalas interior. Actually in a very abstract way the spears leading to the headlights had some influence on the design of the ever popular 1957 Chevrolet's hood. The dashboard instrument cluster was picked up for the 1958 Chevrolets. The rear bumper ensemble was used untouched on the 1961/1962 and with little modification thru 1967 Chevrolet Corvette. Pretty amazing how it had influences well into the '60s.