NASA in Clear Lake let James Ray drive the new Lunar Rover! This year marks the 40 anniversary of the lunar rover and Top Gear flew James out to drive the latest model. The new model is massive compared to the original! .... think Volkswagen Beetle meets Monster Truck!
It's pretty impressive and entertaining at the same time. James, AKA "Captain Slow", only almost crashes it twice! LOL! My favorite part is when he parallel parks the 4 ton vehicle.
The show, which is for gear heads, spends a lot of time on the rover's specs, but James does go into some of the history of the program and when, if ever (never, actually, in his opinion), the rover will ever be used for its intended purpose.
See the YouTube video link here!... but watch out when you read the blog comments... some are not intended for the younger viewers!
Thanks for sharing. I'm a big Top Gear fan too, and that was an excellent segment - funny, informative and just a little bit moving. The new moon buggy looks really cozy, too!
ReplyDeletedidn't notice the link in there. Very cool! I actually got to drive the prototype lunar rover when I went to Space Camp several millenia ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm not positive, but the chassis for the SEV looks almost identical to a frame on display at the recent APS conference at SFA. Perhaps they had a hand in the design, though I can't verify it by citation.