Long Lost Soviet Rover Found on the Moon

It might not be in the stars for humans to return to the moon anytime soon.

But NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched last year in part to scout locations for a moon base, is proving that there's still plenty it can do in the name of space exploration.

High-resolution LRO images have helped researchers track down the first successful robotic lunar rover, a U.S.S.R. craft known as Lunokhod 1.



The Soviet rover landed on the moon on November 17, 1970. The probe drove around for ten months, returning data on soil composition and lunar topography, before its signal was lost on September 14, 1971.

As can happen when you leave a broken vehicle roughly 239,000 miles (384,000 kilometers) from home, the exact location of Lunokhod 1 was lost to history.



more

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/breakingorbit/2010/04/long-lost-soviet-rover-found-o.html

could do that...

I mean look at that wind! Flag's probably nothing but tatters now.

;)

Alan Shepard's golf balls, however. Now THERE are some collectibles!

:shrug:

It was amazing. What the Russian guys had to do and how they did it.

Because if not, that is BIG news.