Lunokhod

Mission Profile

Lunokhod (Lunakhod, Moonwalker) refers to the Soviet series of robotic lunar rovers, of which Lunokhod 1 (1970) and Lunokhod 2 (1973) successfully traversed the lunar surface. Delivered by Luna landers, these 840 kg rover vehicles were operated in real time by a five-person crew on Earth using a television system and steerable cameras, covering 10.5 km (Lunokhod 1) and 37 km (Lunokhod 2) of the lunar surface over their respective missions. The rovers conducted soil mechanics tests, X-ray fluorescence analysis of surface material, laser retroreflector experiments, and thousands of panoramic photographs. Lunokhod 1 and 2 were the first successful remote-controlled surface vehicles on another world, predating the Soviet program by which the US would not deploy a planetary rover until the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner in 1997.