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Russian Moon Rovers. Impressive for 1970 and 1973. Lunokhod 1, during its 322 Earth days of operations, travelled 10.5 km (6.5 miles) and returned more than 20

Russian Moon Rovers. Impressive for 1970 and 1973. Lunokhod 1, during its 322 Earth days of operations, travelled 10.5 km (6.5 miles) and returned more than 20,000 television images and 206 high-resolution panoramas. In addition, it performed twenty-five soil analyses with its RIFMA x-ray fluorescence spectrometer and used its penetrometer at 500 different locations. Lunokhod 2, operated for about four months, covered 42 km (26 miles) of terrain, including driving into hilly upland areas and rilles. Lunokhod 2 held the record for the longest distance of surface travel of any extraterrestrial vehicle until 2014. It sent back 86 panoramic images and over 80,000 television pictures.

cr125rider 2y ago
It traveled further than that though? Is that million of miles?
- Forbo 2y ago
  Surface operation, not distance to the moon.
- KineticLensman 2y ago
  Thats 42 km on the lunar surface
ljf 2y ago
As a child in the 80s, one of my teachers had a stack of 70s kids science magazines for rainy lunch times. One of them had a section in Lunokhod and also on some sort of pressurised diving suit. I'd seek those magazines out and stare at them for ages - they both seemed so exciting and remarkable. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_programme https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_programme When I got interested in the Lunokhod a few years ago I tried to find footage of the video feed that was sent back, and only found a grainy gif compiled from some of the images - I don't think any live footage was recorded, or if it was I don't believe it was made public. Seemed so amazing, remotely driving a vehicle on the moon, at that time.
- nradov 2y ago
  The diving suit picture was probably a JIM suit. It was revolutionary because it wasn't pressurized. The suit interior remained at 1 atm so the diver wasn't affected by higher pressures (neurological effects and decompression sickness). https://navalunderseamuseum.org/jim-suit/ https://navalunderseamuseum.org/jim-suit/
  - ljf 2y ago
    You are entirely correct - I have lost whole afternoons to similar sites: https://cyberneticzoo.com/early-underwater-manipulators-and-robots/ https://cyberneticzoo.com/early-underwater-manipulators-and-... Machines/suits/robots like these really tickle part of my brain.

cr125rider 2y ago

It traveled further than that though? Is that million of miles?

Forbo 2y ago
Surface operation, not distance to the moon.
KineticLensman 2y ago
Thats 42 km on the lunar surface

ljf 2y ago

As a child in the 80s, one of my teachers had a stack of 70s kids science magazines for rainy lunch times. One of them had a section in Lunokhod and also on some sort of pressurised diving suit. I'd seek those magazines out and stare at them for ages - they both seemed so exciting and remarkable. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_programme https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_programme When I got interested in the Lunokhod a few years ago I tried to find footage of the video feed that was sent back, and only found a grainy gif compiled from some of the images - I don't think any live footage was recorded, or if it was I don't believe it was made public. Seemed so amazing, remotely driving a vehicle on the moon, at that time.

nradov 2y ago
The diving suit picture was probably a JIM suit. It was revolutionary because it wasn't pressurized. The suit interior remained at 1 atm so the diver wasn't affected by higher pressures (neurological effects and decompression sickness). https://navalunderseamuseum.org/jim-suit/ https://navalunderseamuseum.org/jim-suit/
- ljf 2y ago
  You are entirely correct - I have lost whole afternoons to similar sites: https://cyberneticzoo.com/early-underwater-manipulators-and-robots/ https://cyberneticzoo.com/early-underwater-manipulators-and-... Machines/suits/robots like these really tickle part of my brain.