The First Lunar Road Trip
Today in 1971, David Scott and James Irwin went for a drive—but this was no joyride. Scott and Irwin, NASA astronauts on the Apollo 15 moon mission, became the first people to burn rubber on the moon’s surface. The battery-powered Lunar Roving Vehicle, or “moon buggy,” could travel up to a cool 12 miles per hour, and took astronauts on longer journeys than previously possible during brief, cumbrous walks in their bulky suits. The buggy weighed a mere 77 pounds on the moon and could whisk around