Re:Forgotten Soviet Moon Rover Beams Light Back to Earth
by flanther on Friday May 27, 2011 @08:50AM
(#2591247)
If I remember correctly, in this documentary "Tank on the Moon"[1], they said, one of the scientists who worked on the Lunokhod missions consulted with NASA for part of the design of the Mars rover around 1995. Apparently he worked on the wheel design, to help overcome grip and other factors on the Mars terrain.
[1] http://science.discovery.com/tv/tank/tank.html
Re:Forgotten Soviet Moon Rover Beams Light Back to Earth
by paxswill on Friday May 27, 2011 @08:40AM
(#2591223)
The US rovers have used a rocker-bogie[1] system for their suspension. While the wheels look similar, the suspension on the Lunokhod almost looks like leaf springs.
Re:Forgotten Soviet Moon Rover Beams Light Back to Earth
by masklinn on Friday May 27, 2011 @09:23AM
(#2591342)
nah. Here's a detail of Lunokhod 3 wheels: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Lunokhod_...
Re:Forgotten Soviet Moon Rover Beams Light Back to Earth
by Someone on Friday May 27, 2011 @04:52PM
(#2593023)
Given the time of these designs, one cannot rule out that it is more correct to say that there were 1.5 designs, not 2. Both parties involved tended to keep a close look on the competition.
Obviously, the first thing I was thinking about was the similarity of the two wheel/suspensions designs. Next up, I was wondering about the engineering decisions which resulted in the designs being similar. The main question I have is, "What advantages did the multi-wheel designs have?" I think it must have something to do with trade-offs between mobility on the (theoretical) terrain and power consumption, but really, I'm just guessing. Whatever the reasons are for the similarities, learning the engineering and testing behind the two designs would be fascinating.