Exploration provides the foundation of our knowledge, technology, resources, and inspiration. It seeks answers to fundamental questions about our existence, responds to recent discoveries and puts in place revolutionary techniques and capabilities to inspire our nation, the world, and the next generation.
The vision for space exploration includes returning the space shuttle safely to flight, completing the International Space Station, developing a new exploration vehicle and all the systems needed for embarking on extended missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond!
In 1971 the Apollo 15 mission was the first to carry a lunar roving vehicle (LRV). This LRV allowed astronauts to travel farther from their landing sites than in previous missions. This enabled them to explore and sample a much wider variety of lunar materials. Because the vehicle was unpressurized, its longest single trip was 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles). Its maximum range from the Lunar Module (LM) was 5.0 kilometers (3.1 miles). LRVs were also on Apollo 16 (1972) and Apollo 17(1972). If the LRV should happen to fail at any time during the extravehicular activity (EVA), the astronauts must have sufficient life support consumables to be able to walk back to the LM. This distance is called the “walkback limit”, and it was approximately 10 kilometers (about 6 miles). Because of the reliability of the LRV and of the spacesuits, this restriction was relaxed on Apollo 17 for the longest traverse from the landing site, about 20 km (about 12 miles).
When NASA returns to the Moon, it will once again take LRVs to extend the distance astronauts may travel over the Moon’s surface. Modern unpressurized rovers will look similar to those of the Apollo years and steer like a car. These vehicles will be limited to local travels of 10 to 20 kilometers (about 6 to12 miles) from the outpost site during short periods of time that are less than 10 hours. Astronauts will still need to wear space suits while traveling in these unpressurized LRVs.
A second type of LRV will be pressurized and will have about 200 km as its starting point. Pressurized rovers will give astronauts the ability to travel long distances and perform extended science missions away from their habitat. These pressurized surface vehicles will provide a comfortable indoor environment from which the crew can drive the rover and control a variety of sensing and manipulation tools. This allows exploration and science to be performed without the need to exit the vehicle. Vehicle concepts also include docking ports for the crew to directly enter the rovers from habitats and an airlock to allow EVA. The versatility of the vehicle, its power system, and its life support system will allow the astronauts to spend multiple Earth days away from their habitat performing work.
Problem You are on the mission planning team that will determine the best route for the crew to use on the first trip using the new pressurized LRV (Rover 1).
This exploration mission will include gathering rock samples from around the Moon’s deGerlache crater. Rover 1 is at habitat A on the map near Shackleton crater. Its mission for the day is to drive to the rim of deGerlache crater to collect rock samples. Rocks can be collected at any point along the edge of the crater (along segment PQ on the map).
Before Rover 1 and the crew return to the habitat they must also stop at location B on the map in order to reset a seismic sensor that has been gathering data about the interior of the Moon. All distances are denoted on the problem diagram. Minimal Path Problem: Find the shortest total path for the pressurized Rover 1 to travel for this exploration.
