Boeing

Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle

The Lunar Roving Vehicle was a folding, battery-powered rover that carried two Apollo astronauts across the Moon.

Landers and rovers

Product IDboeing-lunar-roving-vehicle

Visit Boeing

Mass: 210 kg
Payload capacity: 490 kg on the lunar surface
Frame length: 3.1 m, wheelbase 2.3 m
Power: Two 36 V silver-zinc batteries
Motors: One 0.25 hp DC motor per wheel
Apollo 17 distance: 35.9 km

In short

Used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17, the rover let crews drive kilometres from their lander. Boeing built it, and General Motors made the wheels. The frame folded to fit in the Lunar Module bay, yet the rover could still carry two astronauts over rough ground.

The frame was welded aluminium tubing. The wheels were springy wire mesh, woven from zinc-coated steel wire, with titanium chevrons across half the contact area for grip. Power came from two non-rechargeable silver-zinc batteries, and every wheel had its own electric motor.

Application

Battery-powered rover that let Apollo 15, 16 and 17 crews drive kilometres from the lander. Its folding aluminium frame and springy wire mesh wheels let it fit in the Lunar Module bay and still carry two astronauts over rough ground.

Photos

How it is built

The frame

The frame was made of aluminium alloy 2219 in welded tubing assemblies. It was 3.1 m long with a wheelbase of 2.3 m, and its maximum height was 1.14 m.

Frame

The wire wheels

Each tyre was woven from zinc-coated steel wire. Titanium chevrons covered half of the contact area to give traction. The springy mesh let the rover carry two astronauts over rough ground.

Wheel carcass (mesh)
Tire (as described by NASA NSSDC)
Tread chevrons

Batteries and motors

Two 36 V silver-zinc batteries with a potassium hydroxide electrolyte powered the rover, and they could not be recharged. Each wheel had a DC series-wound motor of 0.25 horsepower, able to turn at 10,000 rpm.

Batteries (2)

Where the parts areNumber of parts we have listed in each group

Wheels5
Chassis1
Power1
Body panels (qualification test unit)1
Communications1

What it is made of

Aluminium alloy 2219
The welded tubing of the frame.
Zinc-coated steel wire
Woven into the mesh of each wheel.
Titanium
The chevron treads, which covered half of each wheel's contact area.
Silver-zinc cells
The two 36 V batteries, which used potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte and could not be recharged.

The materials by familyHow many of the parts that name a material use each one

Aluminium2
Other2
Titanium2
Stainless steel1
Gold and silver1
Glass fibre1

How it connects to other things

Boeing built the rover and General Motors made its wheels. One went to the Moon on each of Apollo 15, 16 and 17, stowed in the bay of the Lunar Module. On Apollo 17 the rover covered 35.9 km in 4 hours 26 minutes of driving.

Carried by

Apollo Lunar Module (LM)

Grumman / NASA

Stowed in descent stage quad 3 on the later (J) missions

Products that use the same materials

Saturn V

NASA

TitaniumAluminiumaluminium alloy 2219fiberglass+1 more

Where each one is used
Titanium. Here: Tread chevrons; Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated). There: Outboard engine fairings and stabilization fins; Control pressure nitrogen bottle (2,200 cubic in) and more.
Aluminium. Here: Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel). There: S-IVB forward skirt, aft skirt, thrust structure and aft interstage.
aluminium alloy 2219. Here: Frame. There: LOX tank skin.
fiberglass. Here: Fenders. There: Boost protective cover.
silver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte. Here: Batteries (2). There: Flight batteries (x4 zinc-silver oxide); Flight batteries (x4 zinc/silver-oxide) and more.
Apollo Lunar Module (LM)

Grumman / NASA

TitaniumAluminiumaluminium alloy 2219silver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte

Where each one is used
Titanium. Here: Tread chevrons; Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated). There: Some brackets and fasteners (lunar module); Descent-stage hot-area structure and more.
Aluminium. Here: Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel). There: Cabin front-face, RCS cluster trusses, decks and bulkheads; Micrometeoroid shield and more.
aluminium alloy 2219. Here: Frame. There: Ascent-stage cabin, midsection and aft equipment bay shell.
silver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte. Here: Batteries (2). There: Descent stage batteries (x5, silver-zinc); Ascent stage batteries (x2, silver-zinc).
Apollo Command and Service Module

North American Aviation

TitaniumAluminiumfiberglasssilver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte

Where each one is used
Titanium. Here: Tread chevrons; Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated). There: Helium tanks (2); Fuel tanks (2) and more.
Aluminium. Here: Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel). There: Radial beams; Crushable ribs (x4) and more.
fiberglass. Here: Fenders. There: Thruster outer wrap.
silver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte. Here: Batteries (2). There: Silver oxide-zinc batteries in the command module (x5).
Orion spacecraft

NASA

TitaniumAluminiumaluminium alloy 2219

Where each one is used
Titanium. Here: Tread chevrons; Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated). There: Heat shield skeleton.
Aluminium. Here: Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel). There: Pressure vessel (seven large pieces, friction-stir welded); Backbone assembly (floor structure) and more.
aluminium alloy 2219. Here: Frame. There: Longeron (Orion ground test article).
Proba-V

ESA

TitaniumAluminium

Where each one is used
Titanium. Here: Tread chevrons; Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated). There: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more.
Aluminium. Here: Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel). There: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes).
Proba-3 Coronagraph spacecraft

ESA / Airbus

TitaniumAluminium

Where each one is used
Titanium. Here: Tread chevrons; Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated). There: OBA unit attachment fittings; Instrument support bipods (3).
Aluminium. Here: Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel). There: Main structure tube; Equipment box (EQB) and more.

What we do not know

The alloy of the hub, rim and fixed hardware on the flight vehicles is not stated, nor are the materials of the seat, floor panels, electronics and antenna mesh. The hub and inner frame are known only from a prototype wheel.

The detailed data

What is written above is built from these numbers and quotes. Each row links to the page it was taken from. Get all of it as JSON, or ask our MCP server.

Features

Folding three-part chassis stowed in the Lunar Module bay
Individual electric drive motor on each wheel
Wire mesh wheels with a bump stop and inner frame to limit deflection
Chevron tread covering about half the wheel contact area

Specifications

What	Value
Mass	210 kg
Payload capacity	490 kg on the lunar surface
Frame length	3.1 m, wheelbase 2.3 m
Height	1.14 m maximum
Power	Two 36 V silver-zinc batteries
Motors	One 0.25 hp DC motor per wheel
Wheel size	81.3 cm diameter, 22.9 cm wide
Maximum speed	16 km/h
Destination	Moon; flown on Apollo 15, 16 and 17
Total distance Apollo 17	35.9 km

Materials in detail

Each material named in the sources: where it is used here, which other products use it, and its key numbers when its material page exists.

Titanium (commercially pure, grades 1 to 4)

titanium

Used in 2 partsTread chevrons · Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated)

Density, CP grade 1
4.51 g/cm³
Density, CP grade 2 (bar and billet)
4.51 g/cm³
Density, CP grade 3
4.51 g/cm³

Also in 17 other products
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Open material page
zinc-coated piano wire

zinc-coated-piano-wire

Used in 2 partsWheel carcass (mesh) · Tire (as described by NASA NSSDC)

Material page coming soon
Aluminium

aluminium

Used in 1 partHub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel)

Weight
2.7 g/cm3
Electrical conduction
2.6458 µΩ·cm
Heat conduction
220 W/(m·K)

Also in 33 other products
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Open material page
aluminium alloy 2219

aluminium-2219

Used in 1 partFrame

Also in 4 other products
Apollo Lunar Module (LM)Orion spacecraft Saturn V+1 more

Material page coming soon
fiberglass

fiberglass

Used in 1 partFenders

Also in 6 other products
Rockwest solar array substrate Apollo Command and Service Module Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU)+3 more

Material page coming soon
silver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte

silver-zinc-battery

Used in 1 partBatteries (2)

Also in 4 other products
Apollo Lunar Module (LM)Apollo Command and Service Module Saturn V+1 more

Material page coming soon

Every part we have

Frame, wheel wire, treads and batteries have a stated material; the hub, inner frame and fenders are prototype or museum-unit descriptions.

Material IDs

aluminium-2219zinc-coated-piano-wiretitanium aluminiumsilver-zinc-batteryfiberglass

Chassis1

Part	Material	Finish and standard	Made by
Frame“The frame was made of aluminum alloy 2219 tubing welded assemblies”	aluminium alloy 2219`aluminium-2219`	—	—

Wheels5

Part	Material	Finish and standard	Made by
Wheel carcass (mesh)“800 strands of 0.838 mm, zinc coated piano wire”	zinc-coated piano wire`zinc-coated-piano-wire`	—	General Motors wire mesh wheel; NSSDC gives 0.083 cm steel strands
Tire (as described by NASA NSSDC)“tire made of zinc coated woven 0.083 cm diameter steel strands”	zinc-coated steel wire`zinc-coated-piano-wire`	—	—
Tread chevrons“Titanium chevrons covered 50% of the contact area to provide traction.”	titanium`titanium`	—	—
Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated)“a titanium inner frame, and an aluminum hub and wheel disc”	titanium`titanium`	—	—
Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel)“an aluminum hub and wheel disc”	aluminium (alloy not stated)`aluminium`	—	—

Power1

Part	Material	Finish and standard	Made by
Batteries (2)“two 36-volt silver-zinc potassium hydroxide non-rechargeable batteries”	silver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte`silver-zinc-battery`	—	—

Body panels (qualification test unit)1

Part	Material	Finish and standard	Made by
Fenders“Aluminum chassis, zinc-coated piano wire wheels, fiberglass fenders, canvas, nylon, brass”	fiberglass`fiberglass`	—	Smithsonian qualification test unit listing

Communications1

Part	Material	Finish and standard	Made by
High-gain antenna dish“A large mesh dish antenna was mounted on a mast”	mesh (material not stated)	—	—

What the sources leave out

Alloy of hub, rim and fixed hardware on the flight vehicles not stated in sources found; the MESH-1 hub and inner frame are from a prototype description in NASA/TM-2009-215798. Antenna mesh, seat, floor panels and electronics materials not found. Launch dates not stated on the NSSDC page. Original Boeing/GM reports not retrieved. Smithsonian fender and canvas/nylon/brass items are from the museum qualification test unit.

Where this comes from

3 pages from 3 websites

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Published 4 November 2026 · Updated 5 November 2026

Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle

In short

Application

Photos

How it is built

The frame

The wire wheels

Batteries and motors

What it is made of

How it connects to other things

Carried by

Apollo Lunar Module (LM)

Products that use the same materials

Saturn V

Apollo Lunar Module (LM)

Apollo Command and Service Module

Orion spacecraft

Proba-V

Proba-3 Coronagraph spacecraft

What we do not know

The detailed data

Features

Specifications

Materials in detail

Titanium (commercially pure, grades 1 to 4)

zinc-coated piano wire

Aluminium

aluminium alloy 2219

fiberglass

silver-zinc cells with potassium hydroxide electrolyte

Every part we have

Material IDs

What the sources leave out

Where this comes from

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