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I wonder, what happened to the moon rovers? Were they left behind or brought back?

Ludo
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Deko Revinio
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  • oh come on! I literally JUST said that this is not a duplicate (or at least I wasn't trying to make a duplicate) – Deko Revinio Sep 22 '22 at 17:46
  • Reading the first answer of the duplicate target says that they were left on the surface of the Moon, and probably no longer function. – WarpPrime Sep 22 '22 at 20:59
  • @DekoRevinio your question keeps getting rolled back (reverted) and flagged as duplicate, because it lacks original research. The introduction of the Wikipedia page of the LRVs literally states: "These three LRVs remain on the Moon." The duplicate target question states the same in its opening sentence, which is why it is used as reference. – Ludo Sep 23 '22 at 15:17

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They were left on the surface of the moon. They were stored in the descent stages of the LMs; there was no room and no mass budget to bring them back on the ascent stage; the historical significance of a returned rover would be outweighed by the scientific importance of an equivalent mass of lunar rock.

Russell Borogove
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  • Borogrove on the other hand, there WOULD BE a lot of HISTORICAL value in taking them back, however, as you mentioned, that wasn't doable. – Deko Revinio Sep 20 '22 at 20:46
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    Edited to consider the historical significance. – Russell Borogove Sep 20 '22 at 20:49
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    @DekoRevinio, even ignoring the question of "doable", there was scientific value to leaving them on the moon: the cameras could be remotely controlled from Earth, letting them do things like this video of the Apollo 17 LM taking off as long as the batteries held out. – Mark Sep 20 '22 at 23:48
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    I thought that NASA had missed too many payments and let the insurance lapse and so bank repossessed the lunar cars. – BradV Sep 21 '22 at 13:29
  • @BradV Is the insurance company underwriting Artemis? – Barmar Sep 21 '22 at 13:37
  • @BradV Now I'm picturing them just sitting there with a Denver boot on the wheel and a ticket on the windshield. (Or whatever they have in front instead since there's obviously no need for a windshield sans atmosphere.) Would be interesting to see if the Artemis missions could get them up and running again rather than bringing their own, but I imagine they'll probably be going to completely different locations. – Darrel Hoffman Sep 21 '22 at 15:43
  • @BradV makes ya wonder, what REALLY happened to the other supposedly "lost" spacecraft! – Deko Revinio Sep 21 '22 at 16:15
  • It didn't go to the moon but you can see one at the Air & Space museum in DC. – JimmyJames Sep 21 '22 at 16:22
  • Each astronaut carried his own windshield. – Dennis Williamson Sep 21 '22 at 18:45
  • @JimmyJames Unfortunately it looks like the rover is currently 'on loan or in storage' at the museum (according to the website). So don't book your tickets just yet! – user2705196 Sep 23 '22 at 13:09
  • @user2705196 Maybe it's being restored. It was looking pretty rough when I saw it. – JimmyJames Sep 23 '22 at 13:20
  • Lifting the moon rover from the surface to a Moon orbit using the ascent stage alone would not make sense anyway. It should be attached to the Service Module for return to Earth. An extra heatshield and parachute pack would be needed for reentry and an inflatable raft to prevent sinking to the ground of the ocean – Uwe Sep 23 '22 at 15:14