Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
April 27, 1996
Apollo 14: Rickshaw Tracks Across the Moon
Credit:
Apollo 14,
NASA
Explanation: Brilliant sunlight glints off tracks gently winding across the the Moon's Frau Maro highlands. The tracks were made by the Apollo 14 crew's two-wheeled Modularized Equipment Transporter (MET), fondly known as the "rickshaw". The MET was designed as an aid to surface exploration. Serving as a workbench with a place for the lunar handtools, it also carried cameras, sample containers, spare film and a Lunar Surface Penetrometer. The path outlined in the lunar soil leads away from Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell's Lunar landing Module, tracing the path of their first venture across the lunar landscape.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry
Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.:
Jay Norris.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA
at
NASA/
GSFC
&:
Michigan Tech. U.
