Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage conditions may apply

This is a spare wheel from a lunar roving vehicle (LRV). The LRV was deployed on the moon during Apollo 15, 16 and 17. The tire is made of a woven mesh of zinc-coated piano wire to which titanium treads were riveted in a chevron pattern. This pattern kept the wheels from sinking into the soft lunar soil. The lunar soil proved harder than expected and the wheel treads left tracks about half an inch deep.

Transferred to the National Air and Space Museum from the Alabama Space and Rocket Center in 1975.

Display Status

This object is on display in Destination Moon at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Destination Moon
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Parts & Structural Components Manufacturer Boeing Aerospace
Dimensions 3-D (Wheel): 24 × 80cm (9 7/16 × 31 1/2 in.)
3-D (Fender): 79 × 27 × 45cm (31 1/8 × 10 5/8 × 17 11/16 in.)
Materials Wheel: Zinc coated steel piano wire; titanium treads
Fender: Epoxy-impregnated fiberglass
Aluminum
Steel
Resin
Rubber
Inventory Number A19750830000 Credit Line Transferred from the Alabama Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Ala. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.
Deep dives Apollo 17 Apollo 16 Apollo 15 You may also like Conserving the Lunar Roving Vehicle April 27, 2022 Apollo 15 and the Lunar Roving Vehicle: An Interview with Earl Swift July 30, 2021 Destination Moon National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC On View Exhibition