Astronaut Mobility - Speed
Copyright © 2008 by the Editors of Working on the
Moon.
Last revised 2 January 2010.
Introduction
Text
Unencumbered
Runs
| Mission |
Ground
Elapsed Time |
Activity |
Distance
Time |
Speed |
Notes |
| Apollo 11 |
111:10:49 |
Initial, on-camera portion of
the run to Little West Crater |
22 m 22 s |
3.6 km/hr |
Distance: from labeled detail from the 1
October 2009 LROC images of the site. Armstrong - "I had the documented sample to do. I was running out of time and I wanted to get those pictures (of Little West Crater). So I was hustling." |
| Apollo 12 | 118:27:04 |
Return to the LM from Middle
Crescent Crater |
305 m to 315 m 198 s to 343 s |
3.3 km/hr to 5.5 km/hr |
Pete and Al left Middle Crescent
at about 118:21:21 and reached the LM about 5 min 43 sec later. The
route shown on the post-flight
traverse map is conjectural and is abou 315 m. The distance
travelled was at least 305 m. The dialog indicates that they made
three sampling stops along the way, at roughly 118:23:26,
118:25:03,
and 118:26:14
and, depending on one's interpretation of the dialog, these stops may
have totaled up to 2 minutes 25 seconds. |
| 133:12:44 |
Run from Sharp Crater to a rest
stop east of Bench Crater |
220 m 200 s |
4.0 km/hr |
Distance and route from post-flight
traverse map conjectural. No definitive information yet
available from LROC imagery. |
|
| Apollo 14 |
115:41:10 |
Short run from SEQ Bay to the TV
camera |
15 m 15 s |
3.6 km/hr |
|
| Apollo 15 | 123:14:30 |
Station 2 |
20 m 14 s |
5.1 km/hr |
Runs to and from the
Rover. The Rover is below the work site on a slope of
roughly 13 degrees. The travel time is about 14 seconds in
each direction. Skipping stride. |
| 145:55:02 |
Station 7 |
40 m 27 s |
5.3 km/hr |
Jim runs to the Rover to get the
rake. The surface is relatively level. Loping stride. |
|
| 145:56:28 |
Station 7 |
45 m 23 s |
7.0 km/hr |
Dave seems to get a longer glide
between steps than Jim did. Loping stride. This may be the
fastest run recorded during Apollo. They were running short of
time at this site and Jim was ready to use the rake, so Dave wanted to
get back to the rover quickly. |
|
| 147:56:48 |
ALSEP (Station 8 Activities) |
25 m 24 s |
3.8 km/hr |
Jim runs to the Rover. Level
surface, loping stride. |
|
| 147:56:48 | ALSEP |
30 m 32 s |
3.4 km/hr |
Carrying the drill and avoiding
cables, Dave runs from the heat-flow holes to the rover. |
|
| Apollo 16 |
|||||
| 123:56:33 |
Station 1 |
70 m 51 s |
4.9 km/hr |
|
|
| 167:37:00 |
Station 11-12 |
56 m 32 s |
6.3 km/hr |
First half of Charlie's run
toward House Rock. Reasonable smooth route, crossing one shallow
crater a few meters across. Slight downslope? Loping stride.
Charlie's rapid pace may, in part, have been due to his eagerness to
examine House Rock. John follows along behind Charlie, carrying
the rake. He takes a few hops to get started. His trip
takes about 41 seconds, giving 4.9 km/hr |
|
| 167:58:09 |
Station 11-12 |
145 m 160 s |
3.3 km/hr |
Return from House Rock to the
Rover. the first half of this run was slow because of detours on
broken terrain near House Rock and because of an uphill slope. Charlie's heart
rate peaked at about 110 beats per minute during the trip back to
the Rover. On the trip out to the rake site, it was 90 or less. During the return trip, John ran 115 m before stopping at 167:58:09 to collect a sample. His speed was about 2.6 km/hr. John's heart rate on the return peaked at about 96. His outbound heart rate was about 90. |
|
Carrying
the ALSEP Packages
from the LM to the Deployment Site
Apollo 14 EVA-2: Pulling the MET
from the LM to the Deployment Site
| Mission |
Ground
Elapsed Time (hhh:mm:ss) |
Distance Time |
Speed |
Notes |
| Apollo 12 |
116:57:52 | 130 m 220 s |
1.5 km/hr | Time excludes Al's 44 second
stop to increase his cooling to Intermediate.
Note that Al has had 6 hr 15 min since the landing and 1 hr 08 min
since exiting the cabin to adjust to lunar gravity. Al is the
first
person to carry the ALSEP packages on the moon. Because of the
weight and inertia of the packages, all those who did this task had to
walk, rather than use any of the strides that included time spent with
both feet off the ground. |
| Apollo 15 |
124:28:02 | 125 m 189 s |
2.4 km/hr |
Dave and Jim started the ALSEP
deployment after they returned from the
EVA-1 geology traverse. Consequently, Jim had the advantage of 19
hr 46 min since the landing and 4 hr 26 min since exiting the cabin to
adapt to lunar gravity. On Apollo 12, Al Bean had 7 hr 28 minutes
to adapt after the landing and 1 hour 49 minutes after
exiting the cabin. Although there are timing uncertainties in the
Apollo 14 record that hinder estimates of Ed Mitchell's average speed
going out the ALSEP site, his pace was probably similar to Al Bean's. |
Apollo 14 EVA-2: Pulling the MET
| Mission | Ground
Elapsed Time (hhh:mm:ss) |
Activity |
Distance Time |
Speed | Notes |
| Apollo 14 |
132:48:19 | Outbound traverse from Sta. B to B1 | 300 m 522 s |
2.1 km/hr | Except for a 23-second grab sample, this segment is typical of the traverse from the LM to Cone Crater. They are pulling the MET, frequently consulting the map, and, starting with the second half of this segment, are on a slope of about 6.5 degrees. Their progress is slow. |
| 134:04:23 | Downhill from Sta. E toward Sta. F | 200 m 140 s |
5.1 km/hr |
Because they are moving downhill on their way back to the LM, running is easier, despite the MET; and they don't have to stop to rest or consult the map. |
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