How to drive on the Moon
QUESTION During the Moon landings, where was the Moon buggy stored on the landing craft, and how did the astronauts release it on to the Moon’s surface? THe lunar roving vehicle ( LRV) transported two astronauts around the Moon during the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions. it carried tools, scientific equipment, communications gear and lunar samples. it was built by the Boeing Co Aerospace group, near Seattle.
it was designed so it could be folded into a very small package to fit in the tight, pieshaped confines of the descent stage of the lunar module. The LRV was 10ft 2in long, almost 45in high, with a 6ft tread width and a 7.5ft wheelbase.
each wheel was powered by a quarterhorse-power electric motor (a total of one horsepower), the vehicle’s top speed was about 8mph, and it had a range of 22 miles.
The spider- like lunar module itself consisted of an ascent stage that carried the astronauts and a descent stage with its heavy engine and landing gear. The descent stage was octagonal in shape and split into four compartments or quadrants. The LRV was folded up and housed in Quadrant 1 with the underside facing out.
The LRV was deployed with a system of pulleys and braked reels using ropes and cloth tapes. Some thermal blankets needed to be removed from the lunar module, and one of the crew had to climb the ladder to pull a ‘D-ring’, then descend the ladder. Both crew then had to apply a steady pull on deploy cables and tapes until the wheels were on the ground.
Most of the deployment was automatic. The rear wheels folded out and locked in place. After it was on the ground, the crew picked it up and turned it by 90 degrees.
When the lunar excursion was over, the descent stage served as the launch pad for the ascent stage to return to the command module. The descent stage and LRV were left on the lunar surface.
Paul Brittan, Brechin, Angus.
QUESTION What was the first dog to win Best In Show at Crufts? Which breed has won most often? CRufTS was named after its founder, Charles Cruft (1852-1938), who worked as general manager for Spratt’s dog biscuit manufacturer. The first Cruft’s greatest Dog Show was held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, islington, in 1891.
The title Best in Show was first awarded in 1928. Before World War i, Crufts had had a similar title, Best Champion, sponsored by the illustrated Kennel news, which was awarded from 1905 to 1914.
The first winner of Best Champion was a pomeranian called The Sable Mite. Primeley Sceptre, a fawn greyhound owned by Herbert Whitley, was the winner of the first Best in Show proper.
The most successful breed has been the english cocker spaniel, which has won on seven occasions. This is mainly thanks to the work of Herbert Summers Lloyd MBe (1887–1963), known commonly as H. S. Lloyd from the ‘. . . of Ware’ kennel.
Lloyd remains the most successful breeder/owner at Crufts, having won Best in Show on six occasions, albeit with three dogs: Luckystar of Ware (1930 and 1931), exquisite Model of Ware (1938 and 39) and Tracey Witch of Ware (1950 and 51).
Other successful breeds are the irish setter, standard poodle and Welsh terrier, which are four-time winners, and the english setter, german shepherd, greyhound, labrador retriever and wire fox terrier, which are three-time winners. The most successful group are the gun dogs (23 wins), followed by terriers (21 wins). To date, a boxer has never won Best in Show.
Caroline Williams, Birmingham.
QUESTION Where is the largest TV screen in the world? fuRTHeR to previous answers, on August 15, 2003 a Diamond Vision TV screen with a 231ft-by-26ft display was first switched on at Hong Kong’s Sha Tin racetrack, so that racegoers could follow the progress of races without the need for binoculars, and any other relevant track information.
The screen is constructed in modular form with identical stacked units linked together and can display up to six sections with real time pictures, graphics or text if required. each pixel is made up of four LeD lamps, two red and one each of green and blue, with a pitch of 20mm (¾ in) and can display a billion colours.
About as long as a Boeing 747 jet, the screen weighs 266 tons and is equivalent to 4,500 21in television sets. Gerald R. Kimber, Lymington, Hants.
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