To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, Polaris Industries have collaborated with the US Space and Rocket Centre (USSRC) to build a working replica of the original Lunar Rover that transported the Apollo 11 astronauts along the surface of the moon.
Polaris employees, who volunteered their time to work on the development, spent the duration of the project in close consultation with members from the original NASA Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV) team and a NASA astronaut. The result is a near-exact replica of the NASA original. Even the fibreglass fenders were created using the original 50-year old moulds.
The Polaris Lunar Rover Replica encompasses Polaris' 65-year history, making use of parts from each line of Polaris vehicles, including military vehicles, motorcycles, ATV's, snowmobiles and electric vehicles. Off-road vehicles in particular provided key parts for the Lunar Rover Replica, including the fabricated chassis and power steering from the Polaris RZR, driveline motor controller from the RANGER® EV, suspension a-arms from the SPORTSMAN® and half shafts from the RANGER®.
The resulting replica is much faster, however it accelerates, brakes and has four-wheel Ackermann steering just like the original NASA LRV.
“Having the opportunity to honour legends, work with members of the original crew and lend our expertise and technologies to build this Lunar Rover Replica has been incredible,” said Bryan Ogle, Manager of Manufacturing at Polaris Industries. “One of the coolest things was being able to mould the fiberglass fenders using the original 50-year-old moulds. And now seeing it in action, riding it, it’s amazing.”
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