Lunokhod 1

Lunokhod 1 , also known as Аппарат 8ЕЛ № 203 ("Device 8EL No. 203") was the first <a href="/facts/Rover_(space_exploration)/Qo7y32Cz">robotic rover</a> <a href="/facts/Lunar_rover/PhwSy8DE">on the Moon</a> and the first to freely move across the surface of an <a href="/facts/Astronomical_object/BCHLa0Q2">astronomical object</a> beyond the Earth. Sent by the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> it was part of the robotic rovers <a href="/facts/Lunokhod_program/84XPm3gV">Lunokhod program</a>. The <a href="/facts/Luna_17/bpzTfgWR">Luna 17</a> <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spacecraft</a> carried Lunokhod 1 to the Moon in 1970. <a href="/facts/Lunokhod_programme/84XPm3gV">Lunokhod 0 (No.201)</a>, the previous and first attempt to land a rover, launched in February 1969 but failed to reach Earth orbit.
Although only designed for a lifetime of three lunar days (approximately three Earth months), Lunokhod 1 operated on the lunar surface for eleven lunar days (321 Earth days) and traversed a total distance of 10.54 km.

Lunokhod 1 open-in-new

Lunokhod 1