XD47524 BENDIX LUNAR SCIENTIFIC SURVEY MODULE APOLLO PROGRAM LUNAR ROVER PROTOTYPE ZERO-G TESTS

Dating to 1966, this film shows zero-gravity tests made in support of the Bendix LSSM, also known as the Lunar Scientific Survey Module. The single person LSSM was a forerunner of the Lunar Rover, and would be used to support a local manned survey. Intended to travel on titanium wheels at speeds up to 8 miles per hour, it was proposed for delivery with an LM Shelter. This battery-powered vehicle would have been capable of a 14 day mission, and had a proposed range of 25km per sortie. It weighed 900kg, and would have required delivery by a cargo carrying rocket before the arrival of the manned mission that would have accompanied it. In the end, the far lighter and slightly less capable Lunar Rover, which could support two men, was developed instead.

At :56, a child’s bicycle is used as for comparison / baseline (with and without training wheels) in simulated zero gravity. At 4:14, a demonstration LSSM is shown in the aircraft. The tests are intended to demonstrate in part how the LSSM would react to hitting a small obstacle (as seen at 6:55). At (13:41), another round of experiments is shown with a low torque drilling tool being used by a subject in a spacesuit.

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