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Looking through NASA Johnson's Flickr I saw this photo. The complete caption is shown below.

What are these? How do they work? Are those tractor wheels at the bottom? Why are they orange and so futuristic yet retro-looking? Am I just imagining it, or is there a distinctly stylized aspect to those consoles?

Expedition 49 Preflight

jsc2008e040362 Photographic documentation of the Lunar Rover tour for Center Director in the Mars Yard. View is of JSC Center Director Mike Coats and Ellen Ochoa take a ride on the NASA ground prototype vehicle for lunar transportation.

below: NASA image from here with Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) license.

NASA personal Lunar rover

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enter image description here Source

I think that this is the same vehicle from another angle, it is the Crew Mobility Chassis. So Segway is not an accurate description. As for the 'distinctly stylized aspect', that is subjective, but at least in part, seeing the whole vehicle gives more of a utilitarian feeling. I think at least in part, it seems stylized because the photographer intentionally cropped the picture in such a way to give that effect. Also the exaggerated controls which are necessary when wearing a space suit seem to add to the effect.

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  • $\begingroup$ This is really helpful, thank you! Indeed, wth suited astronauts rather than business attire, it looks very different. Can you include a source or credit for the photo, and possibly a name for this or link where one could read more? Perhaps something like 1, and either 2 or 3? $\endgroup$ – uhoh Jan 25 '18 at 1:51
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    $\begingroup$ I can't seem to find any details on the unpressurized version in the picture. All the sources I found for it including yours are a decade old. I think it was an early prototype of what is now the Space Exploration Vehicle $\endgroup$ – Lex Jan 25 '18 at 2:35

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