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I wonder, what happened to the moon rovers? Were they left behind or brought back?

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  • $\begingroup$ oh come on! I literally JUST said that this is not a duplicate (or at least I wasn't trying to make a duplicate) $\endgroup$
    – Xenon
    Sep 22, 2022 at 17:46
  • $\begingroup$ Reading the first answer of the duplicate target says that they were left on the surface of the Moon, and probably no longer function. $\endgroup$
    – fasterthanlight
    Sep 22, 2022 at 20:59
  • $\begingroup$ @DekoRevinio your question keeps getting rolled back (reverted) and flagged as duplicate, because it lacks original research. The introduction of the Wikipedia page of the LRVs literally states: "These three LRVs remain on the Moon." The duplicate target question states the same in its opening sentence, which is why it is used as reference. $\endgroup$
    – Ludo
    Sep 23, 2022 at 15:17

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They were left on the surface of the moon. They were stored in the descent stages of the LMs; there was no room and no mass budget to bring them back on the ascent stage; the historical significance of a returned rover would be outweighed by the scientific importance of an equivalent mass of lunar rock.

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  • $\begingroup$ Borogrove on the other hand, there WOULD BE a lot of HISTORICAL value in taking them back, however, as you mentioned, that wasn't doable. $\endgroup$
    – Xenon
    Sep 20, 2022 at 20:46
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    $\begingroup$ Edited to consider the historical significance. $\endgroup$
    – Russell Borogove
    Sep 20, 2022 at 20:49
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    $\begingroup$ @DekoRevinio, even ignoring the question of "doable", there was scientific value to leaving them on the moon: the cameras could be remotely controlled from Earth, letting them do things like this video of the Apollo 17 LM taking off as long as the batteries held out. $\endgroup$
    – Mark
    Sep 20, 2022 at 23:48
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    $\begingroup$ I thought that NASA had missed too many payments and let the insurance lapse and so bank repossessed the lunar cars. $\endgroup$
    – BradV
    Sep 21, 2022 at 13:29
  • $\begingroup$ @BradV Is the insurance company underwriting Artemis? $\endgroup$
    – Barmar
    Sep 21, 2022 at 13:37

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