{"display_title": "The first rover on the Moon was Soviet", "twitter_thread": [{"content": "Long before NASA's rovers, another machine was the first to drive on an alien world. In 1970, the Soviet Union landed a remote-controlled rover on the Moon, driven in near real-time by a team on Earth dealing with a 4-second command delay. This is the story of Lunokhod 1.", "image_search_queries": ["Lunokhod 1 rover on Moon", "Soviet Lunokhod 1 illustration"], "media": [{"caption": "A lifesize model of the Luna 16 lander at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow. Credit: Asif Siddiqi", "url": "https://askpandipro.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/users/1/documents/607/figures/10.png", "source_url": null, "title": null, "s3_key": "users/1/documents/607/figures/10.png", "remastered_s3_key": null, "display_version": "original", "display_s3_key": "users/1/documents/607/figures/10.png", "display_thumbnail_s3_key": "users/1/documents/607/figures/10.png", "s3_thumbnail_key": null, "type": "image", "id": 265324, "html": null, "carousel_h5": "A lifesize model of the Luna 16 lander at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow. Credit: Asif Siddiqi", "alt": null}], "media_backups": []}, {"content": "DESIGNED FOR THE MOON\n\nThe 756 kg Lunokhod 1 was an eight-wheeled vehicle, standing 1.35 meters high and powered by solar cells on the inside of its hinged top lid. It was delivered to the Moon's Sea of Rains by the Luna 17 lander on November 17, 1970.", "image_search_queries": ["Lunokhod 1 rover diagram", "Luna 17 lander schematic"], "media": [], "media_backups": []}, {"content": "THE 'SEDENTARY COSMONAUTS'\n\nA five-man team of 'drivers' on Earth commanded the rover, contending with a minimum 4.1-second delay for every action. These crews, known as 'sedentary cosmonauts,' were carefully selected from hundreds of candidates to navigate the lunar surface from thousands of kilometers away.", "image_search_queries": ["Lunokhod 1 control room", "Soviet space mission control center 1970s"], "media": [], "media_backups": []}, {"content": "A RECORD-BREAKING MISSION\n\nDesigned for just three lunar days (about 21 Earth days), Lunokhod 1 operated for 322 days. It traveled nearly 10 km, returned over 20,000 TV images, performed 25 soil analyses, and used its penetrometer at 537 different locations. What an overachiever!", "image_search_queries": ["Lunokhod 1 lunar panorama", "Lunokhod 1 tracks on Moon"], "media": [], "media_backups": []}, {"content": "END OF THE ROAD\n\nLunokhod 1 also carried a French-supplied laser reflector to help measure the Earth-Moon distance with high accuracy. After an incredible 11-month career, controllers held their final communication session with the pioneering rover on September 14, 1971.", "image_search_queries": ["Lunokhod 1 rover model", "Lunokhod 1 French laser reflector"], "media": [], "media_backups": []}, {"content": "What part of Lunokhod 1's story surprises you the most? The remote-control driving, its incredible longevity, or that it was the very first rover on another world? Let me know below!", "image_search_queries": [], "media": [], "media_backups": []}]}

5 pioneering firsts from the space race

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