Appendices Appendix B

Appendix B: LRR schedule and rules

Racing Schedule

Table B-1: Race Events Schedule

Race schedule, Earth Diurnal cycle

Event

Remarks
STAGE 0 Moon sunrise near Apollo 17, Lander touches Moon ground, Rovers are deployed and reach Apollo 17 Lander & Rover site Before lunar sunrise Moon, temperature too low (-173 ºC) for racing and sun low at horizon
STAGE 1 Race starts, Rovers go from checkpoint 1 to checkpoint 2

Starting point:

Checkpoint 1 = Apollo 17
STAGE 2-5 Rovers go from checkpoint 2 to checkpoint 6  

STAGE 6

(Mid race)

 Rovers go from checkpoint 6 to checkpoint 7 Checkpoint 6 = Luna 21
Checkpoint 7 = Lunokhod 2
STAGE 7-11 Rovers go from checkpoint 7 to checkpoint 12  
STAGE 12 Rovers go from checkpoint 12 to checkpoint 1 Checkpoint 1= Apollo 17
Arrival at finish line at Apollo site, End of the race
Winner declared
END OF RACE    

Rover Race Rules

TITLE AND NATURE OF EVENT

The event shall be known as the Lunar Rover Race. The event shall be an international rally of rovers covering approximately 380 km over twelve stages, between Apollo 17 and Luna 21 Lunar landing sites. The race will take 10 Earth days. The number of days of the LRR mission is constrained by the duration of the Lunar day (14 Earth diurnals).

AUTHORITY

  • Race Director: holds final judgement on any issue arising during the event. The Race Director has the right to define a particular sanction when needed.
     
  • Clerk of Course: shall ensure observance to the rules. Shall deal according with any breaches of the rules. A Clerk of Course will scrutinize each ground station.
     
  • Race Officers: empowered to evaluate case-by-case litigious issues. Are empowered to make a decision on any matter arising during the event not covered or clarified by these regulations.

PROTEST

Protest, if any, must be lodged in writing within one hour of any incident.

STRUCTURE

The event will be run as a series of twelve stages of approximately 30-40 km per stage.

  1. Entrants will be first ranked in order of the accomplishments achieved at qualification trials on Earth. The starting order of the race is determined by these Earth qualification results, i.e. first rover starts in front, etc.
     
    Note: This order will permit the positioning of the rovers taking into account terrain and landscape configuration.
     
    The starting order of a subsequent given stage depends on the ranking order of last stage.
     
  2. Ranking: the position of rovers in the race is done by daily ranking and by cumulative ranking. The daily ranking is based on the time taken by a rover to complete a stage, i.e. to reach the next checkpoint. The first rover to reach the next checkpoint is the winner of this stage. The overall ranking is based on the total time taken by a rover to complete all stages.
     
    The winning rover is the one that has completed all checkpoints in the minimum cumulative time with all penalties taken into account (if any).

DISQUALIFICATION AND UNFAIR PRACTICES

  1. Disqualification will occur if during the event, the organizers discover that a pilot has deliberately violated the regulations to gain unfair advantage over other rovers or pilots, or departed from the spirit of competition.
     
  2. If a vehicle is unable to complete a given stage during the allocated time, it will be disqualified. Allocated time per stage is dependent on the stage length. Rovers reaching a given stage after the time allocated are allowed to continue in the race, but will no longer be included in the ranking.
     
  3. If the spirit of competition between teams is not respected, the race direction jury can take sanctions leading to the disqualification of a team.

Examples of unfair-play actions are rover interference, communication sabotage, human bribery and corruption. Table B-2 indicates the sanctions taken in case of unfair practices and Table B-3 gives examples of actions leading to sanctions.

Table B-2: Sanctions in the LRR

Penalty severity Sanctions
Light fault 15 min added to rover time
Severe fault 1 hour added to rover time

Table B-3: Actions that lead to sanctions

Action Fault Type
Rover reconnaissance in next stage before official departure Severe
Approach < 50 m of historical landing sites Severe
Failure of position transmission and image transfer rate requirements during a stage Light

CHECKPOINTS CONVENTION

  1. Rovers reaching a checkpoint shall stop and wait for the signal before starting post-stage activities. Rovers shall not perform reconnaissance in the next stage segment of the racetrack. It is allowed to explore the immediate surroundings of the checkpoint as a post-stage activity to a distance that is determined ad hoc by the Racing Authority.
     
  2. When last rover reaches a checkpoint, the starting order is defined. Rovers are allowed to take their respective positions on the terrain and wait without moving for departure signal. This means the rover has finished the stage.
     
  3. A stage departure order is given to rovers when transmission uplink signal is reactivated. The confirmation of arrival to the next stage point is determined when a rover enters a 25 m-radius zone around the MV.


GENERAL NOTES CONCERNING RULES

  • All rovers start racing at the same time, similar to a Formula 1 Race. This is more interesting to watch than rovers departing one at a time.
     
  • The leading rover has the advantage of being first on the track for reasons such as, no dust in suspension.
     
  • The daily and overall rankings allow more interest at every stage.
     
  • After completion of the race, two Earth days will potentially be available for complementary activities. For these two post-race days, the time allocation for rovers usage is as follows:

Table B-4: Rover Time allocation

Action Fault Type
Rover reconnaissance in next stage before official departure Severe
Approach < 50 m of historical landing sites Severe
Failure of position transmission and image transfer rate requirements during a stage Light

  • The participant (rover owner) shall hand in a proposal for the usage of the rover during post-race time. This proposal has to be approved by the Racing Authority.
     
  • If the Lunar Rover survives the Lunar night, the same time division will be maintained throughout the remaining lifetime of the rover.

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