The racetrack concept is a round trip rally around two historical spacecraft-landing sites. The selection of the landing sites is based on the following criteria:

• selection of international origin of landing sites
• historical nature of lunar sites
• geological features of sites
• relative proximity of sites one from the other

The two landing sites are the following:

Apollo 17

Launched by the USA on 7 December 1972, and landed on 11 December 1972 at the Taurus-Littrow site. Apollo 17 was the last manned mission on the Moon. The crew was composed of Eugene A. Cernan (commander), Ronald E. Evans (command module pilot), and Harrison H. Schmitt (lunar module pilot). The crew returned safely to Earth on December 17th. The mission studied geological features of the Moon such as a lunar seismic profile or gravity cartography and tested also life support experiments. The mission included the Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV).

Luna 21

Launched by the USSR on 8 January 1973 and landed on 15 January 1973 at the Mare Serenitatis / Le Monnier site. The mission, consisting of a Lander and a Rover (Lunokhod 2), was dedicated to measuring various parameters of the light on the moon (solar X-rays, ambient light or laser ranging from Earth), collecting pictures and studying mechanical properties of the lunar surface material. This second USSR lunar rover had solar panels to supply power during lunar daytime, and an isotopic heat source for the cold lunar nighttime. The rover stopped without keeping the laser reflector visible, which is perhaps why it failed.

Table 4-2 presents the Lunar coordinates of the landing sites.

Historical site	Lunar Longitude	Lunar Latitude	Location Name
Apollo 17	30.77° East	20.19° North	Taurus-Littrow
Luna 21	30.38° East	25.51° North	Mare Serenitatis (Le Monnier)

The round trip race is a twofold challenge for participants. The first half of the race consists of being the first rover to reach an historical landing site. The second half of the race is to get back to the initial departure site. Returning back to the starting point of the race will also permit good media coverage at the finish line with high resolution TV by the lunar race lander. A checked flag may signal the winner's arrival (by analogy with Formula 1 race).

Racetrack Profile and Distance End to End

The following pictures present an overview of the Moon and indicate the location of the two selected sites.

The following map presents a closer view of the region where the lunar rover race takes place.

After completion of the landing phase close to Apollo 17 (landing will take place with an accuracy of approximately 1km), the rovers will be deployed and will reach the Apollo 17 lander and Lunar Rover Vehicle site in the 0th stage. This is the rally departure point. Rovers then maneuver northward in the direction of the Luna 21 site in 6 stages. When Luna 21 is reached, the rovers circle around it and drive back southward in 6 stages, in the direction of Apollo 17, which is the finish line.

The following photo of the Moon gives an overview of the race track and the landscape in the area of the two landing sites. The perspective view of the figure causes the distances near the top of the figure to appear smaller than the lower part. The top left panel is included for clarity.

Checkpoints

The racetrack is defined by a series of twelve stages. A starting and an ending checkpoint delimit each stage. These checkpoints correspond to documented geological features along the racetrack, as defined below:

Schedule

The Lunar Rover Race will take place exclusively when the chosen lunar location is exposed to the Sun (i.e. during the lunar day of 14 Earth diurnals). Sufficient Sun exposure is needed at the landing location for solar power and ambient temperature issues. The spacecraft lander will therefore land when the sun rises at the Apollo 17 site. The race will then start at 18:00 GMT the following Earth day, in order to
have the maximum TV audience. The race will end 10 Earth diurnals later. A stage will typically last 20 hours overall. Defining that each stage begins at 18:00 solar time; this has the advantage that the beginning of each stage will take place at a different location on the Earth.This allows all humankind to watch at least two stages of the race at a convenient time and greatly increases the public outreach character of the race.

The schematic below, Figure 4-21, presents the concept of lunar day and indicates when each stage starts. The racing schedule is presented in Appendix B.

The lander touches the Moon 4.7 Earth diurnals after the new Moon. The following figure indicates the local starting time on Earth of every stage of the race. The figure is especially interesting because it shows that the starting time of each race takes place at a convenient time that "rotates" around the globe.

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