Walk back requirements for Constellation/Altair missions

[willpittenger]

Apollo 15-17 had a requirement that on all EVAs using the rover, the crew had to stay within the distance that they could walk back to the lander on foot before the PLUs gave out. But some Altair missions might use pressurized landers. Implicitly, we are now traveling much further than anyone could walk back. How do we solve this problem?

Could we make the rover be our ascent stage? I can see parts that aren't needed during RTO to be left behind like wheels, motors, tools, etc. Given that some suggestions had suits mounted on the outside of the rover, those might stay behind too.

 

[vattas]

I think that it would be much easier to have another rover at the base camp (and someone to drive it, or with remote driving capability).

 

[radarredux]

I've seen reports on TV that excursions would have two rovers, where the second could fit all the crew members of the first one should it fail. I have no idea how true these stories are.

 

[gunsandrockets]

"I've seen reports on TV that excursions would have two rovers, where the second could fit all the crew members of the first one should it fail. I have no idea how true these stories are."

That is one possible option, though somewhat costly and limiting the flexibility of lunar surface operations.

Another option to "walkback" abort with a pressurized rover is using a small unpressurized rover as a spare. The spare might be packaged folded up as the Apollo rover was stored on the Lunar Module, or it might be towed behind the pressurized rover.

(BTW I've heard two different terms for the new pressurized rover, one is "the chariot" though that might just be the name of the chassis, and the other term is the "small pressurized lunar rover" or SPLR.)

 

[willpittenger]

Chariot was a overall suggestion for a open, not pressurized, rover.