Apollo 15 to Mons Hadley Delta, by rover

Apollo 15 to Mons Hadley Delta

24.8 km

about 2 d 20 h, VIPER, estimated

Details

Along the terrain route between the endpoints, searched at 474 m resolution.

Direct line: 12.6 km, untimed (6.52 km beyond the limit). Terrain route: 24.8 km, about 2 d 20 h, avoids 6.5 km of slopes past the limit.

Terrain resolution: about 474 m, the LOLA terrain tier around the Apollo landing sites; the model does not include boulders or other surface hazards. How the routing works

From the Falcon's landing site to the mapped centre of Mons Hadley Delta, the Apennine Front massif that rises about 4,000 m above the plain. The crew drove to its lower slopes twice, near St. George crater on the first traverse and at Spur crater on the second, and no one climbed it: the last kilometres of this route run up the mountain as a computed line, not as a track anyone drove. IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, Mons Hadley Delta; NASA, Apollo 15 ("Hadley Delta in the background rises approximately 4,000 meters above the plain"); NSSDCA, Apollo 15 (the first traverse "near St. George Crater", the second "along the base of the Appenine Mountains near ... Spur craters"); Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, Geology Station 2 on Mt. Hadley Delta; Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, The Genesis Rock (Station 7 at Spur)

Travel time, estimated

Apollo rover:: About 2 h 22 min, estimateddirect lineSource: NSSDCA, The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle; Apollo 15 Mission Report (MSC-05161, 1971); Apollo 17 Mission Report (JSC-07904, 1973)
On foot:: About 3 h 30 min, estimateddirect line3.14 km of this route is steeper than 20 degrees and is not timed.Apollo crews never went farther than about 7.6 km from their lander (Apollo 17, Station 2 at Nansen): traverses were planned so the crew could walk back on the suits' remaining oxygen if the rover failed, and the Apollo 17 planning chart marks that distance as its contingency limit. This route does not enforce it. NSSDCA, The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle; Apollo 17 Lunar Surface Journal, Station 2 (walkback planning note)Source: Eppler et al., Lunar highland terrain walking EVA operations (LPSC 2025, abstract 2023)
VIPER:: About 2 d 20 h, estimatedterrain routeSource: NASA, VIPER rover and instruments (science.nasa.gov, 2023)

Assumptions, VIPER:

The route was searched on the NASA LRO LOLA elevation model at 474 m resolution, the tier used for this route.
It avoids slopes steeper than 15 degrees at that resolution only: every slope is a mean over 474 m samples, so a steeper stretch inside one sample is not seen.
It does not account for craters, boulders, shadow, or anything smaller than 474 m across.
Travel time only, not a mission duration: continuous travel with no stops, rest, recharging, communication passes or lighting constraints.
Level-ground speed 0.72 km/h: the driving speed NASA states for the rover (0.45 mph); 0.4 km/h when prospecting.
No published speed-against-slope curve: speed falls linearly from the stated driving speed on the flat to zero at the 15 degree limit, uphill and downhill alike (an assumption).
Segments steeper than 15 degrees are not timed: stated incline capability.

Elevation profile

Ascent: 2,755 m
Descent: 9 m
Max slope: 11.9°
Elevation: -1,924 to 822 m
Elevation data: LOLA, 474 m samples
In daylight: 0.00 of 12.6 km as of 11:37 UTC, computed when this page was served

Leaving now, you would be in night the whole way. VIPER, estimated; the departure is the time this page was served (2026-11-03 11:37 UTC), smooth horizon, no relief, travel time with no stops.

Elevation sampled every 474 m from the NASA LRO LOLA model, so local slopes are smoothed and the steep flags are optimistic. Heights are above the 1,737.4 km sphere. Daylight is the Sun above a smooth horizon, computed along the great circle. The map and the elevation chart load with JavaScript.

Crosses 2 cells

Waypoints, first 2 of 2

Cell, ACC at entry	km	Elev. m	Hdg	Leg km
23RJS23R JS Y85 T01	0.00	-1,924	193°	23.5
23RKS23R KS -37 F62	23.5	696	142°	1.28

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