A walk in the clouds with Apollo

New Delhi: July 31, 1971. Apollo 15 takes off for the moon. On board was a vehicle that changed moon missions forever.

The Moon had been invaded a long time back, but scientists on Earth wanted more samples to work with.

For the astronauts, weighed down by bulky space units, managing the samples was a tough task.

Lunar Rovers helped them cover more ground, get more samples and do more experiments in a much shorter time.

Ten-feet-long and six-feet-wide, the rover carried two astronauts and their equipment across the moon.

With a top range of 92 kilometers, battery backup for 78 hours and enough power to beat the moon's worst potholes, made the Lunar Rover and answer to every moon trekker's prayers.

It beamed live videos, kept the crew in touch with earth and guided them back to base, in case they got lost. In a land unknown and untamed, it was their only friend.

For something so potent, the rover didn't need much space. Made of aluminum alloy tubes, it was kept folded in a corner of the spacecraft.

Once on moon's surface, it took half-an-hour to unload and each wheel had its own electric motor.

Combined, they'd punch out one horsepower, pushing the rover to 22 kmph. The steering was vague, the ride was bumpy and the thing was plain ugly. But that didn't stop the astronauts from having fun.

This was the car that conquered the moon. Airplane maker Boeing sunk $38 million on it, to make it completely foolproof.

Yet, in concept - it was simple and completely practical - something almost anyone could operate.

Can India do something like that for it's own moon mission? Well, these kids sure seem to think so.