TheModular Equipment Transporter (MET) was a two-wheeled, hand-pulled vehicle that was used as an equipment hauling device on traverses across the lunar surface. Designed afterApollo 12 astronautsPete Conrad andAlan Bean had difficulties lugging their equipment significant distances to and from theirLunar Module, the MET primarily functioned as a portable workbench with a place for hand tools and their carrier, cameras, spare camera magazines, rock sample bags, environmental sample containers, and the portablemagnetometer with its sensor and tripod.^[1] It was carried on the 1971Apollo 14 mission and was planned to be used onApollo 15, but was used only on Apollo 14 since Apollo 15's mission was changed to be the first to employ the motorizedLunar Roving Vehicle, which transported both astronauts and equipment.

Astronauts nicknamed the MET "therickshaw". It was pulled using a pulling bar at the front. The majority of the payload of the MET consisted of part of theApollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP).,^[2] including a portablemagnetometer, as well as various tools and space to transport samples. The performance of the MET was described as "adequate".^[3] In fact, astronautsAlan Shepard andEdgar Mitchell were disappointed by the MET's performance. During one of the traverses they had to carry the MET together because it was too difficult to pull it through the rough lunar terrain.

The two nitrogen-filled rubber tires on the MET were the first tires on the Moon. They were designed byGoodyear Tire and Rubber Company and called Experimental Lunar Tires (XLTs). The biggest challenge for Goodyear was that NASA specifications required the inner tube be inflated to 1.5 psi on the Moon surface; a difficult task. A tire with 1.5 psi on Earth has an inflation pressure of 16.2 psi on the Moon because atmospheric pressure (14.7 psi) is not a factor there. Goodyear solved the gauge pressure problem by having NASA partially inflate the inner tube with nitrogen so that on the Moon it reached 1.5 psi. The tire maker gave the synthetic rubber tube a special coating to improve gas retention. These tires worked well for the small MET rickshaw. The laterLunar Roving Vehicle demanded wheels or tires that could handle a much greater weight and could travel much farther than the MET. NASA went withGeneral Motors and they designed a wire-mesh wheel that didn't allowlunar dust to get stuck in the wheels.^[4]

Data from Operator's Manual By General Electric^[5]

• Max. MET Weight (Empty): 30 Earth lbs
• Max. Payload Capability: 340 Earth lbs
• Workable height: 30 in
• Stowage Envelope: 28 in × 36 in × 8 in (710 mm × 910 mm × 200 mm)

• Nominal Pulling Speed: 4-7 mph
• Nominal Draw Bar Pull: 3-5 mph
• Design Traverse 20,000 ft
• Capable of Traversing: up to 4" Diameter Rocks
• Tire Temperatures:
  • -60 °F on deployment
  • 0 °F to 200 °F when parked
  • 70 °F average when rolling
• Tire Pressure: 1.5 psia

Data from Operator's Manual by General Electric^[5]

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