NASA Does the Parade Wave and Moon Walk

By Nancy Atkinson - January 21, 2009 10:21 AM UTC | Site News

If you didn't get a chance to watch the inaugural parade yesterday in honor of the new US president, here are a few NASA-related pictures and videos. NASA seemingly made a good impression on President and Michelle Obama by bringing up the rear of the parade with the new Lunar Electric Rover. The LER pivoted, pirouetted, and performed flawlessly as the crowd cheered wildly and the Obamas seemed transfixed by the rover. Too bad many of the spectators in the Presidential booth had already left. Take a look:

Compare the new rover with the old "moon buggy" from the 1970's Apollo missions:

UPDATE: Here's a link to more images from NASA from the parade.

Check out NASA's website for more information about the LER.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com