Apollo 15 was the first Apollo mission to carry a lunar rover to the Moon’s surface.
The mission launched on July 26, 1971, with astronauts David Scott, Alfred Worden, and James Irwin aboard. Scott and Irwin landed in the Hadley–Apennine region while Worden operated the command module in lunar orbit.
The Lunar Roving Vehicle allowed Scott and Irwin to travel much farther from the lunar module than astronauts on earlier landing missions. They used it to investigate the geology around Hadley Rille and the Apennine mountains, collecting rocks and soil samples.
Apollo 17 also used a lunar rover, but it was not the first. Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17 each carried one, while Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 14 relied on astronauts traveling on foot.