To return, the LM ascent stage lifts off, using the descent stage as a launch pad, and arcs into orbit around the moon. Once in lunar orbit, the ascent stage meets up with the CSM (discussed a bit here), and docks again, and the crew return to the Command Module.
What is the Lunar Module?
The Lunar Module (LM), a "spidery-looking" craft which lands on the moon carrying two of the crew members. The LM in turn is made up of a lower section called the descent stage and an upper section, the ascent stage. Both stages land on the moon, and only the ascent stage returns.
How did the Apollo 11 lander module work?
NASA’s Apollo 11: How the Lander Module worked. The Lander, also known as the Lunar Module (LM), was a two-stage craft built to separate from the Apollo Command and Service Module, and then travel to and from the moon’s surface.
How did the Apollo 11 land on the Moon?
NASA’s Apollo 11: How the Lander Module worked. The Lander, also known as the Lunar Module (LM), was a two-stage craft built to separate from the Apollo Command and Service Module, and then travel to and from the moon’s surface. It first landed on the moon on 20 July 1969.
What would have happened if rendezvous around the Moon failed?
Pictured is the Apollo lunar module during rendezvous in lunar orbit with the command module. If rendezvous around the moon failed, the astronauts would have been too far away to have been saved. The large dark-colored area in the background is Smith's Sea. The Earth rises above the lunar horizon.
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How did the lunar module get back to Earth?
The astronauts used Eagle's ascent stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They jettisoned Eagle before they performed the maneuvers that propelled Columbia out of the last of its 30 lunar orbits onto a trajectory back to Earth.
How did Eagle rejoin Columbia?
After the lunar surface operations, Armstrong and Aldrin returned to the Lunar Module Eagle on July 21, 1969. At 17:54:00 UTC, they lifted off in Eagle's ascent stage to rejoin Michael Collins aboard Columbia in lunar orbit.
How did the lunar module navigate?
The lunar module was only equipped with an alignment optical telescope. This was a lighter, simpler manual telescope (like a periscope) that the astronauts would use during moon landings and takeoffs to determine their position.
How did Neil Armstrong come back to Earth?
This reunited Armstrong and Aldrin with Collins aboard Columbia. The astronauts then jettisoned the ascent stage, leaving it in orbit until its eventual crash into the Moon in an unknown location. Only two and a half minutes firing of Columbia's rocket was enough to send the astronauts on course back to Earth.
Is the Apollo 13 LEM still in orbit?
The LM was jettisoned shortly before reaching Earth, the astronauts returning to the Command Module for the reentry. The LM re-entered and burned in the Earth's atmosphere over the southwest Pacific, any surviving pieces impacted in the deep ocean off the coast of New Zealand.
Could the Columbia crew have been saved?
The fated crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia could have been saved in theory, according to a NASA engineer, who spoke to the BBC. Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon and six other crew members perished when their space shuttle attempted reentry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.
How did Apollo 11 get back to Earth with no fuel?
The TLI placed Apollo on a "free-return trajectory" - often illustrated as a figure of eight shape. This course would have harnessed the power of the Moon's gravity to propel the spacecraft back to Earth without the need for more rocket fuel.
Why was the lunar module gold?
Gold is a valued industrial metal for its pliability, conductivity and resistance to corrosion The precious metals is also a valuable component in the aerospace industry because of its thermal control property as it reflects harmful infrared radiation. Images of the Apollo Lunar Module show how NASA has used gold.
Did Apollo 13 use a sextant?
Not only did a sextant help to get to the moon, but Astronaut Jim Lovell's use of a sextant would be instrumental in saving the crippled Apollo 13 in 1970. The Apollo sextant was a modern update of device that sailors have used for centuries.
Did Neil Armstrong leave his daughter's bracelet on the Moon?
Roger Launius, the former NASA chief historian and a former senior curator at the National Air and Space Museum, agreed, saying, “there is no evidence to support the assertion that he left a bracelet of his daughter on the moon.” Though apparently fiction, the moment is a critical one.
What was left on the Moon?
Some of it is waste from the trip that the astronauts dumped when they got to their destination. Aside from trash—from food packaging to wet wipes—nearly 100 packets of human urine and excrement have been discarded. The Apollo astronauts also dumped tools and television equipment that they no longer needed.
What did Neil Armstrong say when he came back from the Moon?
Although it sounds otherwise in the muffled recording from the moon landing, Armstrong claims he said "one small step for a man," and a new study uses linguistics to back him up, KLCC reports.
What happened to Eagle after it was jettisoned?
Before leaving, though, it jettisoned Eagle, leaving the ascent module in a retrograde orbit some 125 kilometers above the lunar equator. NASA has always assumed that this orbit was unstable and that some time later, Eagle must have crashed into the lunar surface.
What happened to Columbia reentry?
After completing STS-107, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The mission was the second that ended in disaster in the Space Shuttle program after the loss of Challenger and all seven crew members during ascent.
Why did Columbia fail on reentry?
The cause of the Columbia disaster was a piece of insulating foam that broke loose from the shuttle's external propellant tank and struck the leading edge of the left wing soon after liftoff, damaging protective tiles.
What were the last words of the Columbia crew?
The final words from Columbia's crew came at 8:59:32 a.m. when Husband, presumably responding to a tire alarm acknowledgement from mission control, said "Roger, uh, buh..." At that point, the shuttle was nearly 38 miles above Central Texas and traveling at 18 times the speed of sound.
What are the parts of Apollo?
The Apollo spacecraft consists of three major parts: 1 The Command Module (CM), a conical module where the three crew members live during launch from Earth and travel to and from the moon, and which re-enters Earth's atmosphere alone at the end of the trip; 2 The Service Module (SM), a cylindrical section containing fuel, power, life support, communications, a big rocket engine, and other components; 3 The Lunar Module (LM), a "spidery-looking" craft which lands on the moon carrying two of the crew members. The LM in turn is made up of a lower section called the descent stage and an upper section, the ascent stage. Both stages land on the moon, and only the ascent stage returns.
How does the LM ascent stage work?
To return, the LM ascent stage lifts off, using the descent stage as a launch pad, and arcs into orbit around the moon. Once in lunar orbit, the ascent stage meets up with the CSM ( discussed a bit here ), and docks again, and the crew return to the Command Module.
What is the difference between the descent stage and the ascent stage?
Descent Stage + Ascent Stage land on the Moon. Then Descent Stage remains on the moon while Ascent Stage fires its engine and raises up to the altitude of CSM orbit; at the same time, AS turns, so the engine can push it also horizontally, increasing its speed until it approximately matches CSM speed.
What does the CSM do in a CM?
The fairing opens up and the CSM detaches, turns around, and docks to the LM. The front of the CM has a hatch that mates with a hatch on the top of the LM. After docking, the CSM pulls the LM away from the S-IVB. This sequence is called the transposition, docking, and extraction maneuver.
What is the LM in the Moon?
LM = Lunar Module , also known as LEM - Lunar Excursion Model, but this acronym was banned because "excursion on the Moon" did not sound like a serious/scientific activity. LM is made of two parts: Descent Stage and Ascent Stage. "Descent Stage" is the four legs. "Ascent Stage" is the box above the legs.
How long does the LM stay on the moon?
The LM stays on the lunar surface for between one and three days, with the commander and LMP generally doing one EVA per day, while the CSM in orbit overhead circles the moon every 2 hours. At the end of the stay, they discard unnecessary equipment (like the big life-support backpacks ).
What stage is discarded in the LM?
The LM ascent stage is discarded, and the CSM fires the big engine again to return to Earth.
What is the beauty of LOR?
In fact, the beauty of LOR was that it meant that NASA could tailor all of the modules of the Apollo spacecraft independently. The second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, descends from the lunar module on July 20, 1969. He and astronaut Neil Armstrong spent two hours and 20 minutes walking on the moon.
What was almost missed in the Apollo program?
The Rendezvous That Was Almost Missed: Lunar Orbit Rendezvous and the Apollo Program. In the opinion of many space historians, NASA Langley's most important contribution to the Apollo Program was its development of the lunar-orbit rendezvous (LOR) concept. The brainchild of a few true believers at Langley, LOR's basic premise was ...
Why did NASA reject the idea of lunar orbit?
When Langley engineers first suggested the concept of lunar-orbit rendezvous, NASA had rejected it out of hand for being too complicated and risky. If rendezvous had to be part of Project Apollo, critics of LOR felt that it should be done only in Earth orbit. if that rendezvous failed, the threatened astronauts could be brought back home simply by allowing the orbit of their spacecraft to deteriorate. But, if a rendezvous around the moon failed, the astronauts would be too far away to be saved. Nothing could be done.
What was the purpose of the LOR?
The brainchild of a few true believers at Langley, LOR's basic premise was to fire an assembly of three spacecraft into Earth orbit on top of a single powerful rocket. Pictured is the Apollo lunar module during rendezvous in lunar orbit with the command module.
What were the advantages of LOR?
It required less fuel, only half the payload, and less brand new technology than the other methods ; it did not require the monstrous Nova rocket; and it called for only one launch from Earth whereas EOR required two. Only the small, lightweight lunar module, not the entire spacecraft, would have to land on the moon. This was perhaps LOR's major advantage. Because the lander was to be discarded after use and would not need return to Earth, NASA could tailor the design of the LEM for maneuvering flight in the lunar environment and for a soft lunar landing. In fact, the beauty of LOR was that it meant that NASA could tailor all of the modules of the Apollo spacecraft independently.
What are the components of the Apollo mission?
This assembly included: One, a mother ship, or command module; two , a service module containing the fuel cells, attitude control system and main propulsion system; and three , a small lunar lander or excursion module. Once in Earth orbit, the last stage of the rocket would fire, boosting the Apollo spacecraft with its crew of three men in to its flight trajectory to the moon. Reaching lunar orbit, two of the crew members would don space suits and climb into the lunar excursion module (LEM), detach it from the mother ship, and take it down to the lunar surface. The third crew member would remain in the command module, maintaining a lonely vigil in lunar orbit. If all went well, the top half of the LEM would rocket back up, using the ascent engine provided, and re-dock with the command module. The lander would then be discarded into the vast darkness of space or crashed onto the moon (as was done in later Apollo missions for seismic experiments), and the three astronauts in their command ship would head for home.
What was the most important contribution to Apollo?
In the opinion of many space historians, however, Langley's most important contribution to Apollo was its development of the lunar-orbit rendezvous concept.
What is the moon module?
The Lander, also known as the Lunar Module (LM), was a two-stage craft built to separate from the Apollo Command and Service Module, and then travel to and from the moon’s surface.
What stage of Apollo was left on the moon?
Generally the descent stage was left on the moon, while the ascent stage crashed into the moon’s surface once the astronauts returned to the Command Module. Each of the 15 Apollo LMs had unique names.
How many legs does a Lander have?
Initial designs had three legs, which could have resulted in a toppling Lander if one was damaged. Five legs were preferred, but they made the Lander too heavy. Four was an acceptable compromise.
Why was the Apollo 11 LM named the Eagle?
The Apollo 11 LM was named the Eagle, which explains why Neil Armstrong stated that “the Eagle has landed” when it touched down.
How many square meters are there in the crew compartment?
The crew compartment was a pressurised environment that supported two astronauts in about 6.65 square metres.
What is the descent stage?
The descent stage contained the fuel to land on the moon, landing gear, a ladder to descent to the surface and materials for experiments and sample collection on the moon.
Who landed the Eagle on the moon?
Collins looked after the command modules while Aldrin and Armstrong landed the Eagle on the moon.
