NASA

Project Apollo: "Lunar Orbit Rendezvous" 1968 NASA Mission Planning and Analysis Division

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• published: 26 Sep 2012
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NEW VERSION with more improved video & sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB7AA7B9hTI more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/astro/project_apollo.html Reupload of a previously uploaded film with improved sound and video, and all in one piece instead of parts. "Discusses the groundwork conducted by the NASA JSC's Mission Planning and Analysis Division in perfecting lunar rendezvous techniques. Normal, as well as abort, rendezvous situations are demonstrated." NASA film JSC-344 Public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). PROJECT APOLLO PLAYLIST: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7D6A4FBE35C88581 http://scitech.quickfound.net/astro/project_apollo.html On July 11, 1962 NASA announced that the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous mode would be used the manned lunar landing mission... The Lunar Orbit Rendezvous mode for lunar landing missions had been first suggested within NASA and the US aerospace industry in 1960... Dr. John C. Houbolt, assistant chief of the Dynamic Loads Division at Langley Research Center, was the leading expert on rendezvous in space. In early 1960, Houbolt realized the advantages of Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, and thereafter became its principle advocate. But convincing others at NASA that LOR was the best way to go would take almost two and a half years. To begin with, most engineers felt that any scheme involving rendezvous was too complicated and risky; therefore they preferred "direct ascent" plans which would required at least a Saturn C-8 (with a 12 million pounds thrust 1st stage, 8 F-1 engines) or an even larger "Nova" class launch vehicle. ...it gradually became obvious that the enormous rocket required to accomplish a direct ascent mission could not possibly be available in time. So the majority of engineers changed their preference to an Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR) plan... Both direct ascent and EOR presented difficulties in spacecraft design: 1. For one vehicle to make the trip, land on the moon, return to Earth, and a portion of it reenter the Earth's atmosphere would have required a far larger spacecraft than the eventual Apollo CSM and LM combined. The fuel for the return to Earth, and the reentry capsule, would have to be carried to the lunar surface and back up to orbit. This much larger, heavier spacecraft would be far more difficult to land on the moon than a smaller, lighter one would be. 2. The shape of such a dual-purpose craft was troublesome. Pilots need to see where they are going. How could a single craft be designed which would allow the pilots to look down at the lunar surface, while allowing them to recline facing upward during ascent to Earth orbit and, later, while reentering the Earth's atmosphere? Solutions were suggested, but none were satisfactory. Enchanted Rendezvous: John C. Houbolt and... Lunar Orbit Rendezvous..., Monograph 4 (1995) For these reasons, by late 1961, engineers at the Manned Spacecraft Center had begun to support Lunar Orbit Rendezvous. And by the spring of 1962 some key officials at NASA Headquarters in Washington were also sold on LOR. However, unanimity was desired, and the Saturn launch vehicle design engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, led by Wernher von Braun, still preferred Earth Orbit Rendezvous. In mid May, Joseph F. Shea, Deputy Director of the Office of Manned Space Flight, informed Von Braun that it was likely that LOR was going to be selected. This would likely result in less work for Von Braun's Marshall Space Flight Center, but, according to Shea, Von Braun was assured that efforts would be made to give MSFC more work. The turning point came on June 7, 1962, when, after 6 hours of MSFC engineers presenting their case for EOR to Shea, Von Braun surprised his own "rocket team" by declaring that they now preferred Lunar Orbit Rendezvous. Von Braun said: "...It is absolutely mandatory that we arrive at a definite mode decision within the next few weeks, preferably by the first of July, 1962... If we do not make a clear-cut decision on the mode very soon, our chances of accomplishing the first lunar landing expedition in this decade will fade away rapidly... "We believe [Lunar Orbit Rendezvous] offers the highest confidence factor of successful accomplishment within this decade... We agree with the Manned Spacecraft Center that the designs of a maneuverable hyperbolic re-entry vehicle and of a lunar landing vehicle constitute the two most critical tasks in producing a successful lunar spacecraft. A drastic separation of these two functions is bound to greatly simplify the development of the spacecraft system."