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An Educational Services Publication of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Vol. III, No. 1
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(CODE)
Microfiche
(CA-;aLYl
ff 653 July 65 (N A SA CR O R TMX OR AD NUMBER)
NEXT STOP, THE MOON-Two astronauts transfer Into LEM (Lunar Excursian Module) to descend fo r e x ploration of the moon.
Page 2 NASA FACTS Vol. III, No. 1
PROJECT APOLLO (2) Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR), launching
two payloads from the earth and joining them
Project Apollo is Step 3 of NASA's manned
in earth orbit into a single spacecraft capab le
space flight lunar landing program. Its goal:
of the moon journey. LOR was selected: it calls
to put men on the moon and return them safely
for launch of one spacecraft from earth to lunar
to earth by the end of this decade.
orbit, and detachment of a Lunar Excursion
In Step 1, Project Mercury paved the way by
Module to land on the moon and then return
developing one man space vehicles and tech-
to the moon-orbiting vehicle. This reduced
niques for their use. Step 2 is Project Gemini,
sharply the requirement for thrust capability as
using two-man spacecraft, for longer orbital mis-
compared with landing the entire spacecraft as-
sions and for developing the technique of ren-
sembly on the lunar surface, as in the direct and
dezvous and docking, during which two space
EOR methods.
vehicles are maneuvered close together and
In fact, LOR reduced the total weight require-
joined or "docked."
ment for the lunar bound spacecraft, leaving
The technique of orbital rendezvous-in orbit
earth, to about 45 tons, as compared with 100
around the moon-will be a key maneuver in
Project Apollo to achieve lunar landings. tons for an EOR vehicle. Also, instead of two
big boosters for EOR, the LOR method requires
only one. Not only fuel but ti me will be saved,
PROJECT APOLLO'S GOAL
also a great ~eal of expensive hardware.
Major elements in basic planning for Project These factors made LOR the best choice.
Apollo included: Apollo hardware-launch vehicles , spacecraft ,
• Design and construction of a blunt-cone and their instrumentation-is under development
spacecraft different from the bell shaped Mercury today.
and Gemini vehicles. Astronauts meanwhile are in training for the
• Development of a powerful launch vehicle, I unar touchdown goal. Barring unforeseen set-
the Saturn V, with 7.5 million pounds booster backs, Project Apollo will fulfill the late President
thrust, equal to that of 21 Atlas boosters. Kennedy's timetable (in his message to Con-
(Atlas was the launch vehicle for Mercury gress in May 1961) and meet the man-on-the-
manned flights.) moon goal he gave America-"within this
• The Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) flight plan decade."
for the moon landing mission.
LOR was chosen after careful review of three APOLLO SPACECRAFT
possible methods, the other two being (1, ) direct The Apollo spacecraft is to be 84 feet tall
flight from earth surface to moon surface and and weigh about 45 tons. It is divided i nt o
PROJECT APOLLO
LUNAR LANDING FLIGH T TECHNIQUES
• \
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~DIRECT
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EARTH ORBIT
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LUNAR ORBIT
RENDEZVOUS RENDEZVOUS
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NASA FACTS Vol. III, No. 1 Page 3
APOLLO
SPACECRAFT
COMMAND MODULE
SERVICE MODULE
(LEM)
-----.----- -- -----.--~------------- I
NASA FACTS Vol. III, No. 1 Page 5
units-inertial guidance platform, and flight pat- interwoven with a fine network of water-circulat-
tern computer. A third unit will be an optical ing tubes to carry away body heat. Over the
space sextant with which the astronauts will take entire space suit is worn a "thermal garment,"
sightings of the earth, moon, and reference stars or a white monk-like coverall with hood, pro-
to check out their position before each maneuver tecting the astronaut from the airless moon's
with their rocket engines, during any leg of the blistering sunshine. Finally, a "meteoroid
round trip. cape" on his back will fend off micro meteoroid
dust which may rain down on the moon at high
speed. Bigger bullet-like meteoroids that would
ASTRONAUT WARDROBE penetrate the cape are calculated to be rare.
The Apollo crewmen will have a changeable An important added unit of the Apollo space
wardrobe for wear at different times. On the suit system will be the strap-on backpack for
outward bound trip, two of the men (in rotation lunar exploration, including 4-hour oxygen
with the third) will relax in "constant wear gar- supply, two-way radio, heat-dumping radiator,
ments," a cross between ski pants and long and dosimeter (radiation gauge). Partial radia-
underwear. tion protection is built into the space suit fabric.
Astronauts demonstrate prototype thermal over garments designed to protect men on moon from direct rays of sun and radiated heat.
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·Page 6 NASA FACTS Vol. III, No.
COMMAND MODULE
SERVICE MODULE
LUNAR EXCURSION MODULE
COMMAND MODULE
S II STAGE
ESCAPE SYSTEM (ES), SERVICE MODULE
BOILERPLATE - ~ LUNAR EXCURSION
COMMAND MODULE MODULE
J-2 ENGINE
SERVICE MODULE INSTRUMENT UNIT
INSTRUMENT UNIT
S IV B STAGE
S IV STAGE
RL 10 A-3 ENGINE SIC STAGE
J2 ENGINE
SATURN I SATURN 18
LAUNCH ESCAPE
SYSTEM
COMMAND MODULE
SERVICE MODU LE
LUNAR
EXCURS ION
MODU LE
INSTRUMEN T
UN IT
FUEL TANK
LOX TANK
S- IV B
J - 2 ENG INE (\) STAGE
FUEL TANK
365'
LOX TANK
S- II
STAGE
LOX TANK
~.
SATURN V.
Saturn V will be a vehicle of gigantic size and Apollo plus escape tower, will stand 365 feet
power. The first stage, the S-I C, will have a high at the launch pad and weigh 6 million
diameter of 33 feet and will be powered by a pounds fueled before a moon flight .
cluster of five F-I engines, each developing The mightly Saturn V launch vehicle will be
thrust equal to the Saturn I's 1.5 million pounds, able to shove 140 tons (280,000 pounds) into
for a total of 7.5 million pounds. An S-II sec- earth orbit at a speed of 5 miles per second
ond stage clustering five J-2 engines will furnish (mps), and hurl 47.5 tons of escape velocity pay-
1 million pounds of thrust. On top will be a load away from earth at 7 mps. This means
third stage S-IV B, identical with the Saturn IB's that both the Apollo spacecraft and third stage
second stage. go into parking orbit, after which the S-IV B
Standing about 281 feet high, this immense re-ignites and adds speed of 2 mps to hurl the
three stage booster, topped by the three module spacecraft on its way.
Page 8 NASA FACTS Vol. III, No. 1
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Page 9
)
UNMANNED MOON PROBES Mercury and Gemini. Also, new Apollo special-
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An important preliminary to the manned ties are being added from time to time. Among
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I Apollo flight is the unmanned lunar spacecraft them:
I
program.
t The highly successful Rangers VII, VIII, and IX,
• "Moon Trips" in simulator trainers that
I create the realistic illusion of travel through
with their remarkable moon close-up pictures,
space, descent on the moon, and return to
I! will be followed by Surveyor vehicles which will
earth.
I be "soft-landed" on the moon, to send close-up
~ TV pictures of the lunar surface and also analyze • "Lunar Obstacle Course," a 328-foot-wide
simulation of the moon's rugged surface,
I soil samples.
Another series of spacecraft, the lunar Orbit- complete with craters up to 50 feet wide and
11
I ers will go into low moon orbit 22 miles above 15 feet deep, large boulders, a dust layer,
III the surface to photograph many lunar regions. and fissures over which to jump. A suspen-
sion harness reduces an astronaut's weight to
I TRAINING the moon's value (1/ 6th earth weight) of 25
III Astronaut training for the Apollo Program in- or 30 pounds. The trainee, making long
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II'I cludes the "basic space training" of Projects leaps across this moon-patch, experiences con-
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Space flight simulator, with Image of the moon on left, used for determining what man can and cannot do In controlling spacecraft
during actual missions.
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ditions near to those he will meet on the When the returning Apollo speeds toward
moon. earth at 25,000 mph, the chain of land and ship
• "Space Suit Workouts," during which tracking stations will gear in to monitor the vital
astronauts wear experimental Apollo pressure reentry and recovery operation.
garments to practice walking, bending, open-
ing of visor, and the like. LUNAR LANDING FLIGHT
Sometime around the end of this decade,
MOON FLIGHT TRACKING SYSTEM America will send astronauts to the moon. At
A network of tracking stations was established countdown time zero, the 365-foot Apollo Saturn
around the world for Project Mercury and aug- V vehicle will lift off the pad. The first and sec-
mented for Gemini. Ground stations and ships ond stages will burn all their propellants but the
are included. third stage will burn only enough to place itself
and the three module Apollo spacecraft in "park-
All these stations will follow the Apollo space-
ing" orbit about 100 miles high.
craft at the beginning and end of the lunar mis-
sion, during the first launch into earth orbit, and A little later, when the lunar "launch window"
during the final reentry after the moon trip is (best period of time for takeoff) is open, accord-
ing to earth computers, the third stage will refire,
finished.
add speed, and escape from the earth.
As soon as the spacecraft leaves earth orbit
Now on their way to the moon, the three man
beyond their range, tracking will switch to sta-
crew reorient the segments of their spacecraft
tions located at Goldstone, California, Madrid,
and discard the third stoge of the launch vehicle.
Spain, and Carnarvon, Australia. These sta-
0
A mid-course correction may be made if their
tions are situated about 120 apart (going east
lunar trajectory (line of flight) is other than the
and west), so that as the rotating earth cuts off
one desired. This correction is made with the
one station's direct line contact with a deep
Service Module's 22,000-pound-thrust rocket
space vehicle, the next station rises above the
engine. About 2'/4 days after launch, the
horizon and takes over. earth's gravitation slows the spacecraft down
An unbroken day and night surveillance of gradually, from 24,300 mph to 6,300 mph.
the Apollo spacecraft can then be kept by those Some 64 hours after leaving earth, the space-
stations. The huge 85 foot dish antennas and craft nears the moon and the astronauts apply
sensitive equipment are similar in oppearance to Service Module propulsion system retro power
those which have received faint signals from for about 6 minutes to slow down to 3,600 mph,
millions of miles away in space (Mariner to allowing the craft to swing into a lunar orbit
Venus and others.) about 83 miles high. For the lunar landing, two
Jf-----~==---=--.::-=--=-===-=-:::-:..-=..=--::..~--=-~ ~---=----- -~--- -- - - - -. ~ __ -- - - ----- - --- - -
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with a jar scarcely felt by the astronauts. Artist' s rendering showi ng powered Lunar Excursion Module
Two United States citizens stand on the moon! ascent from surface of the moon.
-~
SUVIC( MODUlE
SlPAIA.1I0 N
1l0TATION 10 --...::::,.
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TAIL fOil WAllO
POSITION
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THtlO STAG! I'IOI'US
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LUNA' UAJ(CTOlY
APOUO SPACECRAFT CO ..... NO .. OOU Lf
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fOil (NT'Y INTO
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MOON
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,~. • . f't MODUli !LfM! UPAlATfS;
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LANDING AND MAIN
Sequence of major PA.ACHUTE .(lUSt
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-Page 12 NASA FACTS Vol. III, No. 1
mounting speed that, 198 hours after launch has If the landing site is in the right position, they
I reached the same velocity with which they left will also photograph the "full earth," equal in
earth-about 24,600 mph. brightness to 80 full moons.
After using the Service Module's propulsion
for final course corrections, this segment is jetti-
APOLLO FOLLOW -ON PROGRAMS
soned and the Command Module is left by itself
as it plunges into the earth's atmosphere. The moon landing mission is not the end, but
With a velocity of 24,600 mph, reentry will be the beginning, of America's great space pro-
trickier for Apollo than it was for Gemini and gram. The moon will become the gateway to
Mercury at less than 17,000 mph. It must enter the solar system.
the top of the earth's atmosphere to switch into More Apollo landings are planned after the
an earthbound ballistic path. Apollo's air- pioneer attempt, after which will come the Ex-
) tended Apollo Project, for moon explorations
I
friction heat will be 5,000 ° F, and the safe "re-
,I entry corridor" is only 40 miles wide, while the in the early 1970's.
II angle of attack (slant toward earth horizontal) A totally new vehicle under study is the
,I must be kept between 5 1/2 0 to 71/2 0 • MOLAB (Moon Laboratory), an apparatus to
travel 250 miles over the rough lunar surface,
'I But otherwise, quite like Mercury and Gemini,
the bottom heat shield protects the crew as air and providing 2 weeks of life support for two
resistance rapidly cuts velocity to a safe point astronauts.
for parachute deployment and landing . Gradually, a stable of specialized lunar ve-
From earth launch to earth touchdown, the hicles that become operational could be ready
total trip time will be some 198 hours, or about for Project Moon Base-a permanent outpost
8 days. with a moon ferry supply system. The first basic
staff of six astronauts will increase as time goes
LUNAR ASTRONAUT EXPERIMENTS on to dozens of men.
Present plans call for the two LEM astronauts Their mission, in general terms, will be to ex-
to stay from 4 to 34 hours on the moon's sur- plore a whole new world equal in total area
face. The longer stay of 34 hours would allow (both sides of the moon) to Africa.
each astronaut to step out of the LEM twice, for In time, a large astronomical observatory may
3 hours at a time. As a margin of safety, their be built on the moon, where airlessness provides
backpacks will be good for 4 hours, supplying unobstructed telescopic viewing of the outer uni-
oxygen, air conditioning, and cooling. verse. A lunar "spacep ort" is another possi-
Restricted to an area close by the LEM, the bility, to serve interplanetary "traffic."
astronauts will carry out various scientific tasks- A separate branch of Apollo applications
collecting rock and soil samples, photographing near earth could be use of the three-man space-
nearby mountains, measuring the diameter of craft for a series of early space stations and
visible craters. manned laboratories in earth orbit.
Also, the astronauts will be on the watch for Beyond that is the concept of larger space
surprises and may discover lunar phenomena laboratories, with Apollo as the earth-to-orbit
totally unsuspected by earthly scientists. ferrycraft to deliver supplies and rotate personnel.
NASA FACTS formot is designed for bulletin-board display NASA FACTS is an educational publication of NASA's Edu-
uncut, or for 8 x lOY. looseleaf notebook insertion when cational Programs and Services Office. It will be mailed to
cut olong dotted lines and folded along solid lines. For addressees who request it from: NASA, Educational Publica-
notebook ring insertion, punch at solid dots in the margins. tions Distribution Center, AFEEE- 1 , Washington, D.C., 20546.
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