I think we have pretty well established how to handle a communication loss situation on the F and G missions. In effect, we have defined which Block data must be sent and what onboard cis-lunar navigation needs to be carried out. In both cases, of course, it is possible to cut back substantially from the…
Category: Apollo 11
Lunar Ascent preparation
At the July 3 Lunar Ascent Mission Techniques meeting we cleaned up the last of the main open items for the phase of the lunar landing mission from LM touchdown to liftoff. We are now ready to go to press for that part of the mission and will hold a world-wide review of it before…
First 2 hours on the moon is a countdown to launch – simulated or real thing.
Those who participated in the STAC presentation already know this, but perhaps some of you, like me, had not heard. It is currently proposed that on the lunar landing mission the first two hours on the lunar surface will be devoted to spacecraft systems checks and launch preparations which, for all practical purposes, simulates the…
F Mission Techniques – LM Checkout
On December 6 we had our first F Mission Techniques meeting dealing with pre-DOI activity. It resulted in a lot of things I never expected, since I thought the timeline and procedures for LM checkout and CSM landing site tracking were pretty well organized and acceptable with just minor tune-up. At this meeting we really…
Some G Mission Techniques action items
This memo is just a list of action items assigned to MPAD and/or MIT which I remember coming from our recent G descent/descent abort meetings. In addition to reminding those responsible for them, they serve as some sort of indication of what’s going on in this business which you might find interesting….
VHF ranging by CSM for ascent monitoring
Attention everyone!! As far as I can tell, everyone wants to get that VHF ranging device on the CM and there’s a big effort going on right now to put together the proposal and justification for it. Most attention to date has been given to its use for rendezvous. It is obvious that it should…
Some significant LUMINARY program changes you should know about
I really blew it at the June 5 Apollo Spacecraft Software Configuration Control Board meeting. Although dozens of rather minor changes were approved, the one I was most concerned about wasn’t even discussed and I completely forgot it. This memo is to inform you that we are now desperately trying to include a capability in…
PGNCS operations while on the lunar surface
During our March 27 Lunar Surface Mission Techniques meeting I think we finally settled how we think the PGNCS should be operated. How many times have I said that before? This memo is to broadcast a few new items that might be of general interest….
F and G mission cis-lunar and abort plan
On January 8 a gang of us FOD types got together to develop a proposal on how we should use the LM for cis-lunar and lunar orbit aborts. In other words, how should the C’ techniques be modified due to having the LM DPS available to backup or use in place of the SPS. A…
CSM rendezvous navigation works fine using just VHF ranging
I made an announcement during the F Operations Review which was absolutely flat-out wrong. This memo is to correct that statement and/or just to make sure you know what capability really exists in the CSM for rendezvous navigation….