During our December 21 Ascent Phase Data Priority meeting we concluded that a continuous launch window for lift off from the lunar surface is not a requirement. That is, all mission planning, procedures and program development associated with the nominal lunar landing mission should be based on the assumption that one or more discrete lift…
Category: Contingency plans
D Rendezvous Mission Techniques
This memo is to tell you about the results of the November 25 D Rendezvous Mission Techniques meeting. Except for a number of small clean up items, we spent most of our time talking about how to handle slippage of TPI time and incomplete Insertion and Phasing maneuvers. After an exhausting discussion, I think we…
The LM can handle big Descent plane changes but required protection against APS abort fuel depletion
We have recently verified that the LM has a substantial capability to translate out of its initial orbital plane during powered Descent at very little cost. That is, whereas previously a limit of 0.3° had been quoted, it now appears that 1° or more is probably possible without effecting the performance of the guidance equations,…
D Rendezvous Mission Techniques
This memo is to let you know about some things on the D Rendezvous that have been giving us a lot of trouble. The problem we have been having is associated with the football trajectory and how to exit from it gracefully. It seems like most of the significant mission techniques open items deal with…
C’ Contingency Review
We went through the draft of the C’ Contingency Mission Techniques document on October 22, and I must say I was impressed with its quality. It seemed to me the Flight Analysis Branch, the Apollo Abort Working Group, and TRW had done a good job of putting this together. The final version will be distributed…
Some Mission D contingency plans
During a recent D mission rules review a couple of interesting things came up that I hadn’t heard of before. You probably ought to know about:…
Should LM RCS jet #10 be disabled for the “D” mission docked DPS burn?
The following paragraph is extracted from MIT’s Spacecraft Autopilot Development Memo #11-68, dated July 24, 1968, by William S. Widnall….
LM Descent abortability computation is proposed
Ed Copps of MIT attended one of our mission techniques meeting recently during which we discussed the use of the LM Descent Propulsion System low level sensor light. This is the light, you recall, which comes on when approximately 30 seconds worth of propellant is still available at full thrust or two minutes at 25%…
EMS will always be used on “C” if G&N fails
Mr. C. C. Kraft announced at his Monday morning meeting that the EMS will be used for controlling reentry on the “C” mission in the event of a G&N failure regardless of when that failure occurs. This was decided over his mild objection at George Low’s CCB meeting last week….
“D” Rendezvous Mission Techniques Task Assignments for MPAD
Attached is a list of action items associated with our work on “D” Rendezvous Mission Techniques. Would you please see that all those assigned to MPAD are covered by proper Task Assignments (I expect that most of them already are). Specifically, items 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 11 are probably OMAB’s jobs and item…