I poked my nose into the Rover Navigation System and so Dave Pendley invited me to a meeting at MSFC on November 21, 1969. The purpose of the meeting was to try and firm up the basic design of the Rover Navigation System with the Boeing people who are responsible for building it. It was…
Category: Lunar surface
LM Ascent lift-off time can be determined by the crew
Some months ago we submitted a PCR to remove the pre-Ascent targeting program (P10) from Luminary and this was done. This action was based on an assumption that a simple crew procedure could be developed for doing the same job, in the event of loss of communications, making the rather complicated computer program unnecessary. The…
Apollo 12 Mission Techniques
On September 15 and 16 we had the second (and last) Mission Techniques meeting for Apollo 12. It was advertised to be a “catchall” and it was. It all went smoothly enough considering how many people were there – the place was stuffed (even the projection room!) – and the exhaustion and emotion these things…
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…
Ascent newsletter
This memo is to report several interesting things regarding lunar ascent, both nominal and after a descent abort….
Some alternate ways of figuring out where the LM is on the moon will be available
For some months we have been concerned with the problem of determining the LM’s location after its landing on the lunar surface. This information is essential in order to do a decent job of Ascent targeting and, in fact, a significant error can even influence crew safety. Primary modes already implemented in the Control Center/RTCC…
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….
Let’s drop one of the lunar surface RR tests
During our review of the G Mission Lunar Surface Mission Techniques Document on April 10, we came to a conclusion which may interest you. It deals with the need, or really lack of need, for the crew to do some things that are in the current flight plan. Specifically, in the crew LM timeline, we…
Some new ideas on how to use the AGS during Descent
This memo is to fill you in on a couple of late crew procedure changes proposed for the G mission regarding AGS operation during descent. The first is a technique to prepare the AGS for immediate ascent which can be used to quickly reinitialize the AGS LM state vector immediately after touchdown if there is…
CSM orbit determination using the LEM radar
Apparently it is planned to use the LEM radar while that spacecraft is sitting on the lunar surface to determine the CSM’s orbit. I am told that the radar angle data accuracy is so poor it will not even be used; the command module’s orbit determination will be carried out with range and range rate…