At his staff meeting on Monday, George Low made a strong point about uncoupling Spacecraft 101 and Spacecraft 103. Apparently, he feels it is likely that 103 will be launched on a Saturn 5 which implies no pad readiness schedule implications. The LM-2 will be available at the Cape early and, apparently, Spacecraft 103 is…
Category: Mission types
How to land next to a Surveyor – a short novel for do-it-yourselfers
As you know a decision has been made for the H mission to land next to Surveyor III. Considerable amount of work has already been spent in figuring out how to perform a so-called point landing, but a number of computer program and procedure changes are required which cannot be implemented prior to this mission….
A small change in CSM DOI confirmation procedures
We ran into a little snag on confirming the CSM DOI maneuver which has forced us to change the mission technique a little bit and I think you should know about it….
The Apollo rendezvous can be shortened by 2 hours
As you no doubt are aware, there is a movement afoot to shorten the Apollo rendezvous by 2 hours. This would be done by eliminating the CSI and CDH maneuvers and executing TPI about ½ hour after insertion. I thought the reason this was being considered was to reduce the crew’s workday, which has been…
Comments on the AS-207/208 Preliminary Spacecraft Reference Trajectory
TRW Systems released the AS-207/208 Preliminary Spacecraft Reference Trajectory during the first week of May. This report was put together on a compressed schedule, starting from rather hastily defined mission requirements. As a result, there are a number of things about it which were recognized as being in error even before release; however, since we…
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…
C’ Mission Techniques – mostly Entry
On Friday, November 15, we had the last C’ Mission Techniques meeting I expect we will ever have. It was mostly devoted to entry although, of course, some other odds and ends were discussed….
“For whom does the bell toll?” … “Delta Guidance” … “Oh!”
A couple of years ago, before any of the lunar flights, GCD started looking into improvements in the LM descent guidance and navigation (G&N) computer programs to compensate for possible problems in rough terrain, landing radar performance, descent targeting by the ground, etc. Actually, they were quite successful; they conceived the socalled delta guidance, prefilter,…
The LM4 RR/LGC interface may be broken, but that’s okay – sorta
This memo is to document the Data Priority position regarding a recent LM4 systems problem. To wit, it is considered acceptable to proceed with the nominal F mission with a questionable or known interface failure between the rendezvous radar (RR) and the LM spacecraft computer (LGC). It should be emphasized that a properly operating rendezvous…
Progress Report on Mission Techniques
Since we have not been able to get together this year, except for our short discussion prior to the George Mueller briefing, I thought it might be a good idea to send you a little informal Mission Techniques progress report. I guess our lack of contact is an implicit vote of confidence which I hope…