On May 28 we finally kicked off the Lunar Rendezvous Mission Techniques business. Because of the imminence of missions “D” and “E”, we started on those first some months ago. Now I wish we hadn’t because they are so darned complicated. I have a feeling the lunar rendezvous can be finished up quicker than they…
Category: Mission types
F/G Mirror Image Targeting shall use a three-minute delay
As you know, we have established as a standard procedure during Apollo rendezvous having CSM backup LM maneuvers in order to retain the nominal relative motion during this critical mission phase. On the D mission these “mirror image” CSM maneuvers are targeted with TIG delayed one minute after the LM TIG. One minute was chosen…
A new rope module for LM-1 computer
On August 16 General Bolender approved remanufacture of Module III of the LM-1 spacecraft computer program ropes. This was done based on the recommendation of both MIT and MSC technical personnel in order to correct two deficiencies….
Eighth and Ninth “C” Mission Rendezvous Mission Techniques meetings
Most of the March 15 and 22 “C” Mission rendezvous Mission Techniques meetings were devoted to discussion of onboard rendezvous navigation with the sextant. This was brought about by the rather bad experience suffered by the 101 flight crew and a number of the flight controllers on the Kennedy Space Center mission simulator earlier in…
AAP platform should be torqued to local horizontal
In thinking about it a little more, I guess I should have pointed out in the last of these little notes that I’m assuming if we use horizon scanners, we will go ahead and torque the platform at orbit rate. This, of course, will require a certain amount of modification in some of the spacecraft…
“Final” review of Spacecraft (Mission “C”) Retrofire and Reentry Mission Techniques
On January 10 we had a “final” review of Spacecraft 101 (Mission “C”) Retrofire and Reentry Mission Techniques as documented in the logical flow charts prepared by TRW based on a series of meetings we have had here at MSC. These flow charts, which show the operations starting several hours prior to the retrofire maneuver…
Lunar rendezvous shaping up
On June 26 we took another wack at the “G” Rendezvous Mission Techniques. I think we now have most of the basic things squared away so that we can get into the detail with some confidence. The most significant decisions were:…
Why does the AAP command module need a sextant?
Use of horizon scanners for AAP earth orbital missions would considerably reduce the crew’s workload and would eliminate the operational constraint of only being able to align the platform when the spacecraft is in darkness. I realize the use of horizon scanners has already been suggested and is being investigated….
Can we cut 2 hours out of the Apollo rendezvous?
As you are no doubt 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. The reason this is being considered is to reduce the crew’s workday which currently is really pretty…
Some MPAD work needed for the G mission
During the February 26th Data Select Mission Techninques meeting, Math Physics Branch (MPB) picked up three action items for the G mission, of which you should be aware….