Max Faget, NASA Langley's "Chief Designer", had already settled on a preferred ballistic capsule configuration, essentially that used on Mercury, but with the slope of the sides increased to allow the capsule to achieve a lift to drag coefficient of 0.5 - necessary to limit G-forces to below 8 when re-entering from lunar distances. These considerations set the size of the capsule, which NASA estimated would be under 4 metric tons. It had to be big enough inside to allow the 3-man crew to function for 14-day missions - the approximate length of the maximum envisioned autonomous earth orbit or lunar mission. The capsule was to have a crew of three, because it was thought the crew would have to monitor the spacecraft's systems at all times - therefore, three 8-hour duty shifts. At the time the design was defined, any moon landing was seen as a far-off unfounded objective - sometime in the 1970's. It was to be an all-purpose spacecraft for missions to earth orbit and the moon. The Apollo re-entry vehicle itself was originally initiated by NASA in 1960 as the next step beyond the primitive Mercury capsule. The Apollo program was not a hoax, but the real thing. But all of the decisions made in the seven months after go-ahead proved basically correct. The project that succeeded in putting a man on the moon.Īpollo probably could have achieved its goal a little quicker by using a 2-man capsule for a direct flight. Begun in 1962 first landing on the moon 1969 sixth and final lunar landing 1972. Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9Ī- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- ZĮvolution of the Apollo Design, from the Contractor Studies through the Direct Landing, and finally Lunar Orbit Rendezous VersionsĪmerican manned lunar expedition.
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