Apollo Lunar Lander

By AngusV
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    Apollo LM

    The Lunar Modules created for the Apollo Program
  • Contract Let

    Contract awarded to Gruman
  • Design Phase complete

    Design Phase complete
    Design was frozen in April 1963. A bonus of $11,000 was given to anyone able to remove a pound from the design. The first concept , shown, was call "the bug"
  • Astronaut training

    Astronaut training
    Bell Aerosystems developed Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) for training. The vehicles proved unsafes as three of the five vehicles crashed. The astronauts reported they hated flying it.
  • LTA-3A

    Research article, unflown, can be seen at Cradle of Aviation Museum
  • LTA-3DR

    Research Vehicle, never flow, can be see at the Franklin Institute, Pennsylvania
  • LTA-5D

    Test Vehicle, can be see at the Nasa White Sands Test Facility
  • LTA-10R

    Research article, did not fly, can be see at the Museum of Science and Industry, Illinois.
  • TM-5

    No flight test item, can be seen at Museum of Life and Science North Carolina
  • PA-1

    Test Item, no flown, can be seen at White Sands Test Facility
  • LTA-1

    First article item, for research, never flown, can be seen at VCradle of Aviation Museum, New York
  • LTA-10R

    LTA-10R
    Flew on the first launch of the Saturn V, Apollo 4 mission, as ballast. This item was not operational. Destroyed when re-entering earth's atmosphere.
  • LTA-8A

    LTA-8A
    Thermal Vacuum ground tests on Saturn V. Can be seen at the Houston Space Center
  • LM-1 First functional LM Test

    LM-1 First functional LM Test
    The Apollo 5 mission tested the lunar module in a space environment, in particular its descent and ascent engine systems, and its ability to separate the ascent and descent stages. The descent engine would become the first throttleable rocket engine fired in space.
  • LM-2

    LM-2
    Intended for second unmanned flight, used instead for ground testing. Landing gear added for drop testing. Lacks optical alignment telescope and flight computer Can be seen at National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC
  • LTA-2R

    LTA-2R
    Flew on the unmaned Apollo 6 mission, which was a demonstration of lunar injection. The Saturn V developed "rpogo oscillations" vibrations, which would have harmed any crew. This vehicle was released in orbit and fell to earth.
  • LM-3 - "Spider"

    LM-3 - "Spider"
    First LM with a call sign. The Apollo capsule call sign was "Gumdrop". The mission concluded on March 13 and was a full success. It proved the LM worthy of crewed spaceflight, thus setting the stage for the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing
  • LM-4 - Snoopy

    LM-4 - Snoopy
    Flew on Apollo 10 Dress Rehearsal for the Moon landing. Its crew flew to 50,000 feet of the moon's surface. Snoopy is the sole surviving Mission LM, sent on a trajectory past the Moon into a heliocentric orbit, and is somewhere in the solar system today.
  • LM-5 - Eagle

    LM-5  - Eagle
    The Famous "The Eagle has Landed" LM supporting the first landing on the moon. The bottom stage, with the plaque, was left on the moon. After docking with the Command Module, the upper stage was jettison and crashed somewhere on the moons surface.
  • LM-6 - Intrepid

    LM-6 - Intrepid
    Intrepid flew on the Apollo 12 mission and succeeded in landing at its intended target – within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 probe, which had landed on the Moon in April 1967. Accurate landings would be required for future missions The landing was executed by computer. Both stages of Intrepid remain on the Moon.
  • LM-7 - Aquarius "Houston we have a problem"

    LM-7 - Aquarius "Houston we have a problem"
    Because a lifefarft for the Apollo 13 mission after the famous "Houston, we have a problem". The Aquarius providing lifesaving support to the crew allowing them to return a broken spacecraft to earth. With less than four and a half hours of electrical power left in Aquarius, it was released from the CM and fell to earth. Mission control said “Farewell Aquarius, and we thank you.”
  • LM-8 - Antares

    LM-8 - Antares
    Antaries flew the Apollo 14 mission, which duplicated the failed Apollo 13 mission. Alan Shepard, America's first man in space, crewed this mission. Shepard famously hit a golf ball with a six iron while on the moon. This mission brought back the 20lb "Big Bertha" rock, both the first discovered terrestrial meteorite and the oldest known Earth rock
  • LM-9

    LM-9
    Not Flown as it did not have the ablity to carry the moon buggy. Can be seen at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida
  • LM-11 - Orion

    LM-11 - Orion
    Orion flew the Apollo 16 mission, which Included Ken Mattingly, the left behind man from Apollo 13. Because of an error when releasing the first stage from the CM, The ascent stage drifted around the moon for nearly a year after the mission before it eventually crashed into the lunar surface. After LM release, a subsatellite into lunar orbit from the CSM's scientific instrument bay into Lunar orbit.
  • LM-10 - Falcon

    LM-10 - Falcon
    Falcon carried the first Lunar Roving Vehicle, which held a camera that filmed the Falcon lift off. The crew dropped the hammer and feather at the same time; because of the negligible lunar atmosphere, there was no drag on the feather, which hit the ground at the same time as the hammer. A small "Fallen Astronaut" memorial was left on the moons surface.
  • LM-12 - Challenger Last Mission

    LM-12 - Challenger Last Mission
    Challenger flew on Apollo 17, the last crewed Saturn V launch. Apollo 17 included a cosmic ray experiment , carrying five mice that had been implanted with radiation monitors to see whether they suffered damage from cosmic rays. the Apollo 17 crew dubbed them "Fe", "Fi", "Fo", "Fum" and "Phooey".
  • LM-13

    LM-13
    Not flown, intended as Apollo 18 Partially completed by Grumman, restored and on display at Cradle of Aviation Museum, Long Island, New York. Also used during 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.
  • LM-14, LM-15

    LM-14, LM-15
    Unfinished / Scrapped. The picture shows where the LMs were left on the moon