posted 11-11-2008 12:47 PM               

You may recall that the original plan was to launch Apollo 12 in September 1969 if Apollo 11 had not been successful; it was rescheduled to November after Apollo 11 returned and met the mission goals. Anyway, here is the Apollo 12 stack, viewed from up high. You can see the command and service module in place atop the stack.

Later on the tour, he saw this lunar module ascent stage on a dolly. He told me that it was the Apollo 12 LM, but I don't see how that would have been possible if the rest of the vehicle was already stacked. I guess it could have been removed through the side of the SLA, but it seems that would have been awkward... and why removed it and re-wrap it?

posted 11-11-2008 02:17 PM               

Interestingly, there was a boilerplate CSM and SLA in one of the high bays that day, too. I wonder if that was destined for the Apollo 13 stack?

posted 11-11-2008 03:22 PM               

As I remember Apollo 12 was going to fly in Sept.'69 & Apollo 13 in November '69. That was the plan in early July '69 before the launch of Apollo 11. All that changed July 24, 1969, it was time to party!

posted 11-11-2008 05:56 PM               

Although my dad's memoirs don't specify the exact date of his visit to the Cape, he did write this: "We were put aboard chartered aircraft and flown to Houston for a full day NASA briefing and tour and a sneak preview look at the moon rocks bought back only two weeks before by the crew of the first lunar landing. This was followed by a full day at Cape Kennedy and a VIP tour of the facilities. We received the whole treatment and I don't remember any of my classmates who did not grow a little vain as a result of the experience." This would put his visit within the first or second week of August 1969.

At that time, Apollo 13 was stacked, with a boilerplate CSM. It was rolled around from one bay to another on August 8. In the top-down view from the high bay, it looks to me like the boilerplate CM is slightly above the SM, so perhaps it is being installed just prior to the rollaround or removed just afterward.

There is a photo of the Apollo 13 LM in altitude chamber testing on September 18, 1969. The ascent stage in my dad's photo looks like it had just arrived at the Cape. The thought here is that the Apollo 13 LM was too far along in the assembly and testing process only a month after my dad's photo for this newly-arrived ascent stage to have been it.

posted 11-11-2008 07:50 PM               

According to NASA Pub SP-4029:

• Apollo 12 LM was mated to the SLA on June 23, 1969.
  
• Apollo 13 LM was delivered to KSC on 27 June 1969 - which makes sense in light of my dad's visit in early August. What doesn't make sense is that the same publication shows the LM's ascent and descent stages as being mated on July 15, about 4 weeks before the picture of the ascent stage sitting alone on the dolly... unless they were subsequently demated for further testing. The same pub shows the ascent and descent stages combined systems testing complete on July 22.
  
• Apollo 14 LM was not delivered to KSC until November 24, 1969, 3-1/2 months after my dad's visit.

posted 11-12-2008 10:56 AM               

I have a Grumman chart that lists the history timeline of all LMs. LM-9 served first in an Apollo 12 support role and then in an Apollo 13 support role (this was during manufacturing at Grumman). The last entry on the timeline is 'prep to ship 6-8-70' for the ascent stage and 'prep to ship 6-17-70' for the descent stage.

This would indicate that LM-9 was still at the Grumman plant in June of 1970. In fact, I cannot find any material or photos that indicate LM-9 being shipped to KSC back in the Apollo days.

posted 11-12-2008 02:30 PM               

We know that LM-2 was used for drop tests in 1969: "The fifth and final drop test of LM-2 was made on May 7. The first four drop tests had been made to establish the proper functioning of all LM systems after a lunar landing. The fifth test was made to qualify the functioning of the pyrotechnics after landing. On May 8, the final test, physically separating the ascent stage, was conducted."

From Chariots for Apollo: "The lunar module probably had to undergo the toughest tests and the sharpest scrutiny of all the hardware, procedures, and facilities. LM-2, veteran of the Saturn launch vehicle pogo testing program, was called upon to simulate landing stresses. Robert J. Wren, from Faget's directorate, and a team from Houston and Grumman rigged the vehicle in Houston's vibration and acoustic testing facility. Dropping LM-2 at slightly different angles to see how it would stand the shock of landing was a simple test. But the ascent stage carried a full propellant load and the descent tanks a small quantity of fluid; when the tanks were pressurized, this could be dangerous. Maximum safety precautions were taken, however, and the tests were completed successfully"