Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 01-30-2014 07:04 AM               

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I recently read in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal that the lunar module Eagle (Apollo 11) had the least amount of descent fueling remaining upon landing and that Antares (Apollo 14) had the second least.

Does anyone know which lunar module had the largest quantity of descent fuel in its tanks upon landing on the moon?

Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 01-30-2014 07:12 AM               

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I had a chance to ask Charlie Duke about remaining fuel. He said he suspected there was anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute's worth the fuel in Eagle's fuel tanks.

For his own LM, Orion, he thought there was likely more but they would have to burn the tanks dry in order to find out for sure.

Posts: 891
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 01-30-2014 10:13 AM               

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Thanks for the reply.

I believe that "hover time" is affected by descent angle, surface visibility, efficiency of the descent engine, and total weight of the lunar module. The last three J mission LMs were substantially heavier than their G and H mission counterparts. I also seemed to recall that the J mission LMs had their descent engine performance tweaked too.

There are too many factors there. To get an apples-to-apples comparison, I guess what I really want to know is what lunar module had the most pounds of fuel remaining in its tanks upon landing?

Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999