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Lunar Lander Historical Program Scheduled at NASA'S Palmdale GalleryNASA's Aerospace Exploration Gallery in Palmdale will host a public historical presentation on the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007.
The gallery is located at the Palmdale Institute of Technology, 38256 Sierra Highway, near city hall in the Palmdale Civic Center.
Consisting of a video and talk by Dr. Christian Gelzer, chief historian of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, the LLRV presentation will begin at 9 a.m. and will repeat hourly until 3 p.m. Each presentation will last approximately 40 minutes.
The LLRVs, humorously referred to as "flying bedsteads," were conceived by NASA Dryden to study and analyze piloting techniques needed to fly and land the Apollo Lunar Module in the moon's airless environment.
Success of the LLRVs led to the building of three Lunar Landing Training Vehicles used by Apollo astronauts at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, predecessor of NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Apollo 11 astronaut, Neil Armstrong — first human to step onto the moon's surface — said the mission would not have been successful without the type of simulation that resulted from the lunar landing research and training vehicles.
NASA Dryden operates the Aerospace Exploration Gallery in cooperation with the AERO Institute and the City of Palmdale. It is open free to the public Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.