Posts: 730
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000

Posts: 730
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 06-28-2004 01:01 AM               

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tom:
Was this lunar orbit survey mission planned before the 3 "J" missions (Apollo 15, 16, 17) were thought about?
Do you know how long Apollo 21 was to remain in lunar orbit?
Thanks.

---

I don't have much information on the proposed mission. It is mentioned on a one page fact sheet (form number MSC 3324-70) issued by NASA-MSC titled "Chart spells out lunar missions through Apollo 20." However, the last column on the chart (Apollo 20 details are in next to last column) gives some details of a post-Apollo 20 lunar mission. No mission designation is given - in fact it simply says "unassigned" in that particular row and column. Apollo missions 16-20 are listed as "J" missions. No Saturn V is assigned nor is a CSM. (I presume the decision to terminate the Saturn V assembly line had not been made at this time. Obviously, one more Saturn V would have been needed had all planned lunar landings transpired.) The spacecraft is simply referred to as a "modified block II" with a SIM bay. The primary mission objectives are listed as "lunar orbit science survey, metric and panoramic camera mapping from high-inclination orbits." After Apollo missions 18-20 were canceled and during late 1971, Robert Gilruth proposed to NASA associate administrator, Dale Myers, a follow-on mission to Apollo 17. The flight would have carried a highly modified LM dubbed the lunar mapping module which would have been docked to the CSM. This is different than the mission I mentioned earlier; the fact sheet states that "ballast" would replace the LM for that flight. The Summer/Fall 1994 "Quest" magazine has a two page article about the LMM flight which probably would have been called Apollo 18 had it flown.

posted 06-28-2004 07:27 PM              

---

During the build-up to Apollo 11, the "Daily Mail" newspaper published three four-page "Moon Mail" supplements, on July 9th, 10th and 11th, 1969. In the third "Moon Mail" on July 11th, the back page consists of an article titled "Where Next?" which states: "Apollo 11 is not the end of the adventure, only the beginning. Nine other missions - in which men can stay up to three days on the surface - are planned at the rate of three a year up to the end of 1972...."

11 - Sea of Tranquillity
12 - Ocean of Storms
13 - Fra Mauro
14 - "Censorius" [sic] Crater
15 - Littrow Crater
16 - Tycho Crater
17 - Marius Hills
18 - Schroeter's Valley
19 - Hyginus Rille
20 - Copernicus Crater
? - Month-long "Moon Tour" in polar orbit.

A map of the full Moon shows all the numbered landing sites. The "Apollo ?" polar orbit mission is represented by a CSM (with no LM) positioned just above the lunar south pole, pointing northwards.

Ah, memories....I remember buying that third "Moon Mail" on holiday in Switzerland, where I watched the launch. (We made it home 35 minutes before "Eagle" touched down!)

Posts: 1051
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 06-29-2004 11:02 AM               

---

"Apollo 21" is AAP-1A mission (Apollo Applications-1A).It was a month long mission to map the lunar surface.A lunar survey and exploration mission ,in lunar polar orbit,using a modified LM with remote sensors and photographic equipment.The crew? likely Conrad-Weitz-Kerwin.Cancellation in late 1969.

[This message has been edited by carmelo (edited June 29, 2004).]

Posts: 730
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 07-03-2004 06:28 PM               

---

[QUOTE]Originally posted by carmelo:
[B]"Apollo 21" is AAP-1A mission (Apollo Applications-1A).It was a month long mission to map the lunar surface.A lunar survey and exploration mission ,in lunar polar orbit,using a modified LM with remote sensors and photographic equipment.The crew? likely Conrad-Weitz-Kerwin.Cancellation in late 1969.

This information does not seem to agree with what is written in "Skylab - America's First Space Station" by David J. Shayler. The AAP-1A flight was to have tested the modified LM in EARTH orbit. However, the actual lunar mission certainly could have had an AAP designation had it flown. As for the crew, I tend to doubt Conrad would have flown this one; he had already walked on the moon, so a lunar orbit mission probably would not have been that desirable to him. Obviously, we will never know.

Just found this on www.astronautix.com
"1968 Jun 4 - New AAP schedule decreased to 11 Saturn IB flights and one Saturn V flight.
NASA released a new AAP launch readiness and delivery schedule. The schedule decreased the number of Saturn flights to 11 Saturn IB flights and one Saturn V flight. It called for three Workshops. One of the Workshops would be launched by a Saturn IB, and another would serve as a backup. The third Workshop would be launched by a Saturn V. The schedule also included one ATM. Launch of the first Workshop would be in November 1970. Lunar missions were no longer planned in the AAP."

[This message has been edited by dtemple (edited July 03, 2004).]

Posts: 1051
From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia
Registered: Jun 2004