Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004

Posts: 1044
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004

Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007

posted 04-11-2012 05:37 PM               

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Oooooo, nice find. It certainly has shades of the Pilgrim project from the movie "Countdown". Except that landing craft was a Gemini kitbashed with a lander descent stage and the lunar shelters were something totally different on similar descent stages.

I might need to do a model of that.

Posts: 1044
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 04-12-2012 02:06 PM               

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With that vehicle, Michael Collins would not have needed to find himself "truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life." The final score would then have been three billion plus three on this side of the moon, and nothing but God knows what over on the other side.

We may have even had several more photos of Neil Armstrong on the Moon.

Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007

posted 04-12-2012 11:57 PM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by Glint:
With that vehicle, Michael Collins would not have needed to find himself "truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life."

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But, this is NOT an alternative idea for a lander, this is a lunar shelter. It is one way only (it doesn't return home). Besides, the CM on it doesn't have a heatshield.

I believe the idea behind it was something for potential use with an extended lunar surface investigation mission, probably with the proposed MoLab for a spot several miles away from the LM.

The reasoning behind using a CM as the shelter is probably due to its heavier shielding, making it better suited to handle radiation exposure, especially from solar flares.