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  Photo of the week 227 (March 7, 2009)

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Author Topic:   Photo of the week 227 (March 7, 2009)
heng44
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Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 03-07-2009 03:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

Forty years ago today, the lunar module made its first test flight in earth orbit during the Apollo 9 mission. Jim McDivitt and Rusty Schweickart aboard the LM Spider undocked from the CSM Gumdrop, flown by Dave Scott (who made this photo). McDivitt and Schweickart flew the LM up to 180 km from Gumdrop, using the engine on the descent stage. After jettisoning it they used the ascent stage to return to Scott aboard Gumdrop. This represented the first flight of a manned spacecraft that was not equipped to reenter the earth's atmosphere.

Ed Hengeveld

jasonelam
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From: Monticello, KY USA
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 03-07-2009 07:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jasonelam   Click Here to Email jasonelam     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ed what an amazing picture! The quality is so good! Thanks again for a wonderful picture!

dwmzmm
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Posts: 82
From: Katy, TX USA
Registered: Dec 2006

posted 03-07-2009 12:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dwmzmm   Click Here to Email dwmzmm     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by jasonelam:
Ed what an amazing picture! The quality is so good! Thanks again for a wonderful picture!

Agreed; the earth as a backdrop adds a surreal theme to the LM.

------------------
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.
Challenger 498 Section
NAR Advisor

StarDome
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posted 03-07-2009 01:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for StarDome   Click Here to Email StarDome     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
All on the day I was born too.

I have met all the crew which is nice and maybe thats why I have the Apollo bug.

It wasa great day 40 years ago

E2M Lem Man
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Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 03-07-2009 03:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for E2M Lem Man   Click Here to Email E2M Lem Man     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"Hey, it's upside down"
-- J. McDivitt

ejectr
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Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 03-07-2009 05:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ejectr   Click Here to Email ejectr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by StarDome:
All on the day I was born too.
Well Happy Birthday!

dwmzmm
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From: Katy, TX USA
Registered: Dec 2006

posted 03-07-2009 11:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dwmzmm   Click Here to Email dwmzmm     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by E2M Lem Man:
"Hey, it's upside down"
-- J. McDivitt

As Neil Armstrong would say to Michael Collins, "Somebody is upside down!"

------------------
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.
Challenger 498 Section
NAR Advisor

Aztecdoug
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Posts: 1405
From: Huntington Beach
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posted 03-08-2009 12:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aztecdoug   Click Here to Email Aztecdoug     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Lunar Module first flight March 7th, 1969. That would make a nice inscription...

------------------
Kind Regards

Douglas Henry

Enjoy yourself and have fun.... it is only a hobby!
http://home.earthlink.net/~aztecdoug/

cspg
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From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006

posted 03-08-2009 12:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cspg   Click Here to Email cspg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by heng44:
This represented the first flight of a manned spacecraft that was not equipped to reenter the earth's atmosphere.

Thanks for reminding me of this. That sentence should be highlighted in bold.

Chris.

garymilgrom
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Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 03-08-2009 01:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for garymilgrom   Click Here to Email garymilgrom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Is there less gold colored insulation (kapton foil?) on this earth-orbit version (the legs and pads look silver, not gold) or is the sunlight washing out the color?

Very nice to see the LM with the Earth behind it. Thanks Ed!

dwmzmm
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From: Katy, TX USA
Registered: Dec 2006

posted 03-08-2009 09:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dwmzmm   Click Here to Email dwmzmm     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think the LM that hanging from the ceiling inside Space Center Houston is nearly the same (if not THE same) as Spider in the photo of the first posting. Robert, correct
me if I'm wrong; maybe you have some pics of the Space Center Houston LM in your archives to share with us...

------------------
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.
Challenger 498 Section
NAR Advisor

ASCAN1984
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From: County Down, Nothern Ireland
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-08-2009 04:16 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ASCAN1984   Click Here to Email ASCAN1984     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The word flimsy is used a lot when describing LEMs but looking at this photo it is so true. Looks like it could fall apart at any moment, but it did not thanks to the fantastic work of the Grumman engineers. One of the best vehicles in history. Such a shame it had to be destroyed several days later.

alanh_7
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Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 03-08-2009 04:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What a great photo. I notice on photos of Spider and on the Apollo 10 LM Snoopy that the forward landing leg held a contact probe and the landing pads were not covered in foil. With regards to Eagle, when was the decision made to leave the landing probe off the forward landing leg and to cover the landing pads with foil? Was this decision made after the first two test flights or prior to that?

Best regards
Alan

Apollo-Soyuz
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posted 03-08-2009 06:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Apollo-Soyuz   Click Here to Email Apollo-Soyuz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think I read the reason to omit the probe on the forward landing pad was to prevent possible puncture of the suits when descending down the ladder. When this was decided, I do not know.

------------------
John Macco
Space Unit
Shady Side, Md.

alanh_7
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From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
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posted 03-08-2009 06:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes I read the same thing. But I was just curious as to when the decision was made not to include the probe. Whether it was after the first two flight test of the LM or in the period between Apollo 10 and 11.

ilbasso
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Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 03-08-2009 08:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ilbasso   Click Here to Email ilbasso     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
From what I recall, the decision came after Apollo 10. They also added the small blast deflectors under the RCS thrusters after noticing some heat damage on Apollo 10.

Thinking of that probe on the +Z leg - had they not removed it, Neil Armstrong's first word from the lunar surface might have been, "Ow!!"

I remember how nervous we all were when Spider was flying around by itself. We were really worried that something would happen - they were testing two engines, after all. Either one could have caused serious problems had it not worked properly.

Beside this being the first flight of a manned vehicle that could not return to Earth on its own, this was also the first time men had flown a spacecraft with an engine that could be throttled.

Bob M
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From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-09-2009 08:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Aztecdoug:
Lunar Module first flight March 7th, 1969. That would make a nice inscription...
Of course, Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of a Lunar Module, but let's not forget Apollo 5, the first orbital flight of a LM, unmanned. It occurred on January 22, 1968 from Launch Pad 37-B at Cape Canaveral.

Bob Mc.

Delta7
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From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 03-09-2009 11:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Delta7   Click Here to Email Delta7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ilbasso:
Beside this being the first flight of a manned vehicle that could not return to Earth on its own, this was also the first time men had flown a spacecraft with an engine that could be throttled.
"Observers declared it the bravest act since man first ate a raw oyster."

Aztecdoug
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From: Huntington Beach
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 03-09-2009 07:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aztecdoug   Click Here to Email Aztecdoug     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Bob M:
Of course, Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of a Lunar Module, but let's not forget Apollo 5, the first orbital flight of a LM, unmanned.
Bob you are obviously completely correct and I have been sort of waiting for that shoe to fall as they say. But, the Apollo 5 LM was not at Spacefest signing in Gold Gel pen and a certain CDR was...

------------------
Kind Regards

Douglas Henry

Enjoy yourself and have fun.... it is only a hobby!
http://home.earthlink.net/~aztecdoug/

Bob M
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Posts: 1746
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 03-10-2009 12:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Aztecdoug:
Bob you are obviously completely correct and I have been sort of waiting for that shoe to fall as they say.
Doug: It's easy to overlook Apollo 5, the 1st orbital flight of a Lunar Module (LM-1). But if someone had asked Jim McDivitt to add the inscription about Apollo 9 you mentioned, "Lunar Module First Flight March 7th, 1969," I'd bet, though, that McDivitt wouldn't forget to add "manned" in the inscription.

Bob

ilbasso
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From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 03-10-2009 12:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ilbasso   Click Here to Email ilbasso     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You could properly say that Apollo 9 was the first flight of a "complete" lunar module, since LM-1 didn't have any legs!

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