MOON LANDERChief engineer Thomas J. Kelly gives a firsthand account of designing, building, testing, and flying the Apollo lunar module. It was, he writes, "an aerospace engineer's dream job of the century." Kelly's account begins with the imaginative process of sketching solutions to a host of technical challenges with an emphasis on safety, reliability, and maintainability. He catalogs numerous test failures, including propulsion-system leaks, ascent-engine instability, stress corrosion of the aluminum alloy parts, and battery problems, as well as their fixes under the ever-present constraints of budget and schedule. He also recaptures the exhilaration of hearing Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong report that "The Eagle has landed," and the pride of having inadvertently provided a vital "lifeboat" for the crew of the disabled Apollo 13. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
aircraft Apollo 11 Apollo 9 Apollo program Apollo spacecraft ascent engine Assembly and Test astronauts batteries Bethpage Bob Gilruth CapCom Center Chariots for Apollo checkout command module components configuration contractors crew compartment descent stage docking equipment Evans failure fire Flight Test floor fuel George Low Gilruth hatch helium Houston Joe Gavin Joe Shea landing gear launch leak liftoff LM cabin LM design LM Engineering LM program LM's lunar module lunar surface major Manufacturing Max Faget meeting Mission Control mockup Moon Mullaney Munier NASA NASA and Grumman NASA's North American North American Aviation operations oxygen performance pilot pressure problems project engineer propellant propulsion radar Rathke reaction control system reentry rendezvous rocket engine Rocketdyne S/CAT Sanial Saturn schedule Shepard simulator space spacesuits structural subcontractors subsystem SWIP switch tank technical tion Titterton weight Whitaker wire