Lunar Module facts
While investigating facts about Lunar Module Interior and Lunar Module Model, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Preventing an abort of the Apollo 11 mission has been attributed to the work of Margaret Hamilton, the lead flight software designer for Project Apollo. She was 31 when the lunar module landed on the moon, running her code, and is credited for coining the term “software engineering.”
how lunar module take-off?
Moments after Niel Armstrong took his first steps on the moon, he dropped a bag of trash on the surface of the moon and kicked it underneath the lunar module.
What happened to the apollo 11 lunar module?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what happened to the lunar modules. Here are 47 of the best facts about Lunar Module Apollo 11 and Lunar Module Blueprints I managed to collect.
what's lunar module?
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The most isolated human being ever was Al Worden, command module pilot of Apollo 15, who in lunar orbit was at a maximum distance of 2,235 miles from his fellow astronauts on the surface. While on the other side of the Moon, no communication with Earth or his comrades was possible.
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NASA management was so worried Apollo 10 astronauts would land on the moon against orders, they shorted them on fuel so they could only descend the lunar module to the panned 16km lunar altitude.
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The fabric and wood pieces from the Wright Brothers airplane were flown on the Apollo 11 mission and were in the lunar module Eagle that landed on the Moon with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.
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Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a piece of fabric from the left wing of the Wright Brothers' 1903 Flyer to the moon aboard the lunar module Eagle on July 20, 1969.
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When Michael Collins remained in the lunar module, he was in Orbit on the "other" side of the moon. He was cut off from all radio contact, the most alone any human has ever been.
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After Lunar Module saved astronauts on Apollo 13 mission, it's company sent a bill for $312,421.24 for towing services (as a joke) to company who made malfunctioned service module, and they in response declined payment stating last 3 times they carried Lunar Module for free.
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The American flag planted on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11 was blown over by the exhaust of the Lunar Module when taking off
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The Apollo 10 lunar module was jettisoned and is currently in orbit around the sun. It's exact location is unknown but a group of amateur astronomers have been looking for it since 2011.
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The first men on the moon had to use a pen to ignite the lunar module engines and leave the lunar surface because the switch had broken off
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The Apollo 10 lunar module is 100% intact and orbiting the sun.
Why was the lunar module named eagle?
You can easily fact check why was landing the lunar module like poetry for armstrong by examining the linked well-known sources.
The Apollo Lunar Module engines used fuel so caustic that they had to be completely rebuilt after each firing, so they couldn't be tested prior to launch. They had to be perfect, and work the first time.
During first lunar landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were literally lost for the duration of being on the Moon. Neither NASA nor Michael Collins from Columbia module orbiting the Moon were able to locate the landed Apollo 11 for 22 hours it remained on the surface. - source
When Buzz Aldrin join Neil Armstrong on the surface of the Moon, he had to make sure not to lock the door behind him because the Eagle lunar module had no exterior handle. - source
The American flag planted on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission was a nylon flag purchased for $5.50 from a government catalog, was reportedly knocked over by exhaust as the lunar module took off, and is theorized to have been disintegrated by sunlight and space radiation.
The United States Postal Service trucks and the Apollo 16 Lunar Landing Module were manufactured by the same company. - source
Armstrong's words when lunar module detached?
The some of the highest heart rates recorded during the Apollo missions didn't come from launch, but instead from exiting the Lunar Module thanks to some design flaws
How lunar module works?
There was a third astronaut with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 mission, Michael Collins, who stayed back on Apollo 11 (orbiting the moon) while Neil and Buzz took the lunar module and made history on the moon’s surface.
To capture that video of the lunar module leaving the moon at the end of the Apollo mission, they left a camera on the rover and an operator at mission control would command the camera to tilt up as the module ascended
The ascent stage of Apollo 10s Lunar Module, "Snoopy", was pushed into a heliocentric orbit and is still out there orbiting the sun to this day.
Apollo 13's command module manufacturer was billed $400k in towing fees by the lunar module manufacturer
Apollo 11 astronauts had difficulty squeezing through the Lunar Module's hatch with their life support backpacks on. A redesign of the craft to make the hatch smaller had not included a redesign of the backpack, so some of the highest astronaut heart rates occurred during egress and ingress.