“Unlocking the Secrets of the Moon: The Ingenious Strategies That Made NASA’s Historic Landing Possible”
A pre-production Lunar Module was supposed to have been flown aboard Apollo 4, but when the vehicle arrived at Cape Canaveral, NASA engineers discovered hundreds of design and construction flaws. NASA was unwilling to delay its launch schedule, and so Apollo 4 flew without a Lunar Module. The first unmanned LM test flight instead took place on January 22, 1968 during the Apollo 5 mission, the spacecraft being boosted into orbit by a Saturn IB. The main objectives of the flight were to confirm that the LM’s descent engine could be reliably fired multliple times, to test the vehicle’s control and manoeuvring systems, and conduct a “fire in the hole” test where the ascent engine was fired while still attached to the descent stage – the procedure that would be used to lift off from the moon or during an aborted descent. Due to a fault in the second SIVB stage guidance computer, the spacecraft achieved a lower orbit than expected. However, flight director Gene Kranz – who would later famously direct the Apollo 11 and 13 missions – quickly improvised an alternate test procedure and succeeded in carrying out all the mission objectives. This success led to the cancellation of a second unmanned LM test, greatly advancing the Apollo Programme timetable. However, an incomplete “boilerplate” LM test article was flown aboard Apollo 6, the second and last unmanned test flight of the Saturn V rocket. This flight also carried a Block I CSM with a number of Block II modifications developed in the wake of the Apollo I fire – including a new, easier-to-open crew hatch. Interestingly, Apollo 6 carried a large number of cameras, the footage from which is often used in documentaries to represent the launch of Apollo 11 and other manned missions. However, the footage is easily distinguished by the fact that the CSM is painted white; on manned missions the spacecraft were left their natural silver colour.
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