President Richard M. Nixon is given a briefing on the Apollo Command Module similar to the one that will be flown on the upcoming joint U.S./U.S.S.R. Apollo-Soyuz test flight in the summer of 1975. Conducting the tour is the American Commander for the flight, astronaut Thomas P. Stafford. Standing at the President's right is Dr. James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator.
Date
04/01/1974
NASA Center
Headquarters
ASTP crewmen in Apollo Comma
…
Title
ASTP crewmen in Apollo Command Module Trainer during training session at JSC
Description
An interior view of the Apollo Command Module trainer in bldg 35 showing the three American ASTP prime crewmen lying in their couches during Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) training at JSC. They are, left to right, Astronauts Donald K. Slayton, docking module pilot, Vance D. Brand, command module pilot, and Thomas P. Stafford, commander.
Date Taken
1975-02-25
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Test of Apollo capsule making a hard surface landing. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, NASA SP-4308, pp. 361-366.
Date
04.17.1964
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
1/4 scale model of Apollo Heat Shield being prepared for testing. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 356.
Date
10.29.1965
Backup Crew of the first man
…
Title
Backup Crew of the first manned Apollo mission practice water egress
Description
Backup crew for the first manned Apollo space flight practice water egress procedures with full scale boilerplate model of their spacecraft. Training took place at Ellington AFB, near the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston. Crew members are Astronauts David R. Scott (top of spacecraft), Russell L. Schweickart (upper right), and James McDivitt (standing in hatch).
Date Taken
1966-09-01
Crew of the first manned Apo
…
Title
Crew of the first manned Apollo mission practice water egress procedures
Description
Prime crew for the first manned Apollo mission practice water egress procedures with full scale boilerplate model of their spacecraft. Astronaut Edward H. White II rides life raft in the foreground. Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee sits in hatch of the boilerplate model of the spacecraft. Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom, third member of the crew, waits inside the spacecraft.
Date Taken
1966-06-01
Crew of the first manned Apo
…
Title
Crew of the first manned Apollo mission practice water egress procedures
Description
Prime crew for the first manned Apollo mission practice water egress procedures with full scale boilerplate model of their spacecraft. In the water at right is Astronaut Edward H. White (foreground) and Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee. In raft near the spacecraft is Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom. NASA swimmers are in the water to assist in the practice session that took place at Ellington AFB, near the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston.
Date Taken
1966-06-01
Crew of the first manned Apo
…
Title
Crew of the first manned Apollo mission practice water egress procedures
Description
Prime crew for the first manned Apollo mission relax in a life raft during water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico with a full scale boilerplate model of their spacecraft. Left to right, are Astronauts Roger B. Chaffee, pilot, Virgil I. Grissom, command pilot, and Edward H. White II (facing camera), senior pilot. In background is the "Duchess", a yacht owned by La Porte businessman Paul Barkley and provided by him as a press boat for newsmen covering the training.
Date Taken
1966-10-27
Apollo Project - Lunar Orbit
…
Title
Apollo Project - Lunar Orbiter
Description
Lunar Orbiter press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A mockup of the solar-powered spacecraft (called the "Two-Eyed Robot") is shown on the right. It was built by Boeing for the NASA Langley Research Center. From Edgar M. Cortright, "Scouting the Moon" in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: "It was in its photo system that Orbiter was most unconventional. Other spacecraft took TV images and sent them back to Earth as electrical signals. Orbiter took photographs, developed them on board, and then scanned them with a special photoelectric system--a method that, for all its complications and limitations, could produce images of exceptional quality. One Orbiter camera could resolve details as small as 3 feet from an altitude of 30 nautical miles. A sample complication exacted by this performance: because slow film had to be used (because of risk of radiation fogging), slow shutter speeds were also needed. This meant that, to prevent blurring from spacecraft motion, a velocity-height sensor had to insure that the film was moved a tiny, precise, and compensatory amount during the instant of exposure." Published in Edgar M. Cortright, "Scouting the Moon, " in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, ed. Edgar M. Cortright, (Washington: NASA SP-350, 1975), p. 93.
Date
08.01.1966
Apollo Project - Rendezvous
Title
Apollo Project - Rendezvous
Description
Originally the Rendezvous was used by the astronauts preparing for Gemini missions. The Rendezvous Docking Simulator was then modified and used to develop docking techniques for the Apollo program. "The LEM pilot's compartment, with overhead window and the docking ring (idealized since the pilot cannot see it during the maneuvers), is shown docked with the full-scale Apollo Command Module." A.W. Vogeley described the simulator as follows: "The Rendezvous Docking Simulator and also the Lunar Landing Research Facility are both rather large moving-base simulators. It should be noted, however, that neither was built primarily because of its motion characteristics. The main reason they were built was to provide a realistic visual scene. A secondary reason was that they would provide correct angular motion cues (important in control of vehicle short-period motions) even though the linear acceleration cues would be incorrect.
Date
10.26.1964
Apollo Project - Rendezvous
Title
Apollo Project - Rendezvous
Description
Originally the Rendezvous was used by the astronauts preparing for Gemini missions. The Rendezvous Docking Simulator was then modified and used to develop docking techniques for the Apollo program. This picture shows a later configuration of the Apollo docking with the LEM target. A.W. Vogeley described the simulator as follows: "The Rendezvous Docking Simulator and also the Lunar Landing Research Facility are both rather large moving-base simulators. It should be noted, however, that neither was built primarily because of its motion characteristics. The main reason they were built was to provide a realistic visual scene. A secondary reason was that they would provide correct angular motion cues (important in control of vehicle short-period motions) even though the linear acceleration cues would be incorrect." Published in A.W. Vogeley, "Piloted Space-Flight Simulation at Langley Research Center," Paper presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1966 Winter Meeting, New York, NY, November 27 - December 1, 1966.
Date
04.29.1965
Apollo Project - LOLA
Title
Apollo Project - LOLA
Description
Test subject sitting at the controls: Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) From Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966. "A typical mission would start with the first cart positioned on model 1 for the translunar approach and orbit establishment. After starting the descent, the second cart is readied on model 2 and, at the proper time, when superposition occurs, the pilot's scene is switched from model 1 to model 2. then cart 1 is moved to and readied on model 3. The procedure continues until an altitude of 150 feet is obtained. The cabin of the LM vehicle has four windows which represent a 45 degree field of view. The projection screens in front of each window represent 65 degrees which allows limited head motion before the edges of the display can be seen. The lunar scene is presented to the pilot by rear projection on the screens with four Schmidt television projectors. The attitude orientation of the vehicle is represented by changing the lunar scene through the portholes determined by the scan pattern of four orthicons. The stars are front projected onto the upper three screens with a four-axis starfield generation (starball) mounted over the cabin and there is a separate starball for the low window. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 379.
Date
02.09.1970
Apollo - LOLA project
Title
Apollo - LOLA project
Description
Project LOLA. Test subject sitting at the controls: Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White wrote in his paper, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs" : "A typical mission would start with the first cart positioned on model 1 for the translunar approach and orbit establishment. After starting the descent, the second cart is readied on model 2 and, at the proper time, when superposition occurs, the pilot's scene is switched from model 1 to model 2. then cart 1 is moved to and readied on model 3. The procedure continues until an altitude of 150 feet is obtained. The cabin of the LM vehicle has four windows which represent a 45 degree field of view. The projection screens in front of each window represent 65 degrees which allows limited head motion before the edges of the display can be seen. The lunar scene is presented to the pilot by rear projection on the screens with four Schmidt television projectors. The attitude orientation of the vehicle is represented by changing the lunar scene through the portholes determined by the scan pattern of four orthicons. The stars are front projected onto the upper three screens with a four-axis starfield generation (starball) mounted over the cabin and there is a separate starball for the low window.
Date
12.05.1961
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Langley Center Director Floyd Thompson shows Ann Kilgore the "picture of the century." This was the first picture of the earth taken from space. From Spaceflight Revolution: "On 23 August 1966 just as Lunar Orbiter I was about to pass behind the moon, mission controllers executed the necessary maneuvers to point the camera away from the lunar surface and toward the earth. The result was the world's first view of the earth from space. It was called "the picture of the century' and "the greatest shot taken since the invention of photography." Not even the color photos of the earth taken during the Apollo missions superseded the impact of this first image of our planet as a little island of life floating in the black and infinite sea of space." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), pp. 345-346.
Date
12.14.1966
Apollo Project- star project
…
Title
Apollo Project- star projector
Description
The specially designed star projector used in the Projection Planetarium. From A.W. Vogeley, "Piloted Space-Flight Simulation at Langley Research Center," Paper presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1966 Winter Meeting, New York, NY, November 27 - December 1, 1966. "Another approach to the scene-generation problem is the point-light-source projection technique. This technique has been used in the Langley Projection Planetarium,... to study Apollo launch-abort problems. This method was very effective in providing the required horizon-to-horizon view of Florida as seen from about 100,000 feet.""This projector operates on a concept developed by Spitz. It consists of a point-light source reflecting off a centrally located highly reflective sphere which directs the light outward through the many holes representing the stars. The size of the holes is varied to vary star magnitude. The star images are brought into focus on the inside of the planetarium by lenses glued to the surface of the projector and the diameter of the projection sphere govern the focal length required for these lenses. Although this type of projector does not have the precision required for the study of navigation problems it is very adequate for pilot control problems such as rendezvous where the star field is primarily used as an attitude reference.
Date
03.30.1964
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Track, Model 2 and Model 1, the 20-foot sphere. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) From Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966. "The model system is designed so that a television camera is mounted on a camera boom on each transport cart and each cart system is shared by two models. The cart's travel along the tracks represents longitudinal motion along the plane of a nominal orbit, vertical travel of the camera boom represents latitude on out-of-plane travel, and horizontal travel of the camera boom represents altitude changes." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 379.
Date
06.17.1963
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Construction of Model 1 used in the LOLA simulator. This was a twenty-foot sphere which simulated for the astronauts what the surface of the moon would look like from 200 miles up. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White wrote: "Model 1 is a 20-foot-diameter sphere mounted on a rotating base and is scaled 1 in. = 9 miles. Models 2,3, and 4 are approximately 15x40 feet scaled sections of model 1. Model 4 is a scaled-up section of the Crater Alphonsus and the scale is 1 in. = 200 feet. All models are in full relief except the sphere." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 379, Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966.
Date
06.23.1964
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Artists used paintbrushes and airbrushes to recreate the lunar surface on each of the four models comprising the LOLA simulator. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White further described LOLA in his paper "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs,""Model 1 is a 20-foot-diameter sphere mounted on a rotating base and is scaled 1 in. = 9 miles. Models 2,3, and 4 are approximately 15x40 feet scaled sections of model 1. Model 4 is a scaled-up section of the Crater Alphonsus and the scale is 1 in. = 200 feet. All models are in full relief except the sphere." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 379, From Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966.
Date
11.12.1964
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Artists used paintbrushes and airbrushes to recreate the lunar surface on each of the four models comprising the LOLA simulator. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White further described LOLA in his paper "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs,""Model 1 is a 20-foot-diameter sphere mounted on a rotating base and is scaled 1 in. = 9 miles. Models 2,3, and 4 are approximately 15x40 feet scaled sections of model 1. Model 4 is a scaled-up section of the Crater Alphonsus and the scale is 1 in. = 200 feet. All models are in full relief except the sphere." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 379, Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966.
Date
11.12.1964
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Israel Taback (left) and Clifford H. Nelson, head of LOPO, ponder the intricacies of the spacecraft design. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, NASA SP-4308, p. 323.
Date
08.14.1964
Apollo
Title
Apollo
Description
An early lunar excursion model was designed on a Friday afternoon in early 1961 by John D. Bird and Ralph W. Stone, Jr., of Langley Research Center for project. Courtney G. Brooks, James M. Grimwood, and Loyd S. Swenson, Jr. wrote in Chariots For Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft: "From December 1960 to the summer of 1961, Langley continued its analyses of lunar-orbit rendezvous as it applied to a manned lunar landing. Bird and Stone among others, studied hardware concepts and procedures, ascent trajectories between the landing site and lunar orbit, and final rendezvous and docking maneuvers. Their findings were distributed in technical reports throughout NASA and in papers presented to professional organizations and space flight societies. In the spring of 1961, these Langley engineers compiled a paper proposing a three-phase plan for developing rendezvous capabilities that would ultimately lead to manned lunar landings: (1) MORAD (Manned Orbital Rendezvous and docking), using a Mercury capsule to prove the feasibility of manned rendezvous and to establish confidence in the techniques, (2) ARP (Apollo Rendezvous Phase), using Atlas, Agena, and Saturn vehicles to develop a variety of rendezvous capabilities in earth orbit, and (3) MALLIR (Manned Lunar Landing Involving Rendezvous), employing Saturn and Apollo components to place men on the moon." (p. 69)
Date
10.04.1961
Apollo - FIRE Project
Title
Apollo - FIRE Project
Description
Schematic drawing of Project FIRE Velocity Package. This was the design of a package used for flight tests with the Atlas rockets. Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials. It involved both wind tunnel and flight tests, although the majority were tests with Atlas rockets and recoverable reentry packages. These flight tests took place at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Wind tunnel tests were made in several Langley tunnels including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the 8-foot High-Temperature Tunnel and the 9x6-Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
Date
05.21.1963
Apollo - Project FIRE
Title
Apollo - Project FIRE
Description
Test of Project FIRE model in Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel. Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials. It involved both wind tunnel and flight tests, although the majority were tests with Atlas rockets and recoverable reentry packages. These flight tests took place at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Wind tunnel tests were made in several Langley tunnels including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the 8-foot High-Temperature Tunnel and the 9x6-Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
Date
05.01.1962
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Lunar Orbiter's "Typical Flight sequence of Events" turned out to be quite typical indeed, as all five spacecraft performed exactly as planned. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 340.
Date
07.29.1966
Apollo - Project Fire
Title
Apollo - Project Fire
Description
60-foot sphere used during flight tests for Project FIRE. (Shot #2): Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials. It involved both wind tunnel and flight tests, although the majority were tests with Atlas rockets and recoverable reentry packages. These flight tests took place at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Wind tunnel tests were made in several Langley tunnels including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the 8-foot High-Temperature Tunnel and the 9- x 6-Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
Date
11.12.1964
Apollo - Project FIRE
Title
Apollo - Project FIRE
Description
Researcher checks model of Project Fire Reentry package to be tested in Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel. Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials. It involved both wind tunnel and flight tests, although the majority were tests with Atlas rockets and recoverable reentry packages. These flight tests took place at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Wind tunnel tests were made in several Langley tunnels including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the 8-foot High-Temperature Tunnel and the 9x6-Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
Date
05.10.1962
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
From Spaceflight Revolution: "Top NASA officials listen to a LOPO briefing at Langley in December 1966. Sitting to the far right with his hand on his chin is Floyd Thompson. To the left sits Dr. George Mueller, NASA associate administrator for Manned Space Flight. On the wall is a diagram of the sites selected for the "concentrated mission.""The most fundamental issue in the pre-mission planning for Lunar Orbiter was how the moon was to be photographed. Would the photography be "concentrated" on a predetermined single target, or would it be "distributed" over several selected targets across the moon's surface? On the answer to this basic question depended the successful integration of the entire mission plan for Lunar Orbiter." The Lunar Orbiter Project made systematic photographic maps of the lunar landing sites. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 337.
Date
12.14.1966
Apollo Program
Title
Apollo Program
Description
Construction of Model 1 used in the LOLA simulator. This was a twenty-foot sphere which simulated for the astronauts what the surface of the moon would look like from 200 miles up. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White wrote in his paper "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs,""Model 1 is a 20-foot-diameter sphere mounted on a rotating base and is scaled 1 in. = 9 miles. Models 2,3, and 4 are approximately 15x40 feet scaled sections of model 1. Model 4 is a scaled-up section of the Crater Alphonsus and the scale is 1 in. = 200 feet. All models are in full relief except the sphere." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, (Washington: NASA, 1995), p. 379, Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966.
Date
01.23.1963
Apollo Program
Title
Apollo Program
Description
Construction of Model 2 used in the LOLA simulator: Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White wrote in his paper, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs,""Model 1 is a 20-foot-diameter sphere mounted on a rotating base and is scaled 1 in. = 9 miles. Models 2,3, and 4 are approximately 15x40 feet scaled sections of model 1. Model 4 is a scaled-up section of the Crater Alphonsus and the scale is 1 in. = 200 feet. All models are in full relief except the sphere." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, NASA SP-4308, p. 379, Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966.
Date
01.15.1963
Apollo Program
Title
Apollo Program
Description
Construction of the track which runs in front of Model 2. Technicians work on Model 1, the 20-foot sphere. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White wrote in his paper "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs,""The model system is designed so that a television camera is mounted on a camera boom on each transport cart and each cart system is shared by two models. The cart's travel along the tracks represents longitudinal motion along the plane of a nominal orbit, vertical travel of the camera boom represents latitude on out-of-plane travel, and horizontal travel of the camera boom represents altitude changes." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, NASA SP-4308, p. 379, Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966.
Date
02.07.1963
Apollo Project - Astronaut A
…
Title
Apollo Project - Astronaut Allen Bean
Description
Astronaut Allen Bean with Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF) crew.
Date
11.12.1965
Apollo Project - Astronaut R
…
Title
Apollo Project - Astronaut Roger Chaffee
Description
Astronaut Roger Chaffee at Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF).
Date
11.17.1965
Apollo Project - Donald Hewe
…
Title
Apollo Project - Donald Hewes at LLRF
Description
Donald Hewes at Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF).
Date
09.24.1969
Apollo Project - Edwin Aldri
…
Title
Apollo Project - Edwin Aldrin at LLRF
Description
Edwin Aldrin at Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF).
Date
06.28.1969
Apollo Project - LEM
Title
Apollo Project - LEM
Description
Lunar landing test of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) at the Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF).
Date
06.28.1969
Apollo Project - Liftoff of
…
Title
Apollo Project - Liftoff of Lunar Orbiter III
Description
Liftoff of Lunar Orbiter III from Complex 13.
Date
02.02.1967
Apollo Project - LLRF
Title
Apollo Project - LLRF
Description
Lunar landing at night at Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF).
Date
06.19.1969
Apollo Project - Prototype L
…
Title
Apollo Project - Prototype Lunar Excursion Module
Description
Prototype Lunar Excursion Module used for tests of the structural dynamics of lunar landing. Preliminary test-set up.
Date
06.26.1964
Apollo Project - Lunar Excur
…
Title
Apollo Project - Lunar Excursion Module
Description
Concept model of the Lunar Excursion Module tested in the Full-Scale wind tunnel.
Date
01.16.1969
Apollo Project - LLRF
Title
Apollo Project - LLRF
Description
Lunar Landing Research Facility.
Date
08.28.1969
Apollo Project - The Lunar O
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Title
Apollo Project - The Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft
Description
The Lunar Orbiter spacecraft ,
Date
09.07.1967
Apollo Program
Title
Apollo Program
Description
Test of various materials to be used to protect the Apollo command module capsule from the effects of reentry heating. This test was made in the 9 - x 6-foot Thermal Structures Tunnel. Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials. It involved both wind tunnel and flight tests, although the majority were tests with Atlas rockets and recoverable reentry packages. These flight tests took place at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Wind tunnel tests were made in several Langley tunnels including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the 8-foot High-Temperature Tunnel and the 9- x 6-Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
Date
11.29.1962
Apollo - Project FIRE
Title
Apollo - Project FIRE
Description
Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials. It involved both wind tunnel and flight tests, although the majority were tests with Atlas rockets and recoverable reentry packages. These flight tests took place at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Wind tunnel tests were made in several Langley tunnels including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the 8-foot High-Temperature Tunnel and the 9x6-Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
Date
01.26.1962
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Artists used paintbrushes and airbrushes to recreate the lunar surface on each of the four models comprising the LOLA simulator. Project LOLA or Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach was a simulator built at Langley to study problems related to landing on the lunar surface. It was a complex project that cost nearly $2 million dollars. James Hansen wrote: "This simulator was designed to provide a pilot with a detailed visual encounter with the lunar surface, the machine consisted primarily of a cockpit, a closed-circuit TV system, and four large murals or scale models representing portions of the lunar surface as seen from various altitudes. The pilot in the cockpit moved along a track past these murals which would accustom him to the visual cues for controlling a spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon. Unfortunately, such a simulation--although great fun and quite aesthetic--was not helpful because flight in lunar orbit posed no special problems other than the rendezvous with the LEM, which the device did not simulate. Not long after the end of Apollo, the expensive machine was dismantled." (p. 379) Ellis J. White further described LOLA in his paper "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs,""Model 1 is a 20-foot-diameter sphere mounted on a rotating base and is scaled 1 in. = 9 miles. Models 2,3, and 4 are approximately 15x40 feet scaled sections of model 1. Model 4 is a scaled-up section of the Crater Alphonsus and the scale is 1 in. = 200 feet. All models are in full relief except the sphere." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution, NASA SP-4308, p. 379, Ellis J. White, "Discussion of Three Typical Langley Research Center Simulation Programs," Paper presented at the Eastern Simulation Council (EAI's Princeton Computation Center), Princeton, NJ, October 20, 1966.
Date
10.28.1964
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Representatives of NASA Langley and Boeing signed the Lunar Orbiter contract on 16 April 1964 and sent it to NASA headquarters for final review. Three weeks later, on 7 May, Administrator James E. Webb approved the $80-million incentives contract to build five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft. Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, NASA SP-4308, p. 331.
Date
04.22.1964
Apollo Project - Astronaut R
…
Title
Apollo Project - Astronaut Roger Chaffee
Description
Astronaut Roger Chaffee on the Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator located at the Lunar Landing Facility. The purpose of this simulator was to study the subject while walking, jumping or running. Researchers conducted studies of various factors such as fatigue limit, energy expenditure, and speed of locomotion. A.W. Vigil, described the simulator as follows: "When the astronauts land on the moon they will be in an unfamiliar environment involving, particularly, a gravitational field only one-sixth as strong as on earth. A novel method of simulating lunar gravity has been developed and is supported by a puppet-type suspension system at the end of a long pendulum. A floor is provided at the proper angle so that one-sixth of the subject's weight is supported by the floor with the remainder being supported by the suspension system. This simulator allows almost complete freedom in vertical translation and pitch and is considered to be a very realistic simulation of the lunar walking problem. For this problem this simulator suffers only slightly from the restrictions in lateral movement it puts on the test subject. This is not considered a strong disadvantage for ordinary walking problems since most of the motions do, in fact, occur in the vertical plane. However, this simulation technique would be severely restrictive if applied to the study of the extra-vehicular locomotion problem, for example, because in this situation complete six degrees of freedom are rather necessary. This technique, in effect, automatically introduces a two-axis attitude stabilization system into the problem. The technique could, however, be used in preliminary studies of extra-vehicular locomotion where, for example, it might be assumed that one axis of the attitude control system on the astronaut maneuvering unit may have failed." Published in James R. Hansen, Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, NASA SP-4308, p. 377, A.W. Vigil, "Discussion of Existing and Planned Simulators for Space Research," Paper presented at Conference on the Role of Simulation in Space Technology," Blacksburg, VA, August 17-21, 1964.
Date
11.17.2002
Apollo Project - Rendezvous
Title
Apollo Project - Rendezvous
Description
Originally the Rendezvous was used by the astronauts preparing for Gemini missions. The Rendezvous Docking Simulator was then modified and used to develop docking techniques for the Apollo program. By 1966, it was noted by A.W. Vogeley (in the paper cited below) that: "since emphasis on space docking is decreasing, the facility is being modified to serve as a closed-circuit TV carriage. It will view an HO-scale model of a Kennedy Airport runway in the study of Category II (break-out at 100 feet) landing problems. This simulation technique is considered adequate in this case because of the large model-scale and because visibility under Category II conditions is often rather poor. Peripheral vision will also be supplied in these studies (which is not generally the case) - an important requirement, particularly where rapid decisions (upon break-out) must be made." This last simulation application is shown as it was displayed for a public open house at Langley Research Center. From A.W. Vogeley, "Piloted Space-Flight Simulation at Langley Research Center," Paper presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1966 Winter Meeting, New York, NY, November 27 - December 1, 1966. "The Rendezvous Docking Simulator and also the Lunar Landing Research Facility are both rather large moving-base simulators. It should be noted, however, that neither was built primarily because of its motion characteristics. The main reason they were built was to provide a realistic visual scene. A secondary reason was that they would provide correct angular motion cues (important in control of vehicle short-period motions) even though the linear acceleration cues would be incorrect.
Date
09.14.1967
Apollo Project
Title
Apollo Project
Description
Langley personnel at Cape Canaveral during preliminary checkout of Project FIRE velocity package before launch. Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials. It involved both wind tunnel and flight tests, although the majority were tests with Atlas rockets and recoverable reentry packages. These flight tests took place at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Wind tunnel tests were made in several Langley tunnels including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the 8-foot High-Temperature Tunnel and the 9- x 6-Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel.
