Quote:
On 2002-05-28 14:26, JayUtah wrote:
Hoo boy, lunar orbit rendezvous.
The answer, most definitely, is that the APS was intended to put the lunar module into a reasonably stable orbit. The LOR plan did not call for the CSM, as a matter of routine, to swoop down and save the astronauts from the jaws of death. If, for any reason, the APS failed to put the ascent stage into a stable orbit, there were various down-swooping manuevers that could be attempted, but that would be a contingency, not a nominal flight plan.
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Aye! That was my question. I'm heartened to learn that there were plans for such contingencies, but, of course, much more heartened that they weren't necessary!
(You could write some hair-raising science fiction about that, since, with no atmospheric drag, such maneuvers could take place right down to the deck...)
Thanks for setting me clear!
Silas