What was the Apollo lunar module made of?
What was the Apollo lunar module made of?
It was made of an aluminum honeycomb sandwhich bonded between sheet aluminum alloy. The base of the CM consisted of a heat shield made of brazed stainless steel honeycomb filled with a phenolic epoxy resin as an ablative material and varied in thickness from 1.8 to 6.9 cm.
What happened to the lunar module from Apollo 14?
Altogether, Apollo 14 spent 2.8 days in lunar orbit, circling the Moon 34 times. The crew returned safely to Earth on February 9, 1971, landing in the Pacific Ocean near Samoa after a flight of 9 days and 2 minutes.
What was the material on the outside of the lunar module made of?
Inconel sheets
The black material is where thin Inconel sheets formed the outer layer of the insulation blanket, and they were painted matte black with Pyromark paint to improve their heat emission properties, so they would cool off quickly.
How thick were the walls of the lunar module?
0.012 inches
Keep in mind: the wall thickness was 0.012 inches (≅0.305mm); this is about 3.8x the thickness of a typical soda can (≤0.1mm), and those are not easily holed (it tends to deform rather than puncture).
Was the lunar module Pressurized?
The ascent stage housed the astronauts in a pressurized crew compartment with a volume of 6.65 cubic meters which functioned as the base of operations for lunar operations. There was an ingress-egress hatch in one side and a docking hatch for connecting to the CSM on top.
Was Apollo 13 a successful failure?
Famously described as a “successful failure,” the Apollo 13 (opens in new tab) mission almost ended in complete and utter disaster. However, while the astronauts never made it to the moon’s surface, their very survival serves as a testament to the human spirit and incredible ingenuity.
Why was the lunar module covered in gold foil?
The yellowish-gold color of the polyimide on the outside gives the satellite the appearance of being wrapped in gold. Multi-layer insulation is used on satellites primarily for thermal control and protects the delicate on-board instruments from the extreme temperatures of space.
How thin was the skin of the lunar module?
Due to the weight saving programs the compartment skin was reduced to a thickness of 0.012 inches, the equivalent of approximately three layers of kitchen foil.
What fuel did the lunar module use?
The descent stage contained the landing rocket, two tanks of aerozine 50 fuel, two tanks of nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer, water, oxygen and helium tanks and storage space for the lunar equipment and experiments, and in the case of Apollo 15, 16, and 17, the lunar rover.