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Apollo LM Shelter
Part of Apollo LM

LM Shelter

LM Shelter
Credit: © Mark Wade

American manned lunar habitat. Cancelled 1968. The LM Shelter was essentially an Apollo LM lunar module with ascent stage engine and fuel tanks removed and replaced with consumables and scientific equipment for 14 days extended lunar exploration.

AKA: LM Shelter. Status: Cancelled 1968. Payload: 2,300 kg (5,000 lb). Thrust: 44.04 kN (9,901 lbf). Gross mass: 14,700 kg (32,400 lb). Unfuelled mass: 6,700 kg (14,700 lb). Specific impulse: 311 s. Height: 6.37 m (20.89 ft).

Work was planned to begin in 1966, with 1-2 missions per year beginning in 1970 after accomplishment of the manned lunar landing goal. In the event, only the Lunar Rover vehicle, used in the later Apollo missions, ever saw actual use.

In a scenario requiring two Saturn V launches, the LM shelter would be landed on one launch, with a manned Apollo CSM accompanying it into lunar orbit but conducting lunar orbit surveying operations only. The CSM and its crew would then return to earth. A second Saturn V launch would deliver a CSM and LM Taxi combination to lunar orbit. The crew would take the LM taxi to the surface, landing near the shelter.

In order to house the astronauts during their 14-day stay a two-man STEP expandable shelter was an alternate to the LM Shelter. The STEP could be delivered by an LM descent stage together with a slightly higher discretionary payload than the LM shelter could carry. Either shelter would be delivered first by a logistics flight where the crew merely orbited in the CSM until the automated shelter-carrying LM had landed, and then returned to Earth, thus being able to use the Apollo CSM unchanged. The logistics flight was followed by the personnel transport. Because of the interval between first and second landing, the shelter-carrying LM had to be given a 90-day quiescent capability. The second flight would land the crew using the LM Taxi while the 30-day CSM waited in lunar orbit. After landing, the crew shut down the LM Taxi and activated the shelter system. Two weeks later, the LM Taxi was reactivated and the crew returned to the CSM and back to Earth.

By modifying the third stage of the Saturn V (S-IVB) for operation in lunar space, and by providing a 40-day quiescent capability for an unmanned CSM in lunar orbit, all three astronauts could be landed on the Moon for a 30-day stay time.

Crew Size: 2. Habitable Volume: 6.65 m3. Spacecraft delta v: 2,400 m/s (7,800 ft/sec).



Family: Lunar Habitats, Moon. Country: USA. Spacecraft: AES Lunar Base. Launch Vehicles: Saturn V. Propellants: N2O4/Aerozine-50. Agency: Grumman. Bibliography: 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 26.
Photo Gallery

LM ShelterLM Shelter
Credit: © Mark Wade


Lunar ExplorationLunar Exploration
Lunar Exploration Plans
Credit: © Mark Wade


Post-Apollo lunarPost-Apollo lunar
Comparison of American post-Apollo lunar spacecraft.
Credit: © Mark Wade


Post-Apollo lunarPost-Apollo lunar
Comparison of American post-Apollo lunar spacecraft.
Credit: © Mark Wade



1963 December 26 - . Launch Vehicle: Saturn V.
1965 August - .
1966 July 11 - .
1966 December 1 - .

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