Apollo Direct CM

American manned spacecraft module. Study 1961. Conventional spacecraft structures were employed, following the proven materials and concepts demonstrated in the Mercury and Gemini designs.

Primary structure consisted of a semimonocoque shell with reinforcements around cut-outs and fittings to distribute localized loads. Titanium was used as the basic shell material. Re-entry heat protection was conservatively designed for a controlled 17,000 km range, polar re-entry. The ablative material was M.A.C. Thermorad Shield S-3 elastomeric composite, which was being used for the Gemini blunt face heat shield. A 1.15 factor was applied to the predicted heating rates. Nominal material physical properties were used, determined from Project Gemini testing. Total ablative material design weight was 259 kg.

Crew Size: 2.