Apollo MSS
Spacecraft · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American manned lunar orbiter. Study 1965. The Apollo Mapping and Survey System was a kit of photographic equipment that was at one time part of the basic Apollo Block II configuration.
The actual hardware, which would be installed in the equipment bay of certain Service Modules, would weigh up to 680 kg. The system was abandoned when it became clear that Lunar Orbiter would provide all the necessary photographs needed for Apollo landing site selection.
Related
- Family
- Lunar Orbiters, Moon
- Country
- USA
- Launch Vehicles
- Saturn V
- Bibliography
- 16
Chronology
2 events
1964 October 22
- No lunar mapping or survey capability necessary for Apollo - .
Nation: USA.
Related Persons: Shea.
Program: Apollo.
Spacecraft Bus: Apollo CSM.
Spacecraft: Apollo MSS.
In response to inquiries from General Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Program Deputy Director, ASPO Manager Joseph F. Shea declared that, for Apollo, no lunar mapping or survey capability was necessary. Shea reported that the Ranger, Surveyor, and Lunar Orbiter programs should give ample information about the moon's surface. For scientific purposes, he said, a simpler photographic system could be included without requiring any significant design changes in the spacecraft.
1965 March 11
- Kit-type mapping and survey system in the basic Apollo Block II - .
Nation: USA.
Program: Apollo.
Spacecraft Bus: Apollo CSM.
Spacecraft: Apollo MSS.
MSC directed North American to incorporate the capability for storing a kit-type mapping and survey system into the basic Block II configuration. The actual hardware, which would be installed in the equipment bay of certain SMs (designated by MSC), would weigh up to 680 kg (1,500 lbs).