The Apollo Lunar Module

Abstract

The Lunar Module (LM) was the vehicle that fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge to land men on the moon. It was a complex yet functionally elegant spacecraft that separated from the Command and Service Module while in orbit around the moon and under computer control augmented by human assistance, descended to a soft landing on the lunar surface. A photograph of Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle at Tranquility Base (Mare Tranquillitatis) is shown below. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin is removing an experiment package from the LM in the picture (Fig. 8.1).