Ascent stage of Apollo Lunar Excursion Module crash sites?

With a backdrop of an Apollo documentary playing in the background, I'm wondering if the sites of the ascent stage of Apollo Lunar Excursion Module have ever been detected or imaged?



I'll look it up myself, or if anyone knows, it makes a great post subject. Nobody really thinks about the discarded LEM ascent section, and where it went.

I never realized that there are two separate engines on the LEM, the descent engine has a throttle and the ascent engine does not, I supposed it fired on a timed burst.

It makes sense that a big ascent engine firing right through the base and landing gear might cause problems.

Apollo 10's Snoopy is still MiA, and active being searched for....

www.space.com...

www.space.com/13010-snoopy-nasa-lost-apollo-10-lunar-module-search.html

This says Snoopy was aborted into solar orbit and still exists out there....

www.madsci.org...

www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2001-06/991783298.As.r.html

Apollo 12 - launched November 14, 1969 LM6 "Intrepid" also left the descent stage on the Moon, on the Sea of Storms. The ascent stage was jettisoned and crashed at the lunar coordinates 3.94 S, 21.21 W, probably at a very similar velocity to LM5.

8. Apollo 13 - launched April 11, 1970 LM7 "Aquarius" was the famous lifeboat that saved Lovell, Swigert and Haise after an explosion on the SM. The LM descent stage was used to insert the LM-CSM into a trans-Earth injection orbit, a task for which it was never designed. LM7 burned up in Earth's atmosphere after it was jettisoned just prior to CM re-entry procedures began.

For great info on the orbit used by the Apollo program, go to www.christa.org... and especially the diagram at www.christa.org... which shows the various orbits very clearly.

9. Apollo 14 - launched January 31, 1971. LM8 "Antares" also left the descent stage on the Moon, on the Fra Mauro highlands. The ascent stage was jettisoned and crashed at the lunar coordinates 3.42 S, 19.67 W, probably at a very similar velocity to LM5.

10. LM9 was originally scheduled to fly on Apollo 15, but the J-series redesign of the LM to include the rover and extended stay capability made it obsolete. It now sits at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Center.

11. Apollo 15 - launched July 26 1971. LM10 "Falcon" was the first of the J-series, heavier LMs. The descent stage was also left on the Moon, in the Hadley Rille area of the Apennines. The ascent stage was jettisoned and crashed at the lunar coordinates 26.36 N, 0.25 E, probably at a very similar velocity to LM5, despite a much higher orbital inclination.

12. Apollo 16 - launched April 16 1972. LM11 "Orion" - descent stage was also left on the Moon, in the Descartes highlands. The ascent stage began to tumble immediately after being jettisoned, so the lunar impact site is unknown.

13. Apollo 17 - launched December 7 1972. LM12 "Challenger" was the final LM to reach the Moon. . The descent stage was also left on the Moon, in the Taurus-Littrow area of the Sea of Serenity. The ascent stage was jettisoned and crashed at the lunar coordinates 19.96 N, 30.50 E, probably at a very similar velocity to LM5

Air & Space Museum is much less specific, and confirms the "Snoopy" story. Also, they thought to ask for a donation.

airandspace.si.edu...

Good subject. I'll look for images, unless anyone wants to beat me to it...

This article has pictures of what they believe are Apollo 12 & 14 LM (not LEM) impact sites:

Link

They look quite different from other craters due to their light construction and very shallow angle of impact.

Interesting that those were "high resolution" images back then. We should be able to see the crash sites much clearer now.

originally posted by: carewemust
Interesting that those were "high resolution" images back then. We should be able to see the crash sites much clearer now.

I think you misunderstand: The impacts were ~45 years ago, but the images in the link are recent - from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that is currently circling the Moon and transmitting the highest-resolution images of its surface ever taken from orbit.

Hope this helps.

a reply to: Saint Exupery


Understood. Thanks a lot Saint Exupery!