Manufacture

Manufacturing the Lunar Module

PLANT 5, GRUMMAN'S BETHPAGE FACILITY, C. 1968. This extension was built in 1964 just for the construction and testing of the LM. It contained the clean room (the dark building in the center), where three LMs could be built at once. The building in front of it contained the ACE (Automatic Checkout Equipment) Room, where the LM's testing was run. In the lower left is the Cold Flow Test Site, where the valves and tubing in the LM's propulsion and cooling systems were tested with nitrogen and glycol under pressure.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FRONT FACE OF THE ASCENT STAGE. The front face of an ascent stage nears completion. This was largely machined out of one piece of aluminum with riveted on stiffeners. This is an early model LM test article with the round hatch. The next step was to attach it to the midsection.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MIDSECTION OF THE ASCENT STAGE. The crew compartment had an overall volume of 235 cubic feet. Structural members were fusion welded wherever possible to minimize cabin air pressurization leaks. This is the beginning of LM-5 Eagle, the LM used on the first lunar landing.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MIDSECTION OF THE ASCENT STAGE. The front face assembly and cabin skin subassembly are mechanically joined with the midsection and are sealed to form the cabin pressure shell of the ascent stage.

THE MIDSECTION REAR OF THE ASCENT STAGE. These early stages of LM construction were done in Plant 3 in Bethpage. Next, the aft equipment bay will be attached to the rear of the ascent stage.

THE MIDSECTION REAR OF THE ASCENT STAGE. Cold rails, chem-miled beams, struts, and machined fittings comprise the major structural components in the aft equipment bay.

THE DESCENT STAGE. The descent stage is the unmanned portion of the LM. It consists primarily of machined parts and chem-milled panel stiffener assemblies that are mechanically fastened. Compartments formed by the structural arrangement house the descent engine, and propellant, helium, oxygen, and water tanks.
Fabrication of the descent stage begins with the joining of the machined "picture frames" and the chem-milled panel stiffener assemblies to form the engine compartment.

THE DESCENT STAGE. After the outrigger bulkhead assemblies are attached to the engine compartment with machined cap strips, the eight remaining panel/stiffener assemblies are added.

THE DESCENT STAGE. The cantilever-type landing gear is attached externally to the descent stage and folds inward to fit within the shroud of the Saturn V aerodynamic shell. The landing gear consists of four sets of legs connected to outriggers that extend from the ends of the descent stage structural beams.
Each landing gear consists of a primary strut and foot pad, two secondary struts, an uplock assembly, two deployment and downlock mechanisms, a truss assembly, and a lunar-surface sensing probe. A ladder is affixed to the forward leg assembly. The struts are machined aluminum with machined fittings mechanically attached at the ends.

THE BASIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE DESCENT STAGE. The cruciform aluminum structure of this descent stage will house the main propulsion system components. The descent engine will be in the center, with four fuel tanks around it. This is LM-2, which was slated to be flown unmanned in Earth orbit.

THE COMPLETED ASCENT STAGE. This completed ascent stage is now ready to leave Plant 3 for the Plant 5 clean room. The Grumman workers who built it pose for one last photograph; their pride in their workmanship is obvious.

FUEL TANK CONSTRUCTION FOR THE ASCENT STAGE. The fuel for the ascent engine was contained in two identical spherical titanium tanks. The hypergolic components were extremely explosive and detonated on contact, so no igniter was needed, which greatly simplified the system. The fuel was hydrazine, and the oxidizer was nitrogen tetroxide.

THE DESCENT STAGE. With the addition of the upper and lower machined decks and the machined interstage fittings, the completed descent stage structure is moved to the clean room facility.

THE PLANT 5 CLEAN ROOM, LOOKING EAST, C. 1969. This is one of the most historic buildings in America's aerospace history - it is where every moonship was built. The clean room was specially constructed for this purpose, and it was kept as clean as a surgical room. Up to three LMs could be worked on at one time in the fixtures on the right side, Their average stay in the fixture was 12 months.

The Descent Propulsion Section consists of two fuel and two oxidizer tanks centered about a deep-throttling ablative rocket engine which has restart capabilities. After the descent stage has been moved to the clean room facility, interconnecting gas and liquid balance lines for like tanks are installed.

THE ASCENT STAGE IN THE WORK FIXTURE. The LM stages are now in the clean room and the installation of subassemblies has begun. The electrical and propulsion systems are being installed, and the stages will soon be mated.

The Ascent Propulsion Section uses a fixed, constant-thrust rocket engine. The section includes the associated ambient helium pressurization and propellant supply components.
Two main propellant tanks are used; one for fuel, the other for oxidizer. The tanks are installed on either side of the ascent stage structure.

PREPARING TO MATE THE ASCENT STAGE. The stage's fuel tanks can now be seen clearly before the cage covering it with shielding is installed. The stage is being raised into position for mating.

MATING THE ASCENT AND DESCENT STAGES. The two stages will soon he bolted together. These bolts will he replaced with explosive bolts at Cape Kennedy. The fuel tanks are covered with protective padding during the construction process. Once mated, the vehicles' buildup will continue.

THE INSTALLATION OF THE LUNAR MODULE IN THE FULL WORK FIXTURE. The two stages have now been mated, and the complete vehicle is being installed in the work fixture, which will fully envelop it. The birdcage structure of aluminum tubing has been installed over the midsection of the ascent stage.

THE LM IN ITS WORK FIXTURE. The first spacecraft to land men on the moon, LM-5, is under construction. This is what an LM normally looked like in the clean room. It could hardly be seen.

THE LUNAR MODULE STAGES, SEPARATED FOR TESTING. At several points in the construction process, the stages were sent to the Cold Flow Test Site. There, the fuel lines and valves were tested with nitrogen and glycol was put in the cooling system. The ascent stage's birdcage structure can he seen clearly.

A TECHNICIAN INSIDE THE DESCENT STAGE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. This is probably taking place in the Cold Flow Test Site. The worker is holding a fusion welder to repair a leaking joint in the RCS fuel system that was discovered during testing. The cramped working conditions inside the LM are evident.

ASCENT STAGE IN THE ROTATE AND CLEAN FIXTURE. Although strict cleanliness procedures are followed while the LM is under construction and test, multiple clean and rotate checks are made on both ascent and descent stages. Loose material overlooked by the quality control teams will be dislodged and removed during this process.

When all components of the LM subsystems have been verified, the installation of thermal blankets and micrometeoroid shielding begins. The spacecraft is now ready for Final Engineering and Acceptance Testing.

Prior to shipment, the stages of the Lunar Module are separated and a landing gear deployment check is made. The landing gear is then removed prior to the LM being put into a protective container.

The Lunar Module ascent stage is then prepared for shipment. Technicians verify that all components are properly secured.

The stages are put into protective containers. When the entire stage has been encased, dry nitrogen is pumped into the container and maintained at positive pressure during the flight to NASA Kennedy Space Center.

Finally, the separately packaged Lunar Module stages are placed aboard the Super Guppy aircraft for the flight to NASA Kennedy Space Center.