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Right: NASA artwork showing re-entry for Apollo 8. This design of space capsule was finally selected for the programme as the least demanding to develop. NASA folding control surfaces would be used during before America’s Moon mission had been the glide phase. approved by the Kennedy Administration, Bell Aerospace were very enthusiastic about much of the initial Apollo R&D was moving this concept and proposed a number of land- sideways into the military black projects ing options. These included a parachute domain. The USAF had been working on its descent into water and conventional runway own top secret plan to establish a base on the touchdowns with skids or an undercarriage. Moon by 1967 and studies for this project However, General Electric realised that further were codenamed SR-183 and later SR-192, development of this design would be accom- _ which had the title: ‘Military Bombardment panied by a string of complex engineering Retaliatory Capability From a Moon Base’. problems and it seems that Bell Aerospace _ This description pretty much summed up the finally concurred with their view. The STG then — entire scheme! The overall project was given decided to proceed with the much simpler the name Project Lunex (Lunar Expedition M-1 ballistic capsule and NASA were to even- Program) and Major General J R Holzapple tually award North American Aviation a con- took charge of the planning. tract to build the Apollo command module. Central to Project Lunex was a new Surprisingly, a very similar capsule design space transportation system, which included has been selected for NASA’s Crew Explo- a very sophisticated re-usable lifting body ration Vehicle (CEV), which will replace the vehicle that was launched into space by a Shuttle Orbiter. This module will form the central component of a new system, capable of ferry flights to the International Space Sta- tion (ISS), a return to the Moon and perhaps a trip to Mars or an asteroid rendezvous mis- sion. Somewhat larger than Apollo, the four- to six-man CEV was selected on the grounds of safety and cost over the alternative lifting body designs. Of the three original lifting body designs produced in the early 1960s, only the M2-F1 was actually constructed and tested. NASA was not the only agency to have an interest in this research work and, some time massive three-stage booster rocket. This delta- shaped spacecraft would be 52ft (15.85m) in length and was attached to a special tail unit that allowed it to land on the Moon. Once their mission had been completed, the crew would blast off from the lunar surface leaving the tail unit behind and return to Earth, making a conventional runway landing at a location such as Edwards AFB. The Lunex spaceplane was designed with features that were well ahead of its time, and in some cases remain beyond present-day realisation. Simply on the basis of this open-ended approach to development, there was never any likelihood that the USAF would obtain funding for their highly classified multi-billion dollar project. Project Lunex met with can- cellation during early 1961 and in keeping | Ni Ce eel) SoS —————a ies DBE inh TW aw Cross-section of the USAF’s proposal for the Project Lunex lifting body spacecraft, fitted with lunar landing unit. USAF 123 Above: Model built at NASA Langley during 1961 for the proposed Apollo spaceplane. NASA Flying Saucer Spacecraft