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VIRGIL THOMSON: Four Saints in Three Acts (RCA Victor LM 2756). The Thomson-Gertrude Stein masterpiece of sophistication and naivete, recorded under the composer's direction...
...moon, one in the appropriately named Central Bay and two in the easterly Sea of Tranquillity. All are relatively smooth and unobstructed, giving the astronauts a good chance of selecting a spot that is free of boulders, ridges or rifts that could endanger the landing of the lunar module (LM...
...sites have more in common: all lie close to the lunar equator-and for good reason. Plans for the lunar mission call for the Apollo command ship to circle the moon in an 80-mile-high equatorial orbit while the LM descends to the surface below. Setting down the LM anywhere but near the equator would require change-of-plane maneuvers-both for landing and returning-that would consume large additional amounts of the craft's precious fuel. Once a launch time has been set, scientists will pick a site where the sun will be at least...
Three Proofs. To simulate an emergency "fire-in-the-hole" situation in which astronauts descending toward the moon in the LM are suddenly forced to return to the orbiting mother ship, controllers again fired the descent engine. While it was burning, they also fired the 3,500-lb.-thrust ascent engine, which will be used to lift the astronauts off the surface of the moon. Blasting its flame directly into a depression atop LM's descent stage, the engine separated the ascent stage-consisting of the ascent engine and the two-man LM cockpit-and pulled it away from...
Thus, in a single test, NASA was able to prove that both LM engines work well, that the descent engine can be throttled in space-the first big operational engine to do so-and that the Apollo mission could be safely aborted, if necessary, during the final descent to the lunar surface. The near-perfect results may enable NASA to cancel plans for a second unmanned LM flight and to move directly into a manned orbital flight-to check out LM's life-support systems-late in 1968. Looking further ahead, LM's success has also raised hopes...