At the same time this was going on, test facilities were being built at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center). They weren't sure how big those facilities needed to be because the designs weren't finalized. And they couldn't wait for that answer or they'd be behind schedule in building them. While the overall stack got smaller for launch, the LEM kept growing. Consequently, the Space Environment Simulation Lab ended up being both larger and smaller than needed.
In that suite, the giant vacuum chamber to test the Command and Service Modules (Chamber A) could have handled a larger spacecraft. The more moderate vacuum chamber (Chamber B) was almost too small to hold the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). In fact, its 25 ft radius meant the LEM landing legs could not be fully extended. Luckily, that wasn't important to the test program.
You've hit upon another aspect of the Apollo program that fascinates me. The rate at which all the facilities and test equipment were created (seemingly out of thin air) boggles my mind. I say "out of thin air" though I know much of what was built was adapted from existing technology and hardware. (One example of many being the Saturn V crawler-transporter that was adapted from a similar vehicle used for surface coal mining.) But, many of the facilities had to be designed from scratch: VAB, Launch Control Center, Launch Towers, Mobile Service Structure, Operations and Checkout at the Cape, and the entire Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. Not to mention all the spacecraft, onboard spacecraft systems equipment, navigation systems, software, computers(!), space suits, testing equipment, etc. at the various contractors across the country. It's just unbelievable the magnitude and speed that it was all accomplished.
I love that series .. and the "Spider" episode in particular.
Another series I highly recommend is "Moon Machines" which covers, in its five episodes, the Saturn V rocket, the Command Module, the navigation computer, the Lunar Module, the space suit, and the Lunar Rover.
At the same time this was going on, test facilities were being built at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center). They weren't sure how big those facilities needed to be because the designs weren't finalized. And they couldn't wait for that answer or they'd be behind schedule in building them. While the overall stack got smaller for launch, the LEM kept growing. Consequently, the Space Environment Simulation Lab ended up being both larger and smaller than needed.
In that suite, the giant vacuum chamber to test the Command and Service Modules (Chamber A) could have handled a larger spacecraft. The more moderate vacuum chamber (Chamber B) was almost too small to hold the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). In fact, its 25 ft radius meant the LEM landing legs could not be fully extended. Luckily, that wasn't important to the test program.
You've hit upon another aspect of the Apollo program that fascinates me. The rate at which all the facilities and test equipment were created (seemingly out of thin air) boggles my mind. I say "out of thin air" though I know much of what was built was adapted from existing technology and hardware. (One example of many being the Saturn V crawler-transporter that was adapted from a similar vehicle used for surface coal mining.) But, many of the facilities had to be designed from scratch: VAB, Launch Control Center, Launch Towers, Mobile Service Structure, Operations and Checkout at the Cape, and the entire Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. Not to mention all the spacecraft, onboard spacecraft systems equipment, navigation systems, software, computers(!), space suits, testing equipment, etc. at the various contractors across the country. It's just unbelievable the magnitude and speed that it was all accomplished.
Episode 5, "Spider", of HBO's 1998 'From the Earth to the Moon' is all about the engineering of the lunar module.
The Saturn V weighed about 6 ½ million pounds at liftoff, and these guys were trying to shave every ounce they could off of the lander.
For some reason, that made 'Spider' my favorite episode of the series.
I love that series .. and the "Spider" episode in particular.
Another series I highly recommend is "Moon Machines" which covers, in its five episodes, the Saturn V rocket, the Command Module, the navigation computer, the Lunar Module, the space suit, and the Lunar Rover.