It orbited Earth several times before heading to the Moon. The maneuver that connected the LEM to the top of the command module happened in Earth orbit.
Partially correct. They orbited the Earth for 2.5h before the last stage of the launch vehicle starts the 5 minute TLI burn at T+02:44. The docking happens after that. Source (pages 108 -109).
Ah thanks for the correction. Makes sense that it had to happen during TLI since the SM engine wouldn’t have enough fuel for TLI, entering moon orbit, and exiting moon orbit.
I guess in my memory I was thinking they wouldn’t do such a maneuver without an immediate abort plan, but I think the SM engine could do an immediate about face or at least (obviously) get back to Earth on the free-return path after one loop around the Moon.
I thought the reconfiguration happened after the TLI burn and that the S4-B stage did the TLI burn. So technically it’s not in LEO but it at a point in its orbit close to earth. At one point it was in orbit so I guess you could call it an orbital rocket…
It orbited Earth several times before heading to the Moon. The maneuver that connected the LEM to the top of the command module happened in Earth orbit.
Partially correct. They orbited the Earth for 2.5h before the last stage of the launch vehicle starts the 5 minute TLI burn at T+02:44. The docking happens after that. Source (pages 108 -109).
Oh mother country I do love you
Ah thanks for the correction. Makes sense that it had to happen during TLI since the SM engine wouldn’t have enough fuel for TLI, entering moon orbit, and exiting moon orbit.
I guess in my memory I was thinking they wouldn’t do such a maneuver without an immediate abort plan, but I think the SM engine could do an immediate about face or at least (obviously) get back to Earth on the free-return path after one loop around the Moon.
It happened again in lunar orbit
That’s true.
I thought the reconfiguration happened after the TLI burn and that the S4-B stage did the TLI burn. So technically it’s not in LEO but it at a point in its orbit close to earth. At one point it was in orbit so I guess you could call it an orbital rocket…