How Neil Armstrong Trained to Land on the Moon - Smarter Every Day 250

Summary by Krater

An exploration of why NASA developed the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV) for Apollo astronauts, featuring interviews with Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong and LLTV designer Wayne Oettinger.

From the video

Answers: Why did NASA need the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle for Apollo?

• Lunar Landing Training Vehicle
• Apollo program simulation
• Helicopter flight dynamics vs spacecraft
• Lunar gravity simulation
• Dead man's curve in aviation
• X-14 research aircraft

What it concludes

• Descend on the moon requires solving the zero-velocity touchdown problem in 1/6th gravity.
• Helicopters cannot simulate lunar descent accurately because their horizontal acceleration is proportional to rotor tilt, whereas lunar landing requires six times the tilt angle for the same acceleration.
• Hovering close to the ground in a helicopter puts the aircraft in the dead man's curve where autorotation to the ground is difficult upon power loss.
• The Lunar Landing Training Vehicle reduced apparent weight to its lunar equivalent by using a vertically oriented jet engine on gimbals.
• Despite being dangerous with three vehicles lost in crashes, NASA management and pilots considered the LLTV vital for lunar landing preparation.