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Apollo Command Module primary guidance system components Apollo Lunar Module primary guidance system components Apollo Inertial Measurement Unit. The Apollo primary guidance, navigation, and control system (PGNCS, pronounced pings) was a self-contained inertial guidance system that allowed Apollo spacecraft to carry out their missions when communications with Earth were interrupted, either as ...
An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is an electronic device that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate, and sometimes the orientation of the body, using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes, and sometimes magnetometers. When the magnetometer is included, IMUs are referred to as IMMUs.
Apollo IMU. In February 1961 NASA awarded MIT a contract for preliminary design study of a guidance and navigation system for the Apollo program. MIT and the Delco Electronics Div. of General Motors Corp. were awarded the joint contract for design and production of the Apollo Guidance and Navigation systems for the Command Module and the Lunar ...
A well-known gimbal lock incident happened in the Apollo 11 Moon mission. On this spacecraft, a set of gimbals was used on an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The engineers were aware of the gimbal lock problem but had declined to use a fourth gimbal. [5] Some of the reasoning behind this decision is apparent from the following quote:
Astronaut Rick Mastracchio working with a SAFER system attached. SAFER. Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) is a small, self-contained, propulsive backpack system worn during spacewalks, to be used in case of emergency only.
Version 2 was the same diameter as version 1, but only 34 inches (0.86 m) high. Instead of pressurized containers, the components were hung on the inside of the cylindrical wall, achieving a reduction in weight. [7] The last version, number 3, was 260 inches (6.6 m) in diameter and 36 inches (0.91 m) tall.
Ullage is often a secondary function of the reaction control system such as on the Apollo Lunar Module (LM). In his book Lost Moon , Jim Lovell recounted a description of a course-correction burn of the LEM's main descent engine to re-enter a free return trajectory to Earth during the successful recovery of the Apollo 13 capsule:
The Apollo Command Module reentered with the center of mass offset from the center line; this caused the capsule to assume an angled attitude through the air, providing a sideways lift to be used for directional control. Rotational thrusters were used to steer the capsule under either automatic or manual control by changing the lift vector.