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Old 12-06-2019, 10:59 AM
gary
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Mt. Kuring-Gai
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis View Post
Thanks for that Gary – I assume that none of the Apollo missions that landed successfully on the Moon’s surface overflew this mascon.

Otherwise, I assume it might have affected their pre-programmed descent profiles, as the LM Guidance and Navigation Computer would not have factored in the effects of such a larger mass?

Cheers

Dennis
Hi Dennis,

As they were on free-return trajectories, it would have meant their lunar
orbital insertions were approximately along the Earth-Moon plane.

As you will recollect, mascons came as a surprise to Apollo planners
during the Lunar Orbiter missions between 1966 and 1967. It increased
the error radius of the Apollo landing sites if they weren't accounted for.
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