Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
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
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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.