Lunar Module LM-2
Lunar Module LM-2
Two-stage vehicle; ascent stage with 3 windows (two forward, one overhead), two hatches, docking mechanism; descent stage module with 4 legs; modified to appear like Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle"
Lunar Module LM-2
Two-stage vehicle; ascent stage with 3 windows (two forward, one overhead), two hatches, docking mechanism; descent stage module with 4 legs; modified to appear like Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle"
Lunar Module LM-2
Two-stage vehicle; ascent stage with 3 windows (two forward, one overhead), two hatches, docking mechanism; descent stage module with 4 legs; modified to appear like Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle"
Lunar Module LM-2
Two-stage vehicle; ascent stage with 3 windows (two forward, one overhead), two hatches, docking mechanism; descent stage module with 4 legs; modified to appear like Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle"
Lunar Module LM-2
Two-stage vehicle; ascent stage with 3 windows (two forward, one overhead), two hatches, docking mechanism; descent stage module with 4 legs; modified to appear like Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle"
Lunar Module LM-2
Two-stage vehicle; ascent stage with 3 windows (two forward, one overhead), two hatches, docking mechanism; descent stage module with 4 legs; modified to appear like Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle"
Lunar Module LM-2
Two-stage vehicle; ascent stage with 3 windows (two forward, one overhead), two hatches, docking mechanism; descent stage module with 4 legs; modified to appear like Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle"
Building the Lunar Module
Most of the Apollo hardware was built in the South or the West of the United States, but the Lunar Modules were built by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, in Bethpage, Long Island, New York.
Grumman Technicians Working on the Lunar Module
Grumman technicians built the Lunar Module. Grumman was a chief supplier of aircraft for the U.S. Navy. As such, it was accustomed to designing craft that could withstand the hard landings on an aircraft carrier. That experience probably served Grumman well as they designed the Lunar Lander, intended to be sturdy enough to land on the Moon’s surface.
Lunar Module 2 (LM-2)
LM 2 was built for a second unmanned Earth-orbit test flight. Because the test flight of LM 1, named Apollo 5, was so successful, a second mission was deemed unnecessary.
LM-2 Detail
A detail of the Lunar Module 2.
Lunar Module Panorama
Lunar Module 2 Disassembly and Move
The Lunar Module 2 will be a part of the newly renovated exhibition scheduled to open in the summer of 2016. In the meantime, it will undergo conservation.
Lunar Module 2 MESA
Lunar module expert Paul Fjeld shares details of the MESA—Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly—on the Lunar Module (LM-2) at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Display Status:
This object is on display in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
The Apollo Lunar Module (LM) was a two-stage vehicle designed by Grumman to ferry two astronauts from lunar orbit to the lunar surface and back. The upper ascent stage consisted of a pressurized crew compartment, equipment areas, and an ascent rocket engine. The lower descent stage had the landing gear and contained the descent rocket engine and lunar surface experiments.
LM 2 was built for a second unmanned Earth-orbit test flight. Because the test flight of LM 1, performed as part of the Apollo 5 mission, was so successful, a second unmanned LM test mission was deemed unnecessary. LM-2 was used for ground testing prior to the first successful Moon-landing mission. In 1970 the ascent stage of LM-2 spent several months on display at the "Expo '70" in Osaka, Japan. When it returned to the United States, it was reunited with its descent stage, modified to appear like the Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle," and transferred to the Smithsonian for display.
