I don’t see how an orbiter can know which way the body it is orbiting is rotating, so I am sceptical of that explanation. I wasn’t aware that the sort of gravitational slingshots exploited by spacecraft had anything to do with the rotation of the objects that they slingshot around.
Orbital direction, not rotational. Rotation is only relevant in GR, and that only slightly.
And it gave plenty of time for LM systems checks and fixes before committing to landing - that was vital on Apollo 14, which almost had its landing scrubbed due to a balky docking mechanism.
Another reason for doing it early is that it allowed for some separation from the S-IVB (the third stage booster). Remember that it had just as much velocity after TLI as the CM/SM/LM combination, and was headed for the moon too. Adding just a bit of delta-V with a bit of thrust got the manned package far enough away from the booster that it wouldn’t be a factor in lunar maneuvering.
In fact, the Apollo 13 and later S-IVB’s were intentionally crashed onto the lunar surface as part of controlled seismology experiments (the seismometers had been placed by earlier missions). Earlier ones are all in solar orbit, and one was even “discovered” as an asteroid.
I’ve wondered about those (and the LMs) since watching an episode of Gerry Anderson’s UFO when I was a kid, which featured an S-IVB that (IIRC) the aliens were using as cover when coming to Earth.
Where can I read more about the disposition of the S-IVBs (and LMs)?
Yes, from the diagram I posted, it’s clear that, rather than wasting time and fuel chasing a moon moving away from them, they go around to the other side and let the moon come to the spacecraft.
Wikipedia has charts with all that stuff. Here is the page for the S-IVB’s.
–Cliffy
Thanks.
Earlier I found a Wiki article on the LMs, and the ascent stage for Apollo X’s Snoopy is in solar orbit.
According to the Wiki articles and links there is 176 metric tons of man made equipment on the lunar surface!