Historical photos of the lunar lander

Today is the anniversary of the Apollo 9's completed 1969 mission to test the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) technology that would later bring Aldrin and Armstrong to the surface of the moon. LIFE magazine posted a series of images celebrating the LEM. The photo above left depicts a "moon landing enactment, 1967." (Conspiracy theorists, start your engines!) Above right, a wood LEM model from the late 1960s. And above, a LEM concept sketch from 1961 by aerospace engineer Dr. John C. Houbolt, champion of the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous approach to a moon landing where part of the lunar lander launches off from the moon at the end of the mission and connects with the orbiting spacecraft. "In Praise of the Lunar Module: From Models to the Moon"

• [royaltrux]

  Awesome. The wood model would likely be from the early – mid 60s, however.

  • [Preston Sturges]

    I believe the legs are paper clips. 

• [Fang Xianfu]

  Where can I buy a copy of that wooden model of the lander!?

  Though I suppose it’d be more in the spirit to make my own :)

  • [666beast1]

     One of the greatest models of all time!

• [sean]

  I remember getting a simple 4 or 5 piece model of the LEM in a box of cereal, or maybe it came in some detergent. Blew it up with a firecracker. That whole moon landing thing was a pretty big deal back then. 

• [Michael Smith]

  One thing which fascinates me is that the architecture of the Apollo program changed significantly during development. The service module is over powered because its engine was originally designed to take off from the lunar surface. That engine was kept in the design even though the service module remained in lunar orbit with the command module in the final system.

• [666beast1]

  The wood model is a shot from Life magazine, see the image here (make it fullscreen!) The same shot is featured reversed in architecture firm Future Systems great “For Inspiration Only” book. Anybody know of any additional shots anywhere? I’m thinking of making my own (and by that I mean having a wood turner lathe the parts and assemble them, but I will bend the legs myself!).

  Just found out the original model is at the at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY. Time to make a road trip.

  http://life.time.com/history/the-lunar-module-from-models-to-the-moon/?iid=lb-gal-viewagn#1

  http://heroicrelics.org/cradle/models-lm/dsc34728.jpg.html