The Moon and Earth

"Ool" writes:

"jeff findley" wrote in message ...
Apollo 8 flew around the moon, but carried no LM.

Just out of curiosity, what *did* it carry in its trunk then? I can't
imagine they just wasted the space on ballast weight...

From:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/...g?sc=1968-118A


A Lunar Module was not used on the Apollo 8 mission but a Lunar
Module Test Article which was equivalent in mass (9027 kg) to a
Lunar Module was mounted in the spacecraft/launch vehicle adapter
as ballast for mass loading purposes.

It wasn't a "waste" since the equivalent mass allowed them to test the
Saturn V as if there were an LM underneath the CSM. This proved the
Saturn V could "do the job".

Jeff
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