a_v_c_o_AKP (ca. 1965-67, unnumbered ctr/NASA photo)
“LEM LUNAR LIFT-OFF”
A wonderful ca. 1966/67 artist’s concept I’ve never seen, by an artist – R. Ward (I think) – I’ve never heard of.
It looks like a LEM M-3/M-5 transitional/“hybrid” to me, with the distinctive curved/rounded (with some faceted) exterior panels, but with a squared forward egress/ingress hatch. Note also the jagged lunar surface features, common in earlier artist’s concepts. So, it’s possible, as was the case with other LEM/LM artist’s concepts, that this is a subsequent variation in which only the forward hatch was updated. The RCS engines are firing as well, I think also indicative of an earlier ‘base’ rendering.
Finally...oddly…the ascent stage appears to be left-to-right reversed, confirmed by the S-Band Steerable Antenna being on the wrong side. However, the signature is readable, so the image itself is correctly oriented. Hmm. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe THE Mr. Ward? If so, another WIN:
www.hydepark.thomasfuneralhomes.com/obituary/Robert-Ward
Credit: Carroll-Thomas Funeral Home website
a_v_c_o_AKP (ca. 1965-67, unnumbered ctr/NASA photo)
“LEM LUNAR LIFT-OFF”
A wonderful ca. 1966/67 artist’s concept I’ve never seen, by an artist – R. Ward (I think) – I’ve never heard of.
It looks like a LEM M-3/M-5 transitional/“hybrid” to me, with the distinctive curved/rounded (with some faceted) exterior panels, but with a squared forward egress/ingress hatch. Note also the jagged lunar surface features, common in earlier artist’s concepts. So, it’s possible, as was the case with other LEM/LM artist’s concepts, that this is a subsequent variation in which only the forward hatch was updated. The RCS engines are firing as well, I think also indicative of an earlier ‘base’ rendering.
Finally...oddly…the ascent stage appears to be left-to-right reversed, confirmed by the S-Band Steerable Antenna being on the wrong side. However, the signature is readable, so the image itself is correctly oriented. Hmm. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe THE Mr. Ward? If so, another WIN:
www.hydepark.thomasfuneralhomes.com/obituary/Robert-Ward
Credit: Carroll-Thomas Funeral Home website