The Lunex Project was a US Air Force 1958 plan for a crewed lunar landing prior to the Apollo Program. The final lunar expedition plan in 1961 was for a 21-person underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 at a total cost of $7.5 billion. The primary distinction between the later Apollo missions and Lunex was the orbital rendezvous maneuver. The Lunex vehicle, composed of a landing module and a lifting body return/re-entry module, would land the entire vehicle and all astronauts on the surface, whereas the final Apollo mission involved a separate ascent module leaving the command module and service module connected in lunar orbit with a single astronaut. The original plan for Apollo was for direct ascent, similar to Lunex.
This post was published on January 31, 2020 2:42 pm
In September 2024, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with NASA seeking…
Background Welcome to the FBI Files on Historical Figures & Groups archive at The Black…
A new release of Department of Defense (DoD) emails obtained through the Freedom of Information…
Newly released Department of Defense records reveal the prolonged and often frustrating prepublication review process…
Newly released Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents obtained by The Black Vault under FOIA case…
Background The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National…