United States Space Agency scientists reported yesterday [January 25, New York] that they have successfully tested in the laboratory a simple new space vehicle concept that astronauts might use to escape from the moon if their lunar module (LM) failed. The vehicle system is called “LES” (lunar escape-to-orbit system) on which two astronauts would ride from the surface of the moon to rendezvous with the command service module orbiting the moon. In one design concept the astronauts would sit atop the LES with no cabin around them, in open space, much like rising from the earth in an unshielded helicopter. The LES would be little more than a flying platform, like the LM. It would have one rocket. The concept has been shown to be successful using a laboratory simulator linked to a computer according to a report presented to the ninth aerospace sciences meeting of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The 300-pound escape vehicle would use fuel from a crippled LM. The LES could be stored behind a panel on the descent stage of the LM, within reach of an astronaut on the lunar surface.
