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Neil Armstrong with (Lunar Landing Research Vehicle #1)
Posted in: News | by Brian Taylor | 2024 Dec 05
Neil Armstrong / LLRV-1
Neil Armstrong with LLRV-1 (Lunar Landing Research Vehicle #1) at Ellington Air Force Base in 1967. Two LLRVs were made by Bell Aerosystems for use in preparing for the lunar landings in the Apollo program. The first LLRV flight was made on 27 Mar. 1967 from its base at a corner of Ellington AFB, the headquarters for Johnson Space Center’s aircraft operations.
Joe Algranti, chief of JSC's Aircraft Operations Division, and test pilot H.E. Ream also made flights that month. Both observed, as did Armstrong and the other astronauts, that if a serious control problem developed, the pilot had little choice but to eject, since the vehicle only operated to a maximum altitude of 500 feet (200 m).
On 6 May 1968, Armstrong was forced to use LLRV-1’s ejection seat from about 200 feet (60 m) altitude after a control problem, and had about four seconds on his full parachute before landing on the ground, unhurt. LLRV-1 crashed and was destroyed. The accident investigation board found that the fuel for the vehicle’s attitude control thrusters had run out and that high winds were a major factor. As a result, JSC management decided to terminate further LLRV flights, as the first LLTV (Lunar Landing Test Vehicle) was about to be shipped from Bell to Ellington to begin ground and flight testing.
