Getting to the moon & back. A rare, early technical manual for the Apollo Lunar Module, the craft that ferried astronauts between the moon's orbit and the lunar surface. With the ownership signature 'Izzy', perhaps Isidore "Izzy" Adler (1916-1990), a NASA senior scientist during the Apollo program and one of the first scientists to analyse rocks retrieved from the lunar surface.

Designated LMA790-1, this volume is dated October 15th, 1965 and supersedes a previous version dated March 15th of that year. Technical manuals of this type are notoriously complex to collate, since sections were often replaced as the contents were updated. In this case, though, the text precisely matches the original contents list for October 15th. It covers every aspect of the lander's operation in detail, with numerous folding diagrams and illustrations, from its structure and position in the Saturn V rocket, to the vehicle's mission and trajectory in space, ground support operations, life support functions, engines and fuel, operational subsystems, and launch procedures.

At the beginning of the Apollo program NASA engineers planned for a vehicle that would travel in one stage from Earth, or Earth's orbit, to the Moon and back. But in 1961 the team led by Dr. John Houbolt of the Dynamic Loads Division developed a plan for a multi-stage craft with a lander that would separate from the 'mother ship', visit the lunar surface, and then rejoin the other ship in orbit. Docking two spacecraft had never been attempted, but the technical challenges were outweighed by the fact that a separate vehicle would weigh significantly less and be easier to manoeuvre. The strategy was announced in July, 1962 and the contract for the lander was awarded to Grumman in November that year. Initially named the Lunar Excursion Module, as in this publication, the name was later changed to Lunar Module.

This manual was published just over two years before the module's first test flight on January 22, 1968. That mission, 'successfully verified operation of the spacecraft's performance, including the descent and ascent propulsion systems. Piloted test flights preceded the first Moon landing attempt. On Apollo 9 in March 1969, the LM was flown in Earth orbit. During Apollo 10 in May 1969, a LM descended to 50,000 feet above the lunar surface. The venerable lunar module showed its versatility serving as a "lifeboat" when the Apollo 13 command/service module was disabled by an oxygen tank explosion en route to the Moon in April 1970. But the LM will be remembered for its role between July 1969 and December 1972 as six of the spacecraft successfully landed 12 American astronauts on the Moon' (Granath, 'Apollo's Lunar Module Bridge Technological Leap to the Moon', NASA, January 28, 2019).

Early edition; perfect bound; 23 folding diagrams, illustrations throughout the text, short tear to the fold of diagram 3-26, a couple of small notes in pencil to the text; original white comb binding with stiff pictorial covers, name 'Izzy' in green and orange ink repeated four times on the upper wrapper and once on the title, wrappers rubbed and creased, a very good copy; 132pp.