The Lunar Landing Research Facility was an area at NASA's

Langley Research Center The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, United States of America, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. It directly borders Langley Air Force Base and the Back River on the Chesapeake Bay. LaRC has fo ...

Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...

that was used to simulate Apollo Moon landings with a mock

Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

powered by a small rocket motor suspended from a crane over a simulated lunar landscape. Completed in 1965 at a cost of $3.5 million, the facility was used by 24 astronauts, including

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

and

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

, to practice solving piloting problems they would encounter in the last of descent to the surface of the Moon.NASA Impact Dynamics Research Facility
/ref> The structure was used to facilitate "flying" a full-scale Lunar Excursion Module Simulator (LEMS). The LEMS was suspended from a -tall, -long A-frame gantry by an overhead bridge crane. The LEMS is now on display at the

Virginia Air and Space Center The Virginia Air and Space Science Center is a museum and educational facility in Hampton, Virginia that also serves as the visitors center for NASA's Langley Research Center and Langley Air Force Base. The museum also features an IMAX digit ...

Post-Apollo uses

Re-designated the Impact Dynamics Research Facility (IDRF) in 1974, the site was used for research on aircraft crashes until 2003. With limited funding for maintenance, NASA then closed the facility and it was listed for demolition. In 2004, NASA determined that the IDRF could be adapted to support the

Constellation program The Constellation program (abbreviated CxP) was a crewed spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were "completion of the International Space Station" and a " ...

. It was re-opened in 2005 to conduct landing tests associated with the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) ''Orion''. The facility was renamed the Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR) and minor modifications were made, including a new parallel winch system to support full-scale ''Orion'' testing and a new hydro-impact basin (splashdown pool) below the gantry. Construction of the basin was completed in 2011. After Constellation was cancelled, the LandIR continued performing impact testing since the CEV will be used to service the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

. The facility was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1985 for its role in the space program.

References

External links

Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel ItineraryNASA Impact Dynamics Research FacilityLLRF National Landmark document
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Missions to the Moon Apollo program National Historic Landmarks in Virginia Buildings and structures in Hampton, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Hampton, Virginia

Post-Apollo uses

See also

References

External links