NASA Apollo LLRV VTOL Bell Labs Test Program

Video from the channel Unnameable Media about Apollo program, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 3:50. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Short documentary about the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), the craft used to flight-test Moon landings for the Apollo program.

Following the challenge Kennedy issued in 1961, NASA's Flight Research Center at Edwards proposed a free-flight lunar landing simulator: a gimbal-mounted jet engine, with thrust always vertical, was adjusted so that the remaining weight matched that of the Moon, one-sixth of Earth's, while lift rockets handled the rest.

Joe Walker made the first flight in October 1964, and the following year about 150 development flights were added. Its advanced version, the LLTV, was highly valued by the lunar module crews. One pilot recalls that NASA management wanted to shut these machines down for safety reasons, and that the pilots argued they were indispensable. The video closes with the Apollo 11 Moon landing and a mention of Orion and Mars.