Lunar Circumnavigation

A short survey on the mechanics of the free flight part of circumlunar flight is presented. This survey is by no means complete and many refinements have been listed but not explained. Other important fields such as attitude control have been left out completely. It must be stressed that for exact computations of trajectories, special studies covering the astronomical constants and computational methods are mandatory. The launch vehicle, space capsule, environment and its control, onboard power supply, communications, and methods of space navigation and propulsion are but a few of the topics which need treatment if completeness is desired. Other areas requiring attention are the Earth communications links for both data transmission and vehicle control as well as the major item of payload recovery particularly when that payload is man!