Lunar Landing Training Vehicles

LLTV

Mission Profile

Lunar Landing Training Vehicles (LLTV) were free-flying simulation aircraft used by NASA to train Apollo astronauts in the unique dynamics of landing on the Moon, where there is no atmosphere and gravity is one-sixth of Earth's. The LLTV used a central jet engine to cancel five-sixths of Earth's gravity, leaving the pilot experiencing one-sixth gravity, then used hydrogen peroxide thrusters identical to the Apollo Lunar Module for attitude control and the remaining descent. Neil Armstrong, the first person to land on the Moon, survived two dangerous crashes during LLTV training before flying Apollo 11, and the vehicles were considered so hazardous that some astronauts and NASA officials urged their cancellation. Armstrong and others maintained that the LLTV's realistic simulation of the Moon's flight environment was indispensable to the success of Apollo's lunar landings.