Editing Apollo program (section)

===Apollo Lunar Module===
{{main|Apollo Lunar Module}}
[[File:Apollo 11 Lunar Lander - 5927 NASA.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Apollo 11]] [[Lunar Module Eagle|Lunar Module ''Eagle'']] (and [[Buzz Aldrin]]) on the Moon, photographed by [[Neil Armstrong]]]]

The [[Apollo Lunar Module]] (LM) was designed to descend from lunar orbit to land two astronauts on the Moon and take them back to orbit to rendezvous with the command module. Not designed to fly through the Earth's atmosphere or return to Earth, its fuselage was designed totally without aerodynamic considerations and was of an extremely lightweight construction. It consisted of separate descent and ascent stages, each with its own engine. The descent stage contained storage for the descent propellant, surface stay consumables, and surface exploration equipment. The ascent stage contained the crew cabin, ascent propellant, and a reaction control system. The initial LM model weighed approximately {{convert|33300|lb|kg}}, and allowed surface stays up to around 34 hours. An [[Apollo Lunar Module#Extended J-class missions|extended lunar module]] (ELM) weighed over {{convert|36200|lb|kg}}, and allowed surface stays of more than three days.<ref name="ABTN_LV2">{{Cite web|title=Apollo by the Numbers|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sp-4029.pdf|access-date=2023-02-12|website=nasa.gov |page=276}}</ref> The contract for design and construction of the lunar module was awarded to [[Grumman|Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation]], and the project was overseen by [[Thomas J. Kelly (aerospace engineer)|Thomas J. Kelly]].<ref>{{cite news |title=T. J. Kelly, 72, Dies; Father of Lunar Module |first=Warren E. |last=Leary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/27/nyregion/t-j-kelly-72-dies-father-of-lunar-module.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 27, 2002 |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref>