LEM - II          LEM - III 

The Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) is the only true spacecraft that man has yet invented and used. This tiny little bug of a machine was able to provide all of the necessary elements for man to actually land, explore, live, and return from a foreign planet. It carried within its simple frame the same abilities of machines several hundred times its own weight. The LEM acted as lander, camper and launch vehicle. In an effort to understand the beauty of this remarkable artifact, I modeled it. The results are here for sharing. An animation is displayed on the next page that shows an idealized version of the historic journey.

The LEM consists of two major stages. They were deployed together and used in conjuncion to give us access and safe return during exploration of the lunar surface. The Descent Stage acted as both a landing and launch platforms. The Ascent Stage served as the actual structure in which the astronauts lived and provided the lift engines to return them to lunar orbit rendezvous with the Command Capsule.

all included works are created by Dan Vinson