Lunar Lore

In the fast-changing vernacular of the space age LOR (Lunar Orbital Rendezvous) has suddenly become one of the big words in U.S. space doctrine. Last week the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that the first U.S. astronauts will attempt a LOR trip, i.e., land on the lunar surface by piloting a small "bug'' down from a mother ship parked on an orbit around the moon (TIME, June 22). After a spot of exploring, they will take off again in the bug and rejoin the mother ship for the return trip to earth. NASA now thinks that this bizarre-sounding system will prove the easiest, quickest and cheapest way to get the job done. But cautious NASA scientists will continue to study EOR (Earth Orbital Rendezvous), in which a moon-bound spaceship will first refuel from a tanker circling in orbit around the earth.

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