REACTION CONTROL (RCS)

The Reaction Control Subsystem serves to stabilize the LM vehicle during descent and ascent, and to control the vehicle attitude about, and translation along, all axes during landing, rendezvous and docking maneuvers. The RCS consists basically of 16 thrust chambers supplied by two separate helium pressurized propellant supply seCtions. The 100-lb. thrusters can be fired in a pulsed or continuous mode, and are radiation-cooled. The thrusters and the dual propellant supply sections make up two parallel, independent systems. The propellants are identical to those used in the Descent and Ascent en$ines. The ascent system propellants can be used to supply the RCS thrusters in certain operational modes.