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L4-1960
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Lunar orbiter proposed by Korolev in January 1960. The spacecraft was to take 2 to 3 men to lunar orbit and back to earth by 1965.
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Apollo D-2
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The General Electric design for Apollo put all systems and space not necessary for re-entry and recovery into a separate jettisonable 'mission module', joined to the re-entry vehicle by a hatch. Every gram saved in this way saved two or more grams in overall spacecraft mass. In comparison with the NASA final Apollo design, the General Electric D-2 provided the crew with 50% more living space, an airlock, and a service module for the mass of the Apollo capsule alone. But in the end, NASA administrator James Webb examined the model of the D-2, thanked the contractor for its efforts, and announced that Apollo would use the NASA design without any consideration of alternatives. The Soviet Union used the General Electric design approach for their Soyuz spacecraft, still in service 45 years later. The NASA Apollo deign was retired after 8 years.
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Apollo CSM
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The Apollo Command Service Module was the spacecraft developed by NASA in the 1960's as a standard spacecraft for earth and lunar orbit missions. Block II CSM's were the only version to fly manned, and they successfully ferried crews to the moon, to the Skylab space station, and to a joint docking with the Russian Soyuz. No production was undertaken after the initial run of 13 Block II capsules - Apollo was abandoned in favor of the Shuttle as the ferry for American manned spaceflight. Forty years later, the Shuttle was to be retired, and a design similar to the Apollo, the CEV, was conceived as the Shuttle's 'replacement'.
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L4-1963
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The L-4 Manned Lunar Orbiter Research Spacecraft would have taken two to three cosmonauts into lunar orbit for an extended survey and mapping mission. It was described in a 23 September 1963 letter setting out the space exploration plan for 1965 to 1975. The L-4 complex, with a total mass of 75 metric tons, would be placed into orbit in a single N1 launch
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Gemini - Saturn V
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In late 1964 McDonnell, in addition to a Saturn 1B-boosted circumlunar Gemini, McDonnell proposed a lunar-orbit version of Gemini to comprehensively scout the Apollo landing zones prior to the first Apollo missions.
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Apollo Experiments Pallet
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The Apollo Experiments Pallet was a sophisticated instrument payload that would have been installed in the Apollo CSM for dedicated lunar or earth orbital resource assessment missions.
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Apollo MSS
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The Apollo Mapping and Survey System was a kit of photographic equipment that was at one time part of the basic Apollo Block II configuration. The actual hardware, which would be installed in the equipment bay of certain Service Modules, would weigh up to 680 kg. The system was abandoned when it became clear that Lunar Orbiter would provide all the necessary photographs needed for Apollo landing site selection.
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Gemini LORV
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This version of Gemini was studied as a means of rescuing an Apollo CSM crew stranded in lunar orbit. The Gemini would be launched unmanned on a translunar trajectory by a Saturn V. Following lunar orbit insertion it would automatically rendezvous with the disabled Apollo. The three Apollo crew members would transfer by a spacewalk to the passenger compartment of the stretched Gemini reentry module. It would then boost itself and the rescued crew to a transearth trajectory. This version was rejected in favor of the more flexible Gemini Lunar Surface Rescue Vehicle.
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Apollo LRM
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Grumman proposed to use the LM as a lunar reconnaissance module. But NASA had already considered this and many other possibilities (Apollo MSS, Apollo LMSS); and there was no budget available for any of them.
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OS-1 Lunar
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A version of the OS-1 station was proposed for use in lunar orbit. No other details beyond this sketch.
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Soyuz 7K-L1A
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Hybrid spacecraft used in N1 launch tests. The L1A consisted of a modified Soyuz L1 service module attached to an LOK-sized flange, with a circumlunar Soyuz descent module, topped by an odd hybrid propulsion module derived from that to be used on the LOK and LK lunar lander.
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Soyuz 7K-L1E
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Modification of Soyuz circumlunar configuration used in propulsion tests of the Block D stage. The L1E provided guidance to the Block D and was equipped with television cameras that viewed the behavior of the Block D stage propellants under zero-G conditions. Probably included a dummy descent module (not recovered).
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Skylab Lunar Orbit Station
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McDonnell Douglas (Seal Beach, CA) did a study on modifying the to modify the Skylab as a moon-orbiting observatory and station
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Soyuz 7K-LOK
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The two-crew LOK lunar orbiting spacecraft was the largest derivative of Soyuz developed. Given its importance to the Soviet moon landing program, it remains one of the least known manned spacecraft ever to reach flight status. Never reaching space in its all-up form, the LOK was the counterpart to the American CSM (Command-Service Module).
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LOK Energia
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Lunar orbiter for Energia-launched lunar expedition. The LOK and LK lander would be inserted into lunar orbit by separate Energia launches.
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