The Apollo Lunar Module was was an experimental craft, with changes made to the vehicle and its appearance through the lunar program. Pictured above is the first manned LM from Apollo 9, LM-3 Spider. The ascent stage was finished in a sulfuric acid anodized 2024 aluminum, which had a bright, metallic finish, along with the black Pyromark panels that were used for reflection management around the windows and thermal management. Unique among the crewed vehicles, it had a scimitar antenna on the front of the ascent stage just above and to the right of the docking light. The descent stage was covered in silver colored nickel foil and Kapton films. Most of the Kapton films were aluminized on the back, giving the common metallic look. Apollo 9 had some uncoated Kapton over Pyromark. The lower landing struts were uncovered, as were most of the pads and four contact probes were present.

Apollo 10’s LM-4 Snoopy also had the 2024 aluminum panels on the ascent stage while the Pyromark was extended down more of the front under the LMP’s window. The ascent stage for LM4 had the heaviest use of Pyromark of all the landers, with much of the thermal finish made from this material. To the right of the ladder, the American flag was moved from the center of Quad IV with the first installation of the Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA). As with LM 3, the lower struts and pads are uncovered and there are four contact probes.

LM-5 Eagle of Apollo 11 saw the introduction of lighter, chromic acid anodized 5056 aluminum panels on the ascent stage and a switch from a bright aluminum finish to a beige, gray or green finish. We also start to see more varied use of different Kapton foils for thermal management. The yellow-gold seen on the lower struts and pads were 0.5 mil thick, the more orange-gold was 2 mil, and the darker, reddish films were 5 mil thick. LM-5 saw the introduction of thermal covers over the lower struts and pads, as well as the deletion of the contact probe on the +Z pad (under the ladder). Shown landed, the MESA has been deployed. This is where much of the sample equipment the astronauts used were stored during flight, as well as where the television camera was mounted that recorded Neil Armstrong’s first step.

Shown in trans-lunar coast with the landing legs still folded, LM-6 Intrepid was similar to LM-5, with little difference in the thermal coatings on the descent stage, with the main difference being less Pryomark used on Quad I to the left of the ladder. Out of sight in this image was the first mounting of the containment cask that held the plutonium fuel pellet for the SNAP-25 Radioisotope Thermal Generator that powered the Apollo Lunar Scientific Experiment Package. This view shows how tightly the landing probes were tucked into the folded landing strut assembly. The ascent stage saw the complete replacement of the 5056 aluminum and loss of the Pyromark finish on the front under the LMP window.

LM-7 Aquarius from Apollo 13 shared many similarities to LM-6, but we see the removal of thermal blankets over the lower landing struts (while keeping them on the pads) and minor differences in Pyromark panels on the ascent stage.

While the ascent stage was unchanged, Apollo 14’s LM-8 Antares saw the removal of the Pyromark blankets from Quad I and IV, replaced with 2 mil Kapton. Antares also saw additional equipment stored on the outside of the descent stage. The Modular Equipment Transporter (MET) was stowed on the outer surface of the MESA under a 5 mil Kapton blanket and a laser reflector was stowed under a 5 mil Kapton and Pyromark blanket on the face of Quad I and the white United States panel was moved to the top edge. As with LM-7, the lower struts were uncovered.

LM-9 was originally slated for Apollo 15 as the final H mission, but with the cancellation of Apollos 18-20, Apollo 15 became a J mission and LM-9 never flew. The ascent stage again had small changes to the location of Pyromark panels, but is otherwise similar to LM-8. We see more changes in the descent stage. The lower struts continue to be uncovered. 0.5 mil Kapton has replaced the nickel film on the outer part of the upper landing legs, as well as part of the outrigger supports. The small, gray U-shaped on the MESA was the deployment stop bar for a MET.

For the J missions, the LMs had reached a stable configuration with little difference between LMs 10, 11 and 12. The descent stage of all three was the same, with the introduction of a larger MESA on Quad IV and the Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV) bay and deployment assembly on Quad I. The American Flag and United States markings were moved to Quad IV and placed on both the outer surface of the MESA and inside the bay, while the bay interior was changed to Pyromark from the previous 0.5 mil Kapton. Out of sight, Quad III added external stowage for additional equipment to be carried by the LRV. Thermal blankets returned to the lower struts of the landing legs. On the ascent stage, LM-10 and LM-11 had white sicon panels on the left and right sides of the aft crew cabin. These reacted poorly to the extreme temperatures and provided less thermal management than anticipated, so they were omitted from LM-12.