Zakalwe:I think that's what I am getting at. Is Alexsanchez saying that the LM is nothing more than a glorified skyrocket (albeit, one that can keep itself pointing in the direction that it was launched at)...basically, pick a target in the sky and it fires at that position?
Even a dumb-ass like me recognises that the embedded computer system, along with the control system, inertial platform, inputs from rendezvous radar and so on, could react in real-time to new data and alter its trajectory.
One non engineer to another:
Alexsanchez is saying that [1] It was impossible for the crew of the LM to determine their precise position on the surface without at least one reference point on the ground, and [2] Without knowing their precise location, it would be impossible to accurately launch into a rendezvous orbit.
Everyone is trying to convince him that [1] It was NOT necessary to know their precise
surface location, because getting to an acceptable orbit is a matter of 'aiming' for a particular position in space, and they could determine their position in 3D space by determining the local vertical and taking a bearing on two known stars, both of which they were equipped to do, so [2] is incorrect, because their orbit could be corrected - within reason - to make rendezvous.
They did a lot of this sort of thing during the Gemini Program. On Gemini 10, John Young and Mike Collins did a rendezvous and docking with an Agena vehicle that had been launched a few minutes before them, then undocked and did a rendezvous with the Agena that was used as a target for Gemini 8, 5 months before.