Category Archives: Space Flight

4 April 1968: 12:00:01.38 UTC, T plus 00:00:00.38

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Apollo 6 (AS-502) launch, 07:00:01 EST, 4 April 1968 (NASA)
Apollo 6 (AS-502) launch, 07:00:01 EST, 4 April 1968 (NASA)

4 April 1968: At 07:00:01.38 EST, Apollo 6 (AS-502), the second and last unmanned Apollo mission, lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. First motion was detected at Range Time 00:00:00.38. The purpose of the flight was to determine that an all-up Saturn V could attain Trans Lunar Injection. Because of engine difficulties, it did not do so, but data from the test gave mission planners confidence to go ahead with manned flights.

At T+2:05 the Saturn V experienced a severe “pogo” oscillation, but no structural damage occurred. Next, several structural panels from the lunar module adaptor section were lost due to a manufacturing defect. Finally, during the second stage burn, two of the five Rocketdyne J-2 engines shut down prematurely. Because of this, the planned circular orbit at 175 kilometers altitude was not achieved, instead, the spacecraft entered a 106.9 × 138.6 miles (172.1 × 223.1 kilometers) orbit, circling Earth in 89.8 minutes.

After two orbits, it was planned to send Apollo 6 to the Trans Lunar Injection point, but the third stage engine would not fire. The Service Module engine was used to boost the spacecraft to a peak altitude of 13,810.2 miles (22,225.4 kilometers) and a planned lunar re-entry simulation was carried out. Apollo 6 reached 22,385 miles per hour (36,025 kilometers per hour) as it reentered the atmosphere. 9 hours, 57 minutes, 20 seconds after launch, Apollo 6 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii and was recovered by USS Okinawa (LPH-3).

The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage, liquid-fueled heavy launch vehicle. Fully assembled with the Apollo Command and Service Module, it stood 363 feet (110.642 meters) tall. The first and second stages were 33 feet (10.058 meters) in diameter. Fully loaded and fueled the rocket weighed 6,200,000 pounds (2,948,350 kilograms). It could lift a payload of 260,000 pounds (117,934 kilograms) to Low Earth Orbit.

The first stage was designated S-IC. It was designed to lift the entire rocket to an altitude of 220,000 feet (67,056 meters) and accelerate to a speed of more than 5,100 miles per hour (8,280 kilometers per hour). The S-IC stage was built by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana. It was 138 feet (42.062 meters) tall and had an empty weight of 290,000 pounds (131,542 kilograms). Fully fueled with 203,400 gallons (770,000 liters) of RP-1 and 318,065 gallons (1,204,000 liters) of liquid oxygen, the stage weighed 5,100,000 pounds (2,131,322 kilograms). It was propelled by five Rocketdyne F-1 engines, producing 1,522,000 pounds of thrust (6770.19 kilonewtons), each, for a total of 7,610,000 pounds of thrust at Sea Level (33,850.97 kilonewtons).¹ These engines were ignited seven seconds prior to lift off and the outer four burned for 168 seconds. The center engine was shut down after 142 seconds to reduce the rate of acceleration. The F-1 engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation at Canoga Park, California.

The S-II second stage was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California. It was 81 feet, 7 inches (24.87 meters) tall and had the same diameter as the first stage. The second stage weighed 80,000 pounds (36,000 kilograms) empty and 1,060,000 pounds loaded. The propellant for the S-II was liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The stage was powered by five Rocketdyne J-2 engines, also built at Canoga Park. Each engine produced 232,250 pounds of thrust (1,022.01 kilonewtons), and combined, 1,161,250 pounds of thrust (717.28 kilonewtons).

The Saturn V third stage was designated S-IVB. It was built by Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB was 58 feet, 7 inches (17.86 meters) tall with a diameter of 21 feet, 8 inches (6.604 meters). It had a dry weight of 23,000 pounds (10,000 kilograms) and fully fueled weighed 262,000 pounds. The third stage had one J-2 engine and also used liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for propellant. The S-IVB would place the Command and Service Module into Low Earth Orbit, then, when all was ready, the J-2 would be restarted for the Trans Lunar Injection.

Eighteen Saturn V rockets were built. They were the most powerful machines ever built by man.

¹ The five Rocketdyne F-1 engines of the AS-502 S-IC first stage produced a combined thrust of 7,567,000 pounds (33,660 kilonewtons), 15,000 pounds (67 kilonewtons) less than predicted.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

Virgil Ivan Grissom (3 April 1926 – 27 January 1967)

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Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom with scale model of Gemini/Titan II launch vehicle. (NASA)
Virgil Ivan Grissom (1944 Gold and Blue)

3 April 1926: Virgil Ivan Grissom was born at Mitchell, Indiana, the second of five children of Dennis David Grissom, an electrician, and Cecile King Grissom. “Gus” Grissom attended Mitchell High School, graduating in 1944. He was a member of the Hi-Y Club, the Camera Club, and the Signal Club.

Upon graduation from high school. Virgil I. Grissom enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Air Corps, United States Army, at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Lawrence, Indiana, 9 August 1944. He was assigned to basic flight training at Sheppard Field, Texas, but the War came to an end before he could graduate as a pilot. Then reassigned as a clerk, he requested to be discharged from the Air Corps, which he was in November 1945.

Grissom married Miss Betty Lavonne Moore at Mitchell, Indiana, 6 July 1945. They wood have two sons, Scott and Mark. (In Korea, Grissom named his F-86 Scotty after his first son.)

After the war, Grissom enrolled at Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, and in 1950, graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

He then re-joined the U.S. Air Force in 1950 and was trained at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, and Williams Air Base, Arizona, where he specialized as a fighter pilot.  He was commissioned as a second lieutenant, U.S. Air Force, in March 1952.

Lieutenant Grissom was assigned to he 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, based at Kenpo Air Base (K-14), in the Republic of South Korea. He flew 100 combat missions in the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre. Grissom was promoted to first lieutenant, 11 March 1952. he requested to fly another 25 combat missions, but that was declined and he returned to the United States. Lieutenant Grissom was then assigned as a flight instructor at Bryan Air Force Base, Texas.

Grissom attended a one year program at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, and earned a second bachelor’s degree in aircraft engineering. He was then sent to the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California (Class 56D). After completion, he was assigned as a fighter test pilot back at Wright-Patterson.

One of 508 pilots who were considered by NASA for Project Mercury, Gus Grissom was in the group of 110 that were asked to attend secret meetings for further evaluation. From that group, 32 went on with the selection process and finally 18 were recommended for the program. Grissom was one of the seven selected.

Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7) launch at Pad 5, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 12 20 36 UTC, 21 July 1961. (NASA)

Major Grissom was the second American to “ride the rocket” aboard Mercury-Redstone 4. He named his space capsule Liberty Bell 7. The spacecraft reached a maximum altitude of 102.8 nautical miles (118.3 statute miles, 190.4 kilometers) and traveled 262.5 nautical miles (302.1 statute miles, 486.2 kilometers) down range. During the 15 minute, 37 second, flight, Grissom was weightless for 5:00 minutes.

Next he orbited Earth as commander of Gemini III along with fellow astronaut John Young. He was back-up commander for Gemini VI-A, then went on to the Apollo Program.

The flight crew of Gemini III, John W. Young and Virgil I. Grissom. (NASA)

Gus Grissom was selected as the commander for Apollo I in January 1968. This was to be the first manned flight of the Apollo spacecraft. Ed White and Roger Chaffee were the other members of the flight crew.

As commander of AS-204 (Apollo I), LCOL Virgil I. Grissom, USAF was killed along with Ed White and Roger Chafee during a test on the launchpad, 27 January 1967.

The crew of Apollo 1. Left to right, Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I. Grissom, United States Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Edward H. White II, United States Air Force, and Lieutenant Commander Roger B. Chaffee, United States Navy. (NASA)

Gus Grissom was an Air Force Command Astronaut with over 4,600 hours flight time. He was the first American astronaut to fly into space twice, and logged 5 hours, 7 minutes of space flight. For his military service, Grissom was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; the Air Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster (two awards); the American Campaign medal; the World War II Victory Medal; teh Korean Service Medal; the United Nations Korea medal, and the Korean War Service Medal of the Republic of South Korea. For his NASA service, he was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor (posthumous); the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (two awards); and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

Had he lived, it is very possible that Grissom would have commanded the first Apollo mission to land on The Moon.

The remains of Lieutenant Colonel Virgil Ivan Grissom, United States Air Force, NASA Astronaut, are buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

1 April 1960, 11:40:09 UTC, T minus Zero

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TIROS-1/Thor-Able 148 launches from Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 11:40:09 UTC, 1 April 1960. (NASA)

1 April 1960: TIROS-1, the first successful Earth-orbiting weather satellite, was launched at 6:40:09 a.m. (11:40:09 UTC), from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Thor-Able II liquid-fueled rocket. The satellite’s name is an acronym for Television Infra Red Observation Satellite.

The satellite was placed into a nearly-circular low Earth orbit with an apogee of 417.8 miles (672.4 kilometers) and perigee of 396.2 miles (637.6 kilometers). It is still in orbit and circles the Earth once every 1 hour, 37 minutes, 42 seconds. TIROS-1 remained operational for 78 days. It is still in orbit.

“TIROS undergoes vibration testing at the Astro-Electronic Products Division of RCA in Princeton, New Jersey.” (NASA)

TIROS-1 was built of aluminum and stainless steel. It had a diameter of 3 feet, 6 inches (1.067 meters) and height of 1 foot, 7 inches (0.483 meters.) The satellite weighed 270 pounds (122.47 kilograms). Two television cameras were installed on the satellite. They received electrical power from storage batteries charged by 9,200 solar cells. Images were stored on magnetic tape, then transmitted when in range of a ground receiving station. The first image, which showed large-scale cloud formations, was transmitted the day of the launch.

Technicians mount the TIROS-1 weather satellite to the Thor-Able upper stage carrier. (NASA)

The launch vehicle, Thor 148, consisted of a liquid-fueled Douglas Aircraft Company Thor DM-18A first stage (based on the SM-75 intermediate range ballistic missile) and an Aerojet Able-II second stage, which was developed from the Vanguard rocket series. The Thor-Able was 91 feet (27.8 meters) tall and 8 feet (2.44 meters) in diameter. It weighed 113,780 pounds (51,608 kilograms). The first stage was powered by a Rocketdyne LR79-7 rocket engine which burned RP-1 and liquid oxygen. The engine produced 170,560 pounds of thrust (758.689 kilonewtons) and burned for 165 seconds.

The Able-II second stage was powered by an Aerojet AJ-10 engine which produced 7,800 pounds of thrust (34.696 kilonewtons). The propellant was a hypergolic combination of nitric acid and UDMH (hydrazine). It burned for 115 seconds.

There were sixteen Thor-Able two-stage rockets launched. TIROS-1 was placed in orbit by the last of that series.

The first television image of Earth, transmitted by TIROS-1, 1 April 1960. (NASA)
The first television image of Earth, transmitted by TIROS-1, 1 April 1960. The image shows Maine, Nova Scotia, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. (NASA)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

1 April 1959

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The Mercury 7: Front row, left to right, LCDR Walter Marty Schirra, USN; CAPT Donald Kent Slayton, USAF; LCOL John Herschel Glenn, Jr., USMC; LT Malcolm Scott Carpenter, USN. Back row, left to right, LCDR Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., USN; CAPT Virgil Ivan Grissom, USAF; CAPT Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., USAF. (NASA)
The Mercury 7: Front row, left to right, LCDR Walter Marty Schirra, USN; CAPT Donald Kent Slayton, USAF; LCOL John Herschel Glenn, Jr., USMC; LT Malcolm Scott Carpenter, USN. Back row, left to right, LCDR Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., USN; CAPT Virgil Ivan Grissom, USAF; CAPT Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., USAF. (NASA)

“The selection procedures for Project Mercury were directed by a NASA selection committee, consisting of Charles Donlan, a senior management engineer; Warren North, a test pilot engineer; Stanley White and William Argerson, flight surgeons; Allen Gamble and Robert Voas psychologists; and George Ruff and Edwin Levy, psychiatrists. The committee recognized that the unusual conditions associated with spaceflight are similar to those experienced by military test pilots. In January 1959, the committee received and screened 508 service records of a group of talented test pilots, from which 110 candidates were assembled. Less than one month later, through a variety of interviews and a battery of written tests, the NASA selection committee pared down this group to 32 candidates.

“Each candidate endured even more stringent physical, psychological, and mental examinations, including total body x-rays, pressure suit tests, cognitive exercises, and a series of unnerving interviews. Of the 32 candidates, 18 were recommended for Project Mercury without medical reservations. On April 1, 1959, Robert Gilruth, the head of the Space Task Group, and Donlan, North, and White selected the first American astronauts. The “Mercury Seven” were Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., John H. Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton.”

—40th Anniversary of the Selection of the Mercury Seven http://history.nasa.gov/40thmerc7/intro.htm

30 March 1982, 16:04:46 UTC, T plus 192:04:46

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Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) escorted by two NASA Northrop T-38 Talon chase planes, just prior to touch down at White Sands, New Mexico, 30 March 1982. (NASA)

30 March 1982: At 9:04:46 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (16:04:46 UTC), Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) completed its third space flight (STS-3) by landing at White Sands Space Harbor, the auxiliary space shuttle landing area at the White Sands Test Facility, west of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Columbia rolled out 13,732 feet (4,185.5 meters), coming to a complete stop after 83 seconds. The duration of the flight was 192 hours, 4 minutes, 46 seconds.

Space Shuttle Columbia touches down at White Sands Space Harbor at the end of Mission STS-3, 30 March 1982. (NASA)

This was the only time that a space shuttle landed at White Sands.

During STS-116 (9–22 December 2006) WSSH was activated due to adverse weather conditions at both Kennedy and Edwards. However, Discovery (OV-103) was able to land at the Kennedy SLF.

Space Shuttle Columbia in descent toward White Sands Space Harbor, 30 March 1982. (NASA)

WSSH was also used as a training facility for shuttle pilots to practice approaches while flying NASA’s Grumman C-11A Shuttle Training Aircraft (a modified Gulfstream II). One of these STAs, NASA 946 (N946NA), is in the collection of the Texas Air & Space Museum, Amarillo, Texas.

Runway 23, looking southwest toward the San Andres Mountain Range. (NASA)
White Sands Space Harbor Tower (NASA)

Located at an elevation of 3,913 feet (1,193 meters) above Sea Level near the northwest edge of a very large dry lakebed of gypsum sand, WSSH has two 15,000 foot (4,572 meters) runways, Runway 23/05 and Runway 17/35, each with 10,000 foot (3,048 meters) overuns at either end. A third runway, Runway 2/20, has  a length of 19,800 feet (6,035 meters), with no overruns.

Runway 17/35 replicates the runway at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, and 23/05 matches the dry lake runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The runways are constructed of compacted natural gypsum with markings of asphalt. Lighting for night operations is provided by portable xenon light trailers positioned 1,000 feet (305 meters) into the overruns. Pads for eight helicopters are located close to the runway intersection. There is a control tower and modern visual and electronic landing aids.

Crash/Rescue personnel and equipment was provided by Hollomon Air Force Base.

Satellite image of the 275-square-mile White Sands National Monument located in New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin. WSSH is visible at the upper left corner. At the upper right are the famous gypsum dunes for which White Sands is named. (NASA)

Columbia was returned to Cape Canaveral 6 April 1982 aboard NASA 905, one of two Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

NASA 905, a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, departs White Sands Space Harbor with Columbia (OV-102), 2 April 1982. (NASA DFRC)

© 2019 Bryan R. Swopes