Tag Archives: Apollo Program

3 March 1969, 16:00:00 UTC, T Plus 000:00:00.26

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Apollo 9 launches from Pad 39A, at 11:00:00 a.m., EST, 3 March 1969. (NASA)
Apollo 9 Saturn V (AS-504) launches from Pad 39A, at 11:00:00 a.m., EST, 3 March 1969. (NASA)

3 March 1969: At 11:00:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (16:00:00 UTC), Apollo 9 Saturn V (AS-504), the second manned Saturn V rocket, is launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Aboard are astronauts Colonel James Alton McDivitt, U.S. Air Force, the Spacecraft Commander; Colonel David Randolph Scott, U.S. Air Force, Command Module Pilot; and Mr. Russell Louis Schweickart (formerly an Air Force pilot), Lunar Module Pilot. McDivitt and Scott were on their second space flight. Rusty Schweickert was on his first.

The 10-day Earth orbital mission is used to test docking-undocking with the lunar module, and to certify the LM as flight-worthy. This was necessary before the program could proceed to the next phase: The Moon.

The flight crew of Apollo 9, James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott and Russell L. Schweickart. SA-504 is in the background. (NASA)
The flight crew of Apollo 9, James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott and Russell L. Schweickart. AS-504 is in the background. (NASA)

The Apollo Command/Service Module was built by the Space and Information Systems Division of North American Aviation, Inc., at Downey, California.

The SPS engine was an AJ10-137, built by Aerojet General Corporation of Azusa, California. It burned a hypergolic fuel combination of Aerozine 50 and nitrogen tetraoxide, producing 20,500 pounds of thrust (91.19 kilonewtons). It was designed for a 750 second burn, or 50 restarts during a flight.

Astronaut David R. Scott stands in the open hatch of the Apollo Command Module “Gumdrop” in Earth Orbit, 6 March 1969. (Russell L. Schweickart/NASA)

The Apollo Lunar Module was built by Grumman Aerospace Corporation to carry two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface, and return. There was a descent stage and ascent stage. The LM was intended only for operation in the vacuum of space, and was expended after use.

Three-view drawing of the Lunar Module with dimensions. (NASA)

The LM was 23 feet, 1 inches (7.036 meters) high with a maximum landing gear spread of 31 feet (9.449 meters). It weighed 33,500 pounds (15,195 kilograms). The spacecraft was designed to support the crew for 48 hours, though in later missions, this was extended to 75 hours.

The Descent Stage was powered by a single TRW LM Descent Engine. The LMDE used hypergoloc fuel and was throttleable. It produced from 1,050 pounds of thrust (4.67 kilonewtons) to 10,125 pounds (45.04 kilonewtons). The Ascent Stage was powered by a Bell Aerospace Lunar Module Ascent Engine. This also used hypergolic fuels. It produced 3,500 pounds of thrust (15.57 kilonewtons).

Apollo 9 Lunar Module “Spider” (Apollo LM-3) in Earth orbit, 7 March 1969. (Dave Scott/NASA)

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). 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 McDonnell Douglas Astronautics 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.

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

26 February 1966, 16:12:01 UTC, T plus 00:00:00.37

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Apollo-Saturn IB AS-201 launch from Pad 34, Kennedy Space Center, 26 February 1966. (NASA)

26 February 1966: AS-201, a Saturn IB launch vehicle, carried the first complete Block 1 Apollo Command and Service Module on a 37 minute, 19.7 second unmanned suborbital test flight. Liftoff was at 11:12:01 a.m., EST, from Launch Complex 34 at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

saturn-ib-config
Department of Special Collections, M. Louis Salmon Library, University of Alabama, via heroicrelics.org

This flight was a demonstration of the combined Apollo Command Module and the Service Module. The second production Apollo capsule, CM-009, and the first production service module, SM-009, were launched by the first Saturn IB, SA-201.

The Apollo capsule reached a maximum altitude of 305.8 miles (492.1 kilometers) and landed near Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, 5,267 miles (8,477 kilometers) from Cape Canaveral. (S. 8.18°, W 11.15°) Total duration of the flight was 37 minutes, 19.7 seconds.

The Apollo spacecraft was recovered by USS Boxer (LPH- 4).

The flight was successful, though several problems occurred. These were identified and corrected on the following production vehicles.

The Apollo command module of AS-201 was Spacecraft 009. It was a Block I capsule. The Apollo was a conical space capsule designed and built by North American Aviation to carry a crew of three on space missions of two weeks or longer.

The Saturn IB consisted of an S-IB first stage and an S-IVB second stage. The S-IB was built by Chrysler Corporation Space Division at the New Orleans Michoud Assembly Facility. It was powered by eight Rocketdyne H-1 engines, burning RP-1 and liquid oxygen. Eight Redstone rocket fuel tanks containing the RP-1 fuel surrounded a Jupiter rocket tank containing the liquid oxygen. The S-IB stage is 80 feet, 2 inches (24.435 meters) long, with a diameter of 21 feet, 5 inches (6.528 meters). The empty weight of this stage was 85,000 pounds (38,555 kilograms). Fully fueled, it weighed 498,099 pounds (225,934 kilograms). Total thrust of the S-IB stage was 1,600,000 pounds (7,117,155 Newtons) and it carried sufficient propellant for 2 minutes, 35 seconds burn time. This would lift the vehicle to an altitude of  37 nautical miles (69 kilometers).

The Douglas Aircraft Company-built S-IVB second stage was assembled at Huntington Beach, California. It was powered by one Rocketdyne J-2 engine, also fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The S-IVB is 60 feet, 1 inch (18.313 meters) long with a diameter of 21 feet, 8 inches (6.604 meters). The second stage had an empty weight of 28,400 pounds (12,882 kilograms) and gross weight was 261,900 pounds (118,796 kilograms). The single engine produced 232,250 pounds of thrust (1,033,100 Newtons) and and its burn time was 7 minutes, 55 seconds.

The AS-201 223 feet, 6 inches (68.123 meters). The total vehicle weight was 1,320,220 pounds (598,842 kilograms). It was capable of launching a 46,000 pound (20,865 kilogram) payload to Earth orbit.

After being recovered, the AS-201 Apollo command module was used for drop tests. It is at the Strategic Air and Space Museum, Ashland, Nebraska.

Apollo Command Module CM-009. (HrAtsuo)
Apollo Command Module CM-009. (HrAtsuo)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

8 February 1974, 02:33:12 UTC

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Skylab in Earth orbit, as seen by the departing Skylab 4 mission crew, 8 February 1974. (NASA)
Skylab in Earth orbit, as seen by the departing Skylab 4 mission crew, 8 February 1974. (NASA)

8 February 1974: At 02:33:12 UTC, the Skylab 4/Apollo command module undocked from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit, after 83 days, 4 hours, 38 minutes, 12 seconds. After several orbits, the Apollo capsule reentered the atmosphere and landed in the Pacific Ocean southwest of San Diego California, at 15:16:53 UTC. The crew was recovered by USS New Orleans (LPH-11), a helicopter carrier. Today, the Apollo capsule is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.

Skylab was an orbital laboratory built from a Saturn S-IVB third stage. It was launched from Cape Canaveral 14 May 1973 as part of a modified Saturn V rocket. The Skylab 4 crew was the third and final group of astronauts to live and the space station. (The mission insignia incorporates the numeral 3.)

Skylab’s orbit gradually decayed and it re-entered the atmosphere near Perth, Australia, 11 July 1979.

The Skylab 4 mission crew, left to right, Mission Commander Gerald P. Carr, Mission Scientist Edward G. Gibson and Pilot William R. Pogue. Pogue and Carr had joined NASA during the Apollo Program and were scheduled for Apollo 19, which was cancelled. This was the only space flight for these three astronauts. (NASA)
The Skylab 4 mission crew, left to right, Mission Commander Gerald P. Carr, Mission Scientist Edward G. Gibson and Pilot William R. Pogue. Pogue and Carr had joined NASA during the Apollo Program and were scheduled for Apollo 19, which was cancelled. This was the only space flight for these three astronauts. (NASA)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

6 February 1971

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Alan B. Shepard conducting geological investigation at the Fra Mauro Highlands, 6 February 1971. Mission time 139:16:44. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA) AS14-68-9405

6 February 1971: During the second EVA of Apollo 14’s mission to The Moon, Mission Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Dean Mitchell conduct a geological exploration of the area near the Antares Lunar Module landing site.

Captain Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN, during geology training for the upcoming Apollo 14 mission, Arizona, 1970. (NASA)
Captain Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN, during geology training for the upcoming Apollo 14 mission, Arizona, 1970. (NASA)
Apollo 14 traverse map (United States Geological Survey)

FAI Record File Num [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: Astronau (Space records)
Sub-Class: K_Absolute (Absolute record for Astronautics)
Category: General
Group: Not applicable
Type of record: Extravehicular duration in space
Performance: 9 hr 12 min 27 sec
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Stuart A. ROOSA, Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14

FAI Record File Num [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-3 (Missions to celestial bodies)
Category: Spacecraft with more than one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Extravehicular duration on the surface of the celestial body by an astronaut
Performance: 9 hr 12 min 27 sec
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Stuart A. ROOSA, Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14

FAI Record File Num [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-3 (Missions to celestial bodies)
Category: Spacecraft with more than one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Distance covered on foot on the surface of the celestial body
Performance: 1 454 meters
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14

FAI Record File Num [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: K (Space records)
Sub-Class: K-3 (Missions to celestial bodies)
Category: Spacecraft with more than one astronaut
Group: General category
Type of record: Total extravehicular duration on the surface of the celestial body by all crew members
Performance: 17h 33mn 29 sec
Date: 1971-02-09
Course/Location: Cape Kennedy, FL (USA)
Claimant Alan B. Shepard, Jr (USA)
Crew Edgar D. MITCHELL (USA)
Spacecraft: Apollo 14

Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, photographed this sweeping view showing fellow Moon-explorer astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander, and the Apollo 14 Lunar Module (LM). A small cluster of rocks and a few prints made by the lunar overshoes of Mitchell are in the foreground. Mitchell was standing in the boulder field, located just north by northwest of the LM, when he took this picture during the second Apollo 14 extravehicular activity (EVA-2), on February 6, 1971. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA)
Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, photographed this sweeping view showing fellow Moon-explorer astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander, and the Apollo 14 Lunar Module (LM). A small cluster of rocks and a few prints made by the lunar overshoes of Mitchell are in the foreground. Mitchell was standing in the boulder field, located just north by northwest of the LM, when he took this picture during the second Apollo 14 extravehicular activity (EVA-2), on February 6, 1971. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA) AS14-68-9487?

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

5 February 1971, 09:18:11 UTC, T + 108:15:09.30

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The Apollo 14 Lunar Module Antares (LM-8) on the surface of The Moon. (NASA)
The Apollo 14 Lunar Module Antares (LM-8) on the surface of The Moon. (NASA)

5 February 1971, 09:18:11 UTC, T + 108:15:09.30: The Apollo 14 Lunar Module Antares (LM-8), with astronauts Alan B. Shepard and Edgar D. Mitchell aboard, landed at the Fra Mauro Highlands, The Moon.

This was the third manned lunar landing. It was 9 years, 8 months, 30 days, 18 hours, 43 minutes, 58 seconds since Shepard had lifted off from Cape Canaveral aboard Freedom 7, becoming the first American astronaut launched into space.

5 hours, 36 minutes later, at 14:54 UTC, T + 113:51, Alan Shepard stepped on to the surface of The Moon.

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., Captain, United States Navy, Astronaut, on the surface of The Moon, 5 February 1971. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA)
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., Captain, United States Navy, Astronaut, on the surface of The Moon, 5 February 1971. (Edgar D. Mitchell/NASA)
Edgar D. Mitchell died last night, 4 February 2016, at the age of 85 years. (Alan B. Shepard/NASA)
Edgar D. Mitchell, Sc.D., Captain, United States Navy, died last night, 4 February 2016, at the age of 85 years. (Alan B. Shepard/NASA)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes