The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology, Volume III (1976) - Lunar and

304 Pages·057.7 MB·English

NASASP-4009
THE
APOLLO SPACECRAFT
VOLUME III
October 1, 1964--January 20, 1966
Courtney G. Brooks and Ivan D. Ertel
Scientific and Technical Information Offtce 1976
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
II.s._.
Washington, D.C.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402
Price $5.20 Stock NIlmber 033-000-00614-4
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 69-60008
FOREWORD
This third volume of the Apollo Spacecraft Chronology covers the
sixteen-month period from October 1, 1964, to January 20, 1966. During
this period the major emphasis of the program was on the detailed engi-
neering of the three spacecraft being manufactured by North American and
Grumman. All major decisions had been made and now within the con-
fines of these decisions spacecraft must be designed and built that would
safely provide transportation for men and equipment to the lunar surface
and back. One of the most confining of these decisions was the agreed-
upon payload of the Saturn V. It was initially agreed that the design allow-
able weight for the Apollo spacecraft was 90 000 pounds. Included within
this were the Command and Service Module, the Lunar Excursion Module,
and the adapter structure. Although some relief was obtained when the
conservatism in the Saturn V design was converted into additional useful
performance, spacecraft weight was a continual concern in the Apollo pro-
gram. This was particularly true during the period reported upon in this
volume; concepts were being translated into hard design and the solution
of numerous details took their toll in an upward revision of weight estimates.
Weights were reported weekly in an attempt to curtail and control weight
growth. Programs were instituted to reduce weight by the elimination of
nonessential "niceties" and, when practical, by redesigning elements to
lighter weight.
Work on the Command Module had progressed to the point where
some full-scale testing was initiated. The launch escape system was tested
for off-the-pad aborts at White Sands, New Mexico. A special test vehicle,
"Little Joe II," built by Convair, San Diego, was employed at WSMR to
accelerate the Command Module to "maximum q" conditions for tests of
the launch escape system under this most difficult situation. At E1 Centro,
California, the parachute system was undergoing extensive testing. Back at
Downey, California, North American built a large trapeze-like structure
over an artificial lake to certify the Command Module structure for water
impact loads. At yet another site, the White Sands Test Facility, located
on the other side (west) of the Organ Mountains from the Little Joe II
launch area, the testing of the Service Module propulsion system and the
ascent and descent propulsion stages for the Lunar Module was started.
As might be expected in the initial development testing of advanced design
hardware, a number of disappointing failures were experienced. For instance
the Command Module structure ruptured and the test article sank during
the first water impact test.
Considerable analytical and experimental work was underway on
,°.
111
engineering problems associated with landing the I,EM on tile Moon.
I,anding loads and stability were studied t)y dropping dynamically scaled
models on simulated lunar soil and by computer runs which utilized mathe-
matical models of both the IA:_M and the lunar surface. At the same time an
effort was underway to deduce in engineering terms the surface charac-
teristics and soil mechanics of the lunar surface. Only the sparse photographic
information from Ranger was available to the engineers, yet later data from
Surveyor and Orbiter led to no significant change in the I_EM design. In
addition to lack of definition of the lunar surface, uncertainty about the
cislunar space environment also handicapped design progress. The intensity
of the radiation flux during solar flares was not fully understood. In addition
to worry al)out radiation sickness, a particular concern was possible dam-
age to the eyes (in the form of cataracts) of the astronauts. Thick transparent
plastic eye shields were proposed. A program was instituted to learn more
about predicting solar events and a network of H-alpha telescopes and
radio frequency detectors was planned for this purpose. At the same time
much effort was expended to assure that neither the spacecraft nor the
astronauts' space suits would be damaged 1)y micrometeors. In this regard
help came from the data obtained by the Pegasus micrometeor detection
satellites orbited by the last two Saturn I launch vehicles.
l)uring this same period the (;emini program entered into its opera-
tional phase with a launch rate averaging once every two months. Significant
to the Apollo mission were the development of operational procedures for
orbital rendezvous, "shirtsleeve" operation by the crew in orbit, and exposure
to fourteen days of weightlessness with only incidental physiological effects.
Finally, important scientific aspects of the mission were defined. Studies
of lunar sample return and back contamination had progressed to the
point that the essential features of the Iamar Receiving Laboratory were
established. Further definition of the lunar geological surveys was achieved.
With a goal of better precision in selection of Apollo landing sites, a
coordinated activity was instituted with the Orbiter project. The Apollo
Lunar Science Experiment Package (AI,SEP) design progressed to the point
of commitment to a 56-watt radioisotope power generator. Thus these
small automated science stations would be assured an extended lifetime of
_peration after departure of the astronauts. It was also during this period
that NASA recruited its first group of scientist astronauts.
In summary, during this period the Apollo program settled into the
substance and routine of making the hmar landing a reality. The tre-
mendous challenge in scope and depth of the venture was unmistakably
clear to the government-indnstry team mobilized to do the job.
Maxime A. Faget
Director oI Engineering and
Development, ]oh,_son Space Center
iv
CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD ................................................. iii
lAST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...................................... vJ
THE KEy EVENTS ........................................... ix
PREFACE ................................................... xiii
ADVANCED DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND -1-ESTING .................. 1
APPENDIXES ................................................ 249
1. Glossary of Abbreviations ............................. 251
2. Spacecraft Weights by Quarter ........................ 253
3. Major Spacecraft Component Manufacturers ............ 255
4. Flight Summary ..................................... 257
5. Apollo Program Flight Objectives ..................... 261
6. Funding ............................................ 263
7. Organization Charts .................................. 265
INDEX ..................................................... 277
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
10
ST-124-M Inertial Platform Assembly ........................
Ames Research Center wind tunnel tests ....................... 16
25
Capt. Joseph A. Walker and LI,RV ...........................
31
Apollo Command Module ...................................
37
S-IVB "Battleship" Firing ...................................
LEM ..................................................... 42
Ames Research Center wind tunnel tests ........................ 44
LEM ascent stage ........................................... 56
S-II stage roll-out ........................................... 68
Pegasus installation ......................................... 72
Ranger VIII lunar picture ................................... 74
81
LEM descent stage ..........................................
89
Six degrees of freedom simulator .............................
93
Ranger IX lunar photos .....................................
Gemini III astronauts ....................................... 96
I03
LEM mockup ..............................................
I07
Honeywell simulator ........................................
Ill
Douglas space simulator .....................................
131
Space suit .................................................
Apollo mission A-003 ....................................... 135
Pegasus II ................................................. 138
Gemini IV space walk ....................................... 144
Service module ............................................. 150
S-IVB electrical installation .................................. 158
First S-IC ground test vehicle ................................ 159
Pad Abort 2 test ............................................ 160
Imnar I_anding Research Facility ............................. 162
S-IVB arrival at Cape Kennedy ............................... 164
S-IC stage firing ............................................ 181
S-II stage firing ............................................ 182
S-IVB static firing .......................................... 182
Mission Control Center, Houston ............................. 187
Gemini V crew ............................................. 187
Apollo emblem ............................................. 190
F-1 engines ................................................ 192
Cartoon ................................................... 195
Command module simulator ................................. 200
I_EM simulator ............................................. 201
vi
PAGE
2O2
First Saturn V S-IC stage completed ...........................
2]4
"Bubble" type helmet .......................................
217
Pregnant Guppy ............................................
Gemini VII launch and crew ................................. 228
23O
I,ittle .Joe II ...............................................
236
First manned rendezvous in space .............................
Gemini VI-A returns to earth ................................. 236
247
Apollo Mission A-004 .......................................
vii

THE KEY EVENTS
1964
October 5-8: NASA conducted formal review of LEM mockup M-5 at Grumman factory.
October 12: U.S.S.R. launched Voskhod I, world's first multi-manned spacecraft.
October 14: AC Spark Plug reported first Apollo guidance system completed and shipped to
NAA.
October 27: NASA announced appointment of Maj. Gen. Samuel C. Phillips as Director of
Apollo Program.
November 23: NASA gave NAA a formal go-ahead on the Block II spacecraft.
December 7: Douglas Aircraft Company delivered first S-IVB stage to MSFC for testing.
December 8: Apollo Mission A-002 was flown at WSMR, with BP-23 launched by a Little
Joe II booster.
1965
January 14-21: NAA completed acceptance tests on the CSM sequential and systems trainers.
January 21-28: Space Technology Laboratories was named sole contractor for the LEM
descent engine.
February 9: NAA completed the first ground test model of the S-II stage of the Saturn V.
February 17: Ranger VIII was launched by NASA from Cape Kennedy. It transmitted
pictures back to earth before lunar impact.
March 2: MSC decided in favor of an "all-battery" LEM rather than the previously planned
fuel cells.
March 17: Crew Systems Division recommended "shirtsleeve" environment be retained in
CM.
March 18: U.S.S.R. launched Voskb_d I1 cn a 17-orbit mission. Lt. Col. Aleksey Leonov
performed man's first "walk-in-space."
March 21: NASA launched Ranger IX, last of series. It transmitted 5814 pictures of lunar
surface to earth.
March 23: Gemini 1II was launched from Cape Kennedy with astronauts Virgil I. Grissom
and John W. Young aboard; the first U.S. multi-manned mission lasted three orbits.
March 23-24." Part I of the Critical Design Review of the CM Block II crew compartment
and docking system was held at NAA.
April I: The first stage of the Saturn IB booster underwent its first static firing at MSFC.
April 9: Control over manned space flights, after liftoff, was transferred from the Cape
Kennedy Control Center to Mission Control Center, Houston.
April 14: Final beam was emplaced in the structural skeleton of the Vertical Assembly
Building at KSC.
April 16: MSFC conducted first clustered firing of Saturn V's first stage (S-IC).
April 27-30: Part lI of the Block II CM crew compartment and docking system Critical
Design Review was held at NAA.
April 28: ASPO Manager Joseph F. Shea approved the Crew Systems Division recommenda-
tion to retain "shirtsleeve" environment in the CM.
May 19: Apollo mission A--O03 was flown at WSMR. Little Joe II booster disintegrated
25 sec after launch but launch escape system worked perfectly.
May 22: NASA launched Project Fire II from Cape Kennedy to obtain test data on heating
during reentry.
June 3: Northrop-Ventura began qualification testing of the Apollo earth landing system.
June 3: NASA launched Gemini IV from Cape Kennedy on a Titan II booster. Astronauts
ix