Apollo program
From FreeThoughtPedia
The Apollo programme (or Project Apollo) consisted of a series of manned and unmanned NASA space flights from 1961 until 1975. Its main goal was to land men to the Moon, and its total cost was about $25.4 milliard.
Contents |
Launch vehicles
The Apollo programme used four types of launch vehicles (LV):
- Little Joe II: unmanned sub-orbital launch escape system development.
- Saturn I: unmanned sub-orbital and orbital hardware development.
- Saturn IB: unmanned and manned Earth orbit development and operational flights.
- Saturn V: unmanned and manned Earth orbit and lunar flights.
The Marshall Space Flight Centre, which designed the Saturn rockets, referred to the flights as Saturn-Apollo (SA), whereas Kennedy Space Centre referred to the flights as Apollo-Saturn (AS). This is why the unmanned Saturn 1 flights are referred to as SA, and the unmanned Saturn 1B are referred to as AS. Dates given below are dates of launch.
Unmanned flights
Saturn I
| Flight | LV Serial No. | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA-1 | S-101 | 27 October 1961 | 15:06 GMT | Test of the Saturn 1 Rocket |
| SA-2 | S-102 | 25 April 1962 | 14:00 GMT | Test of the S-1 Rocket and carried 109 m3 of water into the upper atmosphere to investigate effects on radio transmission and changes in local weather conditions |
| SA-3 | AS-103 | 16 November 1962 | 17:45 GMT | Repeat of the SA-2 flight |
| SA-4 | AS-104 | 28 March 1963 | 20:11 GMT | Test effects of premature engine shutdown |
| SA-5 | AS-105 | 29 January 1964 | 16:25 GMT | First flight of live second stage |
| SA-6 (A-101) | AS-106 | 28 May 1964 | 17:07 GMT | Tested the structural integrity of a boilerplate Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) |
| SA-7 (A-102) | AS-107 | 18 September 1964 | 17:22 GMT | Carried the first programmable computer on the Saturn I vehicle; last test flight |
| SA-9 (A-103) | AS-109 | 16 February 1965 | 14:37 GMT | Carried Pegasus A micro-meteorite satellite plus a CSM boilerplate |
| SA-8 (A-104) | AS-108 | 25 May 1965 | 07:35 GMT | Carried Pegasus B micro-meteorite satellite plus a CSM boilerplate |
| SA-10 (A-105) | AS-110 | 30 July 1965 | 13:00 GMT | Carried Pegasus C micro-meteorite satellite plus a CSM boilerplate |
Pad abort tests
| Flight | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pad Abort Test-1 | 7 November 1963 | 16:00 GMT | Launch Escape System (LES) abort test from launch pad |
| Pad Abort Test-2 | 29 June 1965 | 13:00 GMT | LES pad abort test of near Block-I CM |
Little Joe II
| Flight | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| QTV | 28 August 1963 | 13:05 GMT | Little Joe II qualification test |
| A-001 | 13 May 1964 | 13:00 GMT | LES transonic test failed |
| A-002 | 8 December 1964 | 15:00 GMT | LES maximum altitude, Max-Q abort test |
| A-003 | 19 May 1965 | 13:01 GMT | LES canard maximum altitude abort test |
| A-004 | 20 January 1966 | 15:17 GMT | LES test of maximum weight, tumbling Block-I CM |
Unmanned Apollo-Saturn IB and Saturn V
Some incongruity in the numbering and naming of the first three unmanned Apollo-Saturn (AS), or Apollo flights, is due to the posthumous honorary renaming of the flight which would have been AS-204, to Apollo 1. This manned flight was to have followed the already-launched unmanned AS-201, AS-202, and AS-203 flights. After the fire which killed the AS-204 crew on the pad during a test and training exercise, further required unmanned Apollo flights with the redesigned capsule were designated Apollo 4, 5, and 6. The first manned Apollo flight was thus Apollo 7. The assignment of "Apollo 1" to a flight which was never launched thereby required that at least one of the first three previous unmanned flights be left without a simple "Apollo" number.
| Flight | Rocket | LV Serial No. | Launch Date | Launch Time | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS-201 | Saturn IB | AS-201 | 26 February 1966 | 16:12 GMT | First test flight of Saturn IB rocket |
| AS-203 | Saturn IB | AS-203 | 5 July 1966 | 14:53 GMT | Investigated effects of weightlessness on fuel tanks of S-IVB. Sometimes informally called Apollo 2. |
| AS-202 | Saturn IB | AS-202 | 25 August 1966 | 17:15 GMT | Sub-orbital test flight of Command and Service Module. Sometimes informally called Apollo 3. |
| Apollo 4 | Saturn V | AS-501 | 9 November 1967 | 12:00 GMT | First test of the Saturn V booster |
| Apollo 5 | Saturn IB | AS-204 | 22 January 1968 | 22:48 GMT | Test of the Saturn IB booster and Lunar Module |
| Apollo 6 | Saturn V | AS-502 | 4 April 1968 | 16:12 GMT | Test of the Saturn V booster |
| Skylab 1 | Saturn INT-21 | AS-513 | 14 May 1973 | 17:30 GMT | Unmanned launch of Skylab 1 workshop using Saturn INT-21 (two-stage version of the Saturn V booster). Last flight of Saturn V booster. |
Manned flights
| Flight | Rocket | LV Serial No. | Commander | Command Module Pilot | Lunar Module Pilot | CM Name | LM Name | Launch Date | Launch Time | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo 1 | Saturn IB | AS-204 | Gus Grissom | Edward White | Roger Chaffee | N/A | No LM | 21 February 1967 (Planned) |
N/A | N/A |
| Unlaunched – On 27 January 1967 Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed when a fire erupted in their Apollo spacecraft during a test on the launch pad. | ||||||||||
| Apollo 7 | Saturn IB | AS-205 | Wally Schirra | Donn Eisele | Walter Cunningham | N/A | No LM | 11 October 1968 | 15:02 GMT | 10d 20h 09m 03s |
| First manned Apollo flight, first manned flight of the Saturn IB. Only manned Apollo launch not from LC 39. | ||||||||||
| Apollo 8 | Saturn V | AS-503 | Frank Borman | Jim Lovell | William Anders | N/A | No LM | 21 December 1968 | 12:51 GMT | 06d 03h 00m 42s |
| First manned flight around the Moon, first manned flight of the Saturn V | ||||||||||
| Apollo 9 | Saturn V | AS-504 | James McDivitt | David Scott | Rusty Schweickart | Gumdrop | Spider | 3 March 1969 | 16:00 GMT | 10d 01h 00m 54s |
| First manned flight of the Lunar Module | ||||||||||
| Apollo 10 | Saturn V | AS-505 | Thomas Stafford | John Young | Eugene Cernan | Charlie Brown | Snoopy | 18 May 1969 | 16:49 GMT | 08d 00h 03m 23s |
| First manned flight of the Lunar Module around the Moon | ||||||||||
| Apollo 11 | Saturn V | AS-506 | Neil Armstrong | Michael Collins | Buzz Aldrin | Columbia | Eagle | 16 July 1969 | 13:32 GMT | 08d 03h 18m 35s |
| First manned landing on the Moon | ||||||||||
| Apollo 12 | Saturn V | AS-507 | Pete Conrad | Richard Gordon | Alan Bean | Yankee Clipper | Intrepid | 14 November 1969 | 16:22 GMT | 10d 04h 36m 24s |
| First precise manned landing on the Moon. Recover part of Surveyor 3 probe. | ||||||||||
| Apollo 13 | Saturn V | AS-508 | Jim Lovell | Jack Swigert | Fred Haise | Odyssey | Aquarius | 11 April 1970 | 19:13 GMT | 05d 22h 54m 41s |
| Oxygen tank explodes en route, forcing cancellation of landing | ||||||||||
| Apollo 14 | Saturn V | AS-509 | Alan Shepard | Stuart Roosa | Edgar Mitchell | Kitty Hawk | Antares | 31 January 1971 | 21:03 GMT | 09d 00h 01m 58s |
| Alan Shepard, the first American in space, plays golf on the Moon | ||||||||||
| Apollo 15 | Saturn V | AS-510 | David Scott | Alfred Worden | James Irwin | Endeavour | Falcon | 26 July 1971 | 13:34 GMT | 12d 07h 11m 53s |
| First flight with the Lunar Rover vehicle | ||||||||||
| Apollo 16 | Saturn V | AS-511 | John Young | Ken Mattingly | Charles Duke | Casper | Orion | 16 April 1972 | 17:54 GMT | 11d 01h 51m 05s |
| First landing in the lunar highlands | ||||||||||
| Apollo 17 | Saturn V | AS-512 | Eugene Cernan | Ronald Evans | Harrison Schmitt | America | Challenger | 7 December 1972 | 05:33 GMT | 12d 13h 51m 59s |
| Final Apollo lunar flight, first night launch, only flight with a professional geologist | ||||||||||
Cancelled lunar flights
| Flight | Commander | Command Module Pilot | Lunar Module Pilot | Planned flight month | Cancellation date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo 18 | Richard Gordon | Vance Brand | Harrison Schmitt | February 1972 | 2 September 1970 |
| Budget cuts – NOTE: The Apollo 15 designation was re-used as Apollo 16 became 15, 17 became 16, and 18 became 17. | |||||
| Apollo 19 | Fred Haise | William Pogue | Gerald Carr | July 1972 | 2 September 1970 |
| Budget cuts | |||||
| Apollo 20 | Pete Conrad or Stuart Roosa | Paul Weitz | Jack Lousma | December 1972 to February 1973 | 4 January 1970 |
| Saturn INT-21 Launch vehicle needed to launch Skylab | |||||
Post-Apollo flights using Apollo hardware and Saturn IB
| Flight | Rocket | LV Serial No. | Commander | Pilot | Science Pilot | Launch Date | Launch Time | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skylab 2 | Saturn IB | AS-206 | Pete Conrad | Paul Weitz | Joseph Kerwin | 25 May 1973 | 13:00 GMT | 28d 00h 49m 49s |
| First crew of the Skylab Space Station | ||||||||
| Skylab 3 | Saturn IB | AS-207 | Alan Bean | Jack Lousma | Owen Garriott | 28 July 1973 | 11:10 GMT | 59d 11h 09m 34s |
| Second Skylab crew. SM thruster malfunction nearly necessitated a rescue mission. | ||||||||
| Skylab 4 | Saturn IB | AS-208 | Gerald Carr | William Pogue | Edward Gibson | 16 November 1973 | 14:01 GMT | 84d 01h 15m 31s |
| Third and final Skylab crew. Penultimate flight of Apollo. | ||||||||
| Flight | Rocket | LV Serial No. | Commander | Command Module Pilot | Docking Module Pilot | Launch Date | Launch Time | Duration |
| Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP, a.k.a. Apollo 18) | Saturn IB | AS-209 | Thomas Stafford | Vance Brand | Deke Slayton | 15 July 1975 | 12:20 GMT | 09d 01h 28m |
| Final flight of both Apollo and the Saturn IB. Rendezvous and docking with Soyuz 19 spacecraft. Inadvertent entry of toxic gases into the cabin atmosphere created a potentially life-threatening health risk to the astronauts during re-entry. | ||||||||
Launch Complex (LC) utilisation
- LC 34: SA-1, SA-2, SA-3, SA-4, AS-201, AS-202, AS-204, AS-205
- LC 37A: no launches
- LC 37B: SA-5, A-101 (SA-6), A-102 (SA-7), A-103 (SA-9), A-104 (SA-8), A-105 (SA-10), AS-203, AS-204
- LC 39A: AS-501, AS-502, AS-503, AS-504, AS-506, AS-507, AS-508, AS-509, AS-510, AS-511, AS-512, AS-513
- LC 39B: AS-505, AS-206, AS-207, AS-208, AS-209
References
- Apollo programme summary report, NASA, April 1975 (27 MB)
- Chariots for Apollo, NASA, 1979 (133 MB)
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