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AS-103
AS-103 was the third orbital flight test of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, and the first flight of a Pegasus micrometeroid detection satellite. Also known as ''SA-9'', it was the third operational launch of a two-stage Saturn I launch vehicle. Objectives Of 12 flight objectives assigned, two were concerned with the operation of the Pegasus satellite, eight with launch vehicle systems performance, one with jettisoning the launch escape system, and one with separation of the boilerplate spacecraft. The satellite objectives were (1) demonstration of the functional operations of the mechanical, structural, and electronic systems and (2) evaluation of meteoroid data sampling in near-Earth orbit. Since the launch trajectory was designed to insert the Pegasus satellite into the proper orbit, it differed substantially from the trajectory used in missions AS-101 and AS-102. Launch The launch vehicle consisted of an S-I first stage, an S-IV second stage, and an instrument unit. The ...
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AS-104
AS-104 was the fourth orbital test of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, and the second flight of the Pegasus micrometeoroid detection satellite. It was launched by SA-8, the ninth Saturn I carrier rocket. Objectives The primary mission objective was to demonstrate the launch vehicle's iterative guidance mode and to evaluate system accuracy. The launch trajectory was similar to that of mission AS-103. The Saturn launch vehicle SA-8 and payload were similar to those of mission AS-103, except that a single reaction control engine assembly was mounted on the boilerplate service module (BP-26). The assembly was instrumented to acquire additional data on launch environment temperatures. This assembly also differed from the one on the AS-101 mission in that two of the four engines were of a prototype configuration instead of all engines being simulated. Launch This was the first nighttime launch in the Saturn I series. A built-in 35 minute hold was used to ensure that launch time coin ...
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AS-102
AS-102 (also designated SA-7) was the seventh flight of the Saturn I launch vehicle, which carried the boilerplate Apollo spacecraft BP-15 into low Earth orbit. The test took place on September 18, 1964, lasting for five orbits (about seven and a half hours). The spacecraft and its upper stage completed 59 orbits before reentering the atmosphere and crashing in the Indian Ocean on September 22, 1964. Objectives AS-102 was designed to repeat the flight of AS-101. It would once again carry a boilerplate Apollo command and service module. The only difference from Boilerplate 13 carried on AS-101 was that on Boilerplate 15, one of the simulated reaction control system thruster quads (attitude control thrusters) was instrumented to record launch temperatures and vibrations. Another major difference on AS-102 was that the launch escape system (LES) tower would be jettisoned using the launch escape and pitch control motors. AS-102 was the first time a Saturn rocket carried a programma ...
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Pegasus 1
Pegasus 1 or I, known before launch as Pegasus A, was an American satellite which was launched in 1965 to study micrometeoroid impacts in low Earth orbit. It was the first of three Pegasus satellites to be launched. The Pegasus spacecraft were manufactured by Fairchild Hiller, and operated by NASA. Spacecraft Pegasus 1 was a Pegasus satellite, consisting of of instruments, attached to the S-IV upper stage of the carrier rocket which had placed it into orbit. It had a total mass of , and was equipped with two sets of micrometeoroid detection panels, and a radio for tracking and returning data. The panels were long, and equipped with 116 individual detectors. Launch Pegasus 1 was launched atop a Saturn I rocket, serial number SA-9, flying from Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station. The launch occurred at 14:37:03 UTC on 16 February 1965. Following launch, Pegasus 1 was given the COSPAR designation 1965-009A, while NORAD assigned it the Satellite Catalog Numbe ...
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Saturn I
The Saturn I was a rocket designed as the United States' first medium lift launch vehicle for up to low Earth orbit payloads.Terminology has changed since the 1960s; back then, 20,000 pounds was considered "heavy lift". The rocket's first stage was built as a cluster of propellant tanks engineered from older rocket tank designs, leading critics to jokingly refer to it as "Cluster's Last Stand". Its development was taken over from the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1958 by the newly formed civilian NASA. Its design proved sound and flexible. It was successful in initiating the development of liquid hydrogen-fueled rocket propulsion, launching the Pegasus satellites, and flight verification of the Apollo command and service module launch phase aerodynamics. Ten Saturn I rockets were flown before it was replaced by the heavy lift derivative Saturn IB, which used a larger, higher total impulse second stage and an improved guidance and control system. It also led the way to ...
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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 37
Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37), previously Launch Complex 37 (LC-37), is a launch complex on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Construction began in 1959 and the site was accepted by NASA to support the Saturn I program in 1963. The complex consists of two launch pads. LC-37A has never been used, but LC-37B launched uncrewed Saturn I flights (1964 to 1965) and was modified and launched Saturn IB flights (1966 to 1968), including the first (uncrewed) test of the Apollo Lunar Module in space (Apollo 5). It was deactivated in 1972. In 2001 it was modified as the launch site for Delta IV, a launch system operated by United Launch Alliance. The original layout of the launch complex featured one Mobile Service Structure which could be used to service or mate a rocket on either LC-37A or 37B, but not on both simultaneously. The Delta IV Mobile Service Tower is tall, and fitted to service all Delta IV configurations, including the Delta IV Heavy. Launch history Rocket con ...
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Boilerplate (spaceflight)
A boilerplate spacecraft, also known as a mass simulator, is a nonfunctional craft or payload that is used to test various configurations and basic size, load, and handling characteristics of rocket launch vehicles. It is far less expensive to build multiple, full-scale, non-functional boilerplate spacecraft than it is to develop the full system (design, test, redesign, and launch). In this way, boilerplate spacecraft allow components and aspects of cutting-edge aerospace projects to be tested while detailed contracts for the final project are being negotiated. These tests may be used to develop procedures for mating a spacecraft to its launch vehicle, emergency access and egress, maintenance support activities, and various transportation processes. Boilerplate spacecraft are most commonly used to test crewed spacecraft; for example, in the early 1960s, NASA performed many tests using boilerplate Apollo spacecraft atop Saturn I rockets, and Mercury spacecraft atop Atlas rocke ...
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NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management f ...
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Saturn SA9 Launch
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; however, with its larger volume, Saturn is over 95 times more massive. Saturn's interior is most likely composed of a core of iron–nickel alloy, iron–nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds). Its core is surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, and finally, a gaseous outer layer. Saturn has a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. An electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's, but which has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth due to Saturn's larger size. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth of Jupiter's. The out ...
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1965 In The United States
Events from the year 1965 in the United States. Incumbents Federal Government * President: Lyndon B. Johnson ( D-Texas) * Vice President: ''vacant'' (until January 20), Hubert Humphrey ( D-Minnesota) (starting January 20) * Chief Justice: Earl Warren (California) * Speaker of the House of Representatives: John William McCormack ( D-Massachusetts) * Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield ( D-Montana) * Congress: 88th (until January 3), 89th (starting January 3) Events January * January 1 – The ship '' S.S. Catala'' is driven onto the beach in Ocean Shores, Washington, stranding her. * January 4 – President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union Address. * January 19 – The unmanned ''Gemini 2'' is launched on a suborbital test of various spacecraft systems. * January 20 – President Lyndon B. Johnson begins his full term. Hubert Humphrey is sworn in as Vice President of the United States. February * Februa ...
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Spacecraft Launched In 1965
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle (carrier rocket). On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters space and then returns to the surface without having gained sufficient energy or velocity to make a full Earth orbit. For orbital spaceflights, spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or around other celestial bodies. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers from start or on orbit ( space stations) only, whereas those used for robotic space missions operate either autonomously or telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft used to support scientific ...
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A-003
A-003 was the fourth abort test of the Apollo spacecraft. This particular flight is notable because during the abort test flight, an actual abort situation occurred, and further proved the Apollo launch escape system (LES). The CM was successfully pulled away from the malfunctioning Little Joe booster and it landed safely under parachutes. Objectives Apollo mission A-003 was the fourth mission to demonstrate the abort capability of the Apollo launch escape system. The purpose of this flight was to demonstrate launch escape vehicle performance at an altitude approximating the upper limit for the canard subsystem. The launch vehicle was similar to the one used for mission A-002 except that the propulsion system consisted of six Algol motors. The uncrewed flight test vehicle consisted of an Apollo boilerplate command and service module (BP-22) and a launch escape system similar to the one used on the previous mission. The command module Earth landing system configuration was refin ...
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Pegasus (spacecraft)
The Pegasus Project was a NASA initiative to study the frequency of micrometeoroid impacts on spacecraft by means of a constellation of three satellites launched in 1965. All three Pegasus satellites were launched by Saturn I rockets, and remained connected with their upper stages. The Pegasus satellites were named for the winged horse of Greek mythology and was first lofted into space by a NASA Saturn I rocket on February 16, 1965. Like its namesake, the Pegasus satellite was notable for its "wings", a pair of -long, -wide arrays of 104 panels fitted with sensors to detect punctures by micrometeoroids at high altitudes, in support of the Apollo Program to send manned lunar landing missions starting by 1970. Micrometeoroids were believed to be potentially hazardous to the Apollo crew if they could puncture the spacecraft skin. The sensors successfully measured the frequency, size, direction and penetration of scores of micrometeoroid impacts. The satellite also carried sample pr ...
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