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Saturn V Instrument Unit
The Saturn V instrument unit is a ring-shaped structure fitted to the top of the Saturn V rocket's third stage ( S-IVB) and the Saturn IB's second stage (also an S-IVB). It was immediately below the SLA ''(Spacecraft/Lunar Module Adapter)'' panels that contained the Apollo Lunar Module. The instrument unit contains the guidance system for the Saturn V rocket. Some of the electronics contained within the instrument unit are a digital computer, analog flight control computer, emergency detection system, inertial guidance platform, control accelerometers, and control rate gyros. The instrument unit (IU) for Saturn V was designed by NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and was developed from the Saturn I IU. NASA's contractor to manufacture the Saturn V Instrument Unit was International Business Machines ( IBM). One of the unused instrument units is currently on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The plaque for the unit has the following in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturn IB And V Instrument Unit
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 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 outer atmosphere is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturn I SA-3
Saturn-Apollo 3 (SA-3) was the third flight of the Saturn I launch vehicle, the second flight of Project Highwater, and part of the American Apollo program. The rocket was launched on November 16, 1962, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. History The Saturn I launch vehicle components were delivered to Cape Canaveral by the barge ''Promise'' on September 19, 1962, but erection of the first-stage booster onto its launch pedestal was delayed until September 21 due to a tropical depression that moved over the Florida peninsula. The dummy second and third stages (S-IV and S-V) and payload were assembled on the booster on September 24. Ballast water was loaded into the dummy stages on October 31, and the RP-1 fuel was loaded on November 14. For this launch, Cape Canaveral director Kurt Debus asked Marshall Space Flight Center director Wernher von Braun, who was overseeing the Saturn project, that no outside visitors be allowed on NASA grounds due to the ongoing tensions of the Cuban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo 6
Apollo 6 (April 4, 1968), also known as AS-502, was the third and final uncrewed flight in the United States' Apollo Program and the second test of the Saturn V launch vehicle. It qualified the Saturn V to be used on crewed missions, as happened for the first time on Apollo 8 in December 1968. Apollo 6 was intended to demonstrate the ability of the Saturn V's third stage, the S-IVB, to propel itself and the Apollo spacecraft to lunar distances. Its components began arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in early 1967. Testing proceeded slowly, often delayed by testing of the Saturn V intended for Apollo 4—the inaugural launch of the Saturn V. After that uncrewed mission launched in November 1967, there were fewer delays, but enough so that the flight was postponed from March to April 1968. The flight plan called for following trans-lunar injection with a direct return abort using the service module's main engine, with a flight time totaling about 10 hours. Instead, vibra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo 5
Apollo 5 (launched January 22, 1968), also known as AS-204, was the uncrewed first flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) that would later carry astronauts to the surface of the Moon. The Saturn IB rocket bearing the LM lifted off from Cape Kennedy on January 22, 1968. The mission was successful, though due to programming problems an alternate mission to that originally planned was executed. Like Apollo 4, this flight was long delayed, due in part to setbacks in development of the LM, manufactured by Grumman Aircraft. The original Saturn IB rocket that was to take the first LM (LM-1) to space was taken down during the delays and replaced with the one that would have launched Apollo 1 if the spacecraft fire that killed three astronauts had not taken place. LM-1 arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in June 1967; the following months were occupied in testing and placing the LM atop the Saturn IB. After final delays due to equipment trouble, the countdown began on Janua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo 4
Apollo 4 (November 9, 1967), also known as SA-501, was the uncrewed first test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the rocket that eventually took astronauts to the Moon. The space vehicle was assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building, and was the first to be launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, ascending from Launch Complex 39, where facilities built specially for the SaturnV had been constructed. Apollo 4 was an "all-up" test, meaning all rocket stages and spacecraft were fully functional on the initial flight, a first for NASA. It was the first time the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage flew. It also demonstrated the S-IVB third stage's first in-flight restart. The mission used a BlockI command and service module modified to test several key BlockII revisions, including its heat shield at simulated lunar-return velocity and angle. The original launch date was planned for early 1967, but was delayed to November9 because of a large number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AS-202
AS-202 (also referred to as SA-202) was the second uncrewed, suborbital test flight of a production Block I Apollo command and service module launched with the Saturn IB launch vehicle. It was launched on August 25, 1966, and was the first flight which included the spacecraft guidance, navigation control system and fuel cells. The success of this flight enabled the Apollo program to judge the Block I spacecraft and Saturn IB ready to carry men into orbit on the next mission, AS-204. Objectives AS-202 was the third test flight of the Saturn IB, because a delay in the readiness of the Apollo spacecraft 011 pushed its launch past the July 1966 launch of AS-203. It was designed to test the rocket more than had been done on AS-201 by launching the rocket higher and having the flight lasting twice as long. It would also test the command and service module (CSM-011) by having the engine fire four times during the flight. The flight was also designed to test the heat shield by sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AS-203
AS-203 (or SA-203) was an uncrewed flight of the Saturn IB rocket on July 5, 1966. It carried no command and service module, as its purpose was to verify the design of the S-IVB rocket stage restart capability that would later be used in the Apollo program to boost astronauts from Earth orbit to a trajectory towards the Moon. It achieved its objectives, but the stage was inadvertently destroyed after four orbits. Objectives The purpose of the AS-203 flight was to investigate the effects of weightlessness on the liquid hydrogen fuel in the S-IVB-200 second-stage tank. The lunar missions would use a modified version of the S-IVB-200, the S-IVB-500, as the third stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. This called for the stage to fire briefly to put the spacecraft into a parking Earth orbit, before restarting the engine for flight to the Moon. In order to design this capability, engineers needed to verify that the anti-slosh measures designed to control the hydrogen's location in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AS-201
AS-201 (or SA-201), flown February 26, 1966, was the first uncrewed test flight of an entire production Block I Apollo command and service module and the Saturn IB launch vehicle. The spacecraft consisted of the second Block I command module and the first Block I service module. The suborbital flight was a partially successful demonstration of the service propulsion system and the reaction control systems of both modules, and successfully demonstrated the capability of the command module's heat shield to survive re-entry from low Earth orbit. Vehicle configuration Spacecraft The command and service module CSM-009 was a Block I version, designed before the lunar orbit rendezvous method was chosen for the Apollo lunar landing; therefore it lacked capability to dock with a lunar module. Block I also employed preliminary designs of certain subsystems, and was heavier than the Block II version with lunar mission capability. All previous command and service modules flown (with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AS-105
AS-105 was the fifth and final orbital flight of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, and the third and final launch of a Pegasus micrometeroid detection satellite. It was launched by SA-10, the tenth and final Saturn I rocket, in 1965. Overview AS-105 was an Apollo boilerplate spacecraft; boilerplate BP-9A was used for the flight. The spacecraft reentered on November 22, 1975. The Saturn launch vehicle (SA-10) was similar to those of missions AS-103 and AS-104. As on the previous mission, the boilerplate service module was equipped with a test installation of a reaction control engine package. The primary flight objective was to continue demonstration of the launch vehicle's iterative guidance mode and evaluation of system accuracy. Launch AS-105 was launched from Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 37B at 08:00 EST (13:00 GMT) on July 30, 1965, on the last Saturn I rocket, SA-10. A planned thirty-minute hold ensured that launch time coincided with the opening of the Pegasus laun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
