Nov 9 1967
From The Space Library
Listen to the Launch of Apollo 4
Listen to the Post-Launch Press Conference for Apollo 4
Listen to the Post-Flight Press Conference for Apollo 4
Listen to Wernher von Braun and Kurt Debus discuss Apollo 4 (in German)
NASA's Apollo 4 (AS-501) was successfully launched from ETR at 7:00 am EST in first all-up test of three-stage Saturn V launch vehicle, first in-orbit restart of third (S-IVB) stage, and first use of Launch Complex 39 and ground support equipment. Launch vehicle stages performed nominally; orbital insertion, 3rd stage restart, and injection into earth-intersecting coast ellipse were accomplished satisfactorily; Command Module (CM) encountered no functional problems; and splashdown occurred within 10 mi of planned landing point. Third stage ignited to insert Command Service Module (CSM) into orbit with nominal parking apogee, 119 mi; perigee, 114 mi; period, 88.2 min; inclination, 32.6°. After two revolutions in parking orbit, 3rd stage was reignited for simulated translunar injection burn, injected stage and spacecraft into earth intersecting orbit with 10,774-mi apogee. Following Stage/CSM separation, Service Propulsion System (SPS) ignited for 16-sec burn, raising apogee to 11,314 mi. Spacecraft was aligned to a specific attitude to achieve thermal gradient across CM heat shield. Attitude, with CM hatch window directly toward sun, was maintained for about hrs. [CM hatch window had been replaced with instrumented test panel containing simulations of flexible thermal seals and gaps between hatch and surrounding heat shield. Successful performance of thermal seals during reentry heating would qualify seals for use on manned CMS.] SPS was then reignited for 271-sec burn to accelerate spacecraft to the most severe entry conditions that could possibly occur in a lunar-return trajectory. SPS cutoff was followed by CM/SM separation and orientation of CM to entry attitude. Atmosphere reentry at 400,000 ft occurred at flight path angle of -7.077° with inertial velocity of 36,537 fps (24,911 mph) . CM landed in mid-Pacific near Hawaii at 3:37 pm, EST, and was recovered by USS Bennington 2 hrs 14 min after touchdown. In significant step toward developing manned lunar landing capability, Apollo 4's flight was the first of two to three missions designed to qualify Saturn V for manned flight, and the first test of the structural integrity and compatibility of launch vehicle and spacecraft. By subjecting CM's heat shield to high heat load and heat rate, NASA was evaluating CM's design adequacy for reentry from lunar missions-primary objective to achieve successful manned lunar mission. Other primary mission objectives were to: confirm launch loads and dynamic characteristics; demonstrate stage separation; verify operation of launch vehicle subsystems and spacecraft subsystems; evaluate performance of space vehicle Emergency Detection System (EDS) in an open-loop configuration; and demonstrate mission support facilities and operations required for launch, mission conduct, and CM recovery. Saturn V was the most powerful space vehicle developed in US. space program; in launch configuration with Apollo 4, height was 363 ft, and weight, fully fueled, was 6,220,025 lbs. Saturn V's 1st stage engines produced 7,610,000 lbs of thrust at liftoff, and the launch vehicle placed 278,699 lbs in earth orbit. This launch vehicle could place 96,000 lbs on the moon. Kerosene (RP-1) was the fuel used in the five 1st stage (S-1C) engines, while 2nd stage (S-II) engines used liquid hydrogen. The five S-II stage J-2 engines, developing total thrust of 1,000,000 lbs, were rated for operations to 117-mi altitude and to 935-mi distance downrange. Third stage (S-IVB) J-2 engine, using liquid hydrogen fuel, developed about 200,000 lbs of thrust. High-quality pictures of the earth were obtained from about one hour before to one hour after apogee on Command Module apogee camera film processed at MSC. Success for Apollo 4 (AS-501) , according to NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dr. George E. Mueller, had been achieved in terms of "pre-set primary objectives." Heat shield design, S-IVB restart, structural/thermal integrity, compatibility of launch vehicle and spacecraft, and ground support had been proven. Direction of Apollo Program had been the responsibility of OMSF; development of Apollo spacecraft, flight crew training, and mission control the responsibility of MSC; development of Saturn launch vehicles the responsibility of MSFC; and Apollo/Saturn launch operations the responsibility of KSC. Under overall direction of OTDA, MSFN had been managed by GSFC. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-275; MSFC Release 67-226)
Apollo Program Manager M/G Samuel C. Phillips, commented on countdown operations for Saturn/Apollo (AS-501): ". . . I was tremendously impressed with the smooth teamwork that this combined government/multi-industry team put together [and] you could almost feel the will with which it was being carried out. I think that's important to the progress of Apollo . . . perhaps even more so than some of the technical returns we'll get from this mission. . . . Apollo is on the way to the moon." (Text)
U.S. officials praised successful flight of Apollo 4 (AS-501). President Johnson said that "the whole world could see the awesome sight of the first launch of what is now the largest rocket ever flown. This launching symbolizes the power this Nation is harnessing for the peaceful exploration of space. The successful completion of today's flight has shown that we can launch and bring back safely to earth the space ship that will take men to the moon." NASC's Executive Secretary Dr. Edward C. Welsh said the Nation's people "should be proud of this historic landmark in propulsion and precision, and particularly in the boost given our national space program." Looking toward the future, NASA Administrator James E. Webb praised this "successful demonstration of the devotion and high quality workmanship of over 300,000 men and women in thousands of industrial plants, laboratories, test facilities, universities and government installations [and this] success [which] will permit us to move more rapidly on to a second launch." Dr. Wernher von Braun said, "NO single event since the formation of the Marshall Center in 1960 equals today's launch in significance [and] I regard this happy day as one of the three or four highlights of my professional life-to be surpassed only by the manned lunar landing." (PD, 11/13/67,1541; Text; UPI, NYT, l1 /l O / 67,32C; Marshall Star, 11/15/67,1-10)
Blastoff of Saturn V at ETR produced one of the loudest noises in history, natural or man-made, according to Columbia Univ.'s Lamont Geological Observatory at Palisades, N.Y. Observatory physicist Dr. William Donn labeled U.S. and U.S.S.R. nuclear explosions the only louder manmade sounds and 1883 fall of Great Siberian Meteorite as the only louder natural sounds on record. (AP, W Post, 11/10/67, A8)
President Johnson announced intention to nominate M/G Richard P. Klocko (USAF) , Deputy Director, National Military Command System Technical Support, Defense Communications Agency, for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as Director, Defense Communications Agency. He would replace L/G Alfred D. Starbird (USA) who had been assigned as System Manager, BMDS. (PD, 11/13/67,1539)
November 9-24: NASA's Surveyor VI, launched Nov. 7, became fourth U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on the moon when it touched down at 08:01 EST in Sinus Medii after 64-hr flight and began transmitting first of 30,065 detailed television pictures to JPL Deep Space Facilities, Goldstone, Calif. Landing sequence began when Surveyor VI shifted its normal cruising attitude to position main retrorocket. Triggered by radar, main retromotor slowed spacecraft to 374 mph; retromotor then ejected. Vernier engines cut off at 13 ft above lunar surface and spacecraft landed. First photos transmitted showed one of spacecraft's landing pads resting on sand-like soil similar to that pictured in previous Surveyor photos. Later pictures confirmed that area was rough and pitted with craters; they revealed a region strewn with rocks up to two feet in diameter and a huge cliff described by USGS scientist Dr. Eugene Shoemaker as "the most rugged feature . . . yet seen on the moon." Efforts to reestablish communications with Surveyor V, which had soft-landed Sept. 10, for simultaneous communications with Surveyor VI, proved futile. On Nov. 17 Surveyor VI's vernier engines were fired for 2.5 sec, lifting spacecraft to 10-ft altitude before it touched down 8.5 sec later, 8 ft west of original resting point. Purpose of translation-first planned change of location ever accomplished after conclusion of initial flight-was to test lunar surface bearing strength, determine depth of original footprints made by spacecraft, obtain stereo-type effect by comparing photos taken of same area from different positions, and study engine erosion effects. Post-translation photos showed cratering and scouring effect on areas under engines and confirmed that alpha-scattering instrument-which had stopped functioning properly after operating successfully for 43 hrs and providing excellent data on chemical composition of lunar soil-had come to rest upside down. Communications with spacecraft were halted Nov. 24 to preserve battery power during cold of lunar night. Performance of Surveyor VI was nearly flawless. SURVEYOR I (launched May 30,1966) , SURVEYOR III (launched April 17,1967) , and Surveyor V (launched Sept. 8,1967) had all soft-landed successfully and transmitted photos to earth. SURVEYOR II (launched Sept. 20, 1966) failed to soft-land because of an ignition failure. Communications with SURVEYOR IV (launched July 14, 1967) were lost seconds before it was scheduled to soft-land and its condition could not be determined. (NASA Proj Off; NASA Release 67-278; JPL Release; AP, B Sun, 11/16/67, 1; Reuters; W Post, 11/10/67,1)
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