This report on the uprated Saturn I, the vehicle
which will provide the power for the first
manned Apollo flights and Apollo Applications
Program missions covers progress during January,
February, and March 1967.
At Cape Kennedy, tragedy struck the Apollo
Saturn Program when three astronauts, Virgil
Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee,
lost their lives in a spacecraft fire while
preparing for the AS-204 manned orbital flight.
Although the January 27 fire destroyed the
spacecraft, shown here being removed for detailed
examination, the launch vehicle was undamaged.
The review board appointed immediately after
the incident determined the fire was probably
caused by an electrical arch.
The precise origin of the fire will probably
never be determined.
As a result of the board’s investigation,
several areas of the spacecraft are being
redesigned.
To maintain program momentum, NASA is revising
mission assignments and flight schedules.
Marshall management is responding to these
changes and will provide flight ready launch
vehicles as required to support the new mission
plans.
Saturn 204 will now launch an unmanned lunar
module into Earth orbit for tests and checkout
this fall.
The changes required to the vehicle and ground
support equipment, although extensive for
the available time, are well underway and
will be completed as scheduled.
In conjunction with a new mission, the vehicle
is shown being moved in late March from KSC’s
Launch Complex 34 to Launch Complex 37, which
is equipped for lunar module launches.
Saturn 204 was selected for the next mission
in order to take early advantage of the last
full instrumented R&D vehicle.
Saturn 205, 206, and 207 will be launched
in that order.
Saturn 205, whose stages and instrument unit
are now ready and in storage at contractor
plants, will now launch the first manned Apollo
command and service module into Earth orbit.
It will also be the first flight of a Block
II Apollo spacecraft unit.
Saturn 205 was originally slated to launch
the command and service module portion of
the first Apollo due a launch mission, which
had been scheduled for late this year.
Therefore, it will require only minimal modification
for this new mission.
Saturn 206, which was originally slated to
launch a lunar module this summer, has been
de-erected from LC 37, and its stages and
instrument unit will be placed in storage
until needed.
Saturn 206 will be used next year together
with 207, in a dual launch mission.
This mission is scheduled as a backup to Apollo
Saturn 503.
After replacement of two Rocketdyne H-1 engines
with defective turbine blades, the first stage
for the Saturn 207 vehicle was placed in storage
by the prime contractor, the Chrysler Corporation,
at the Marshall Space Flight Center’s Michoud
Assembly Facility at New Orleans.
The stage will be removed temporarily from
storage next quarter to re-checkout the stage
with the two new engines in place.
Post static firing checkout of the first stage
for the Saturn 208 vehicle is being conducted
by Chrysler Michoud.
After testing is completed, the booster will
be stored until needed.
The four engines with defective turbine blades
were replaced before checkout started.
The Saturn 209 first stage was shipped to
the Marshall Center in January following completion
of pre static checkout at Michoud.
At Marshall, the stage underwent a successful
short duration static test, conducted by Chrysler
personnel, followed by a successful long duration
firing.
The stage was then returned to Michoud for
post static checkout, which is due to be completed
next quarter.
Pre static checkout of the first stage for
Saturn 210 has been finished by Chrysler-Michoud.
The Stage is now being prepared for shipment
to Marshall early next quarter for static
firing.
Final assembly of the first stage for Saturn
211 is in progress at Michoud with completion
scheduled early next quarter.
Assembly of the Saturn 212, the final one
under the present contract, is underway and
is scheduled to be finished during the nest
report period.
The second stage for the Saturn 207 vehicle
has been placed in storage at the Douglas
Aircraft Company’s Sacramento test center
following acceptance firing last quarter.
Some modifications will be accomplished prior
to shipment to KSC.
Post firing checkout of the Saturn 208 second
stage was completed at SACTO late in the quarter.
A successful acceptance firing had been performed
in January.
The stage had been accepted by NASA on March
22 and will be placed in storage until needed.
The Saturn 209 second stage completed factory
checkout early in the quarter and was shipped
to the Sacramento test center.
There, the stage is in storage awaiting completion
of acceptance firing of a Saturn V stage.
This is because stages from both Saturn programs
will have to use the remaining test stand
at the test center.
The other stand being substantially damaged
when a Saturn V stage exploded during testing
early in the quarter.
However, because of quick and thorough action
by the board investigating the explosion and
positive direction by Marshall and Douglas
management, the requirements of both programs
will be met.
The second stage for the Saturn 210 vehicle
was in the final phases of factory checkout
at Huntington Beach at the end of the quarter.
Fabrication and assembly operations on Saturn
211 and 212 second stages, the last two under
the present contract, were continued by Douglas
Aircraft throughout the report period.
Assembly operations for the second stage of
Saturn 211 included installation of aluminum
foil inside the stage’s liquid hydrogen
tank as a fire retardant.
The material is being installed in this stage
since it is scheduled to be used in the Apollo
Applications Program as an orbital workshop.
In this role, the stage, after it had achieved
orbit, will be used as a laboratory and living
quarters for astronauts during long duration
flights.
Checkout of the instrument unit for the Saturn
207 vehicle was finished this quarter by IBM
at its Huntsville, Alabama facility, and the
IU is now in storage until called for.
On the Saturn 208 instrument unit, installation
of components such as these thermal conditioning
panels, or cold plates, was competed during
the quarter and checkout of the unit is underway.
Structural fabrication for the Saturn 209
instrument unit has been completed by IBM,
and component assembly began in March.
Structural fabrication for the 210 IU started
in February and is continuing.
Structural members for the 211 IU and structural
fabrication is scheduled for next quarter.
On March 1, NASA Headquarters authorized the
Marshall Center to request proposals from
the uprated Saturn I prime contractors for
purchasing sixteen additional vehicles.
The primary mission for these vehicles will
be Apollo Applications flights.
The proposals will be based on the procurement
of four vehicles immediately, procurement
of long lead time items for three more vehicles,
and an option to complete the sixteen vehicle
order.
In summary, despite the tragic AS-204 accident
witnessed by the period January, February,
March 1967, NASA moved to maintain the momentum
in the program for which astronauts, Grissom,
White, and Chaffee had given their lives.
Marshall made the necessary changes to provide
launch vehicle support to the redefined missions
without disruption of overall program goals.
Assembly, checkout, and ground test operation
progressed steadily to provide the boosters,
second stages, and instrument units for the
vehicles which will achieve the uprated Saturn
I missions that lie ahead.
