Saturn launch vehicle film report number 38
covers progress of the Saturn IB and Saturn
V Programs during the period October, November,
and December 1968.
As this quarter began, final high bay checkout
was underway in Kennedy Space Center’s Vertical
Assembly Building on AS-503, the third Saturn
V flight vehicle, and the one whose destiny
would be to launch three astronauts on mankind’s
most awesome journey to the Moon.
On October 9, the 503 vehicle, mated to the
Apollo 8 spacecraft which would house astronauts
Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders,
was slowly moved aboard its mobile launcher
the three miles for the VAB to Pad A, Launch
Complex 39.
Here, the painstaking final preparations and
checkouts were performed during the following
weeks to ready AS-503 for its historic mission
of propelling its Apollo 8 spacecraft to the
first lunar orbit.
The six day prelaunch countdown began on December
15.
It proceeded with only minor problems, which
were resolved without impact on the scheduled
launch date.
At T minus twenty-eight hours, the actual
countdown commenced.
At 6:51 AM Central Standard Time, only milliseconds
off schedule, on Saturday, December 21, the
elliptical Apollo 8 flight began, its five
F-1 engines generating a total of seven and
a half million pounds of thrust.
The vehicle’s first, of S-IC stage, performed
perfectly.
The S-IC boosted the vehicle forty-two miles
at a speed of 6,068 miles per hour.
Performance of the S-IC’s pogo suppression
system was nominal, and indications are that
no pogo, or excessive longitudinal oscillations,
existed.
S-IC, S-II stage separation occurred at 154.5
seconds after liftoff, only 2.4 seconds beyond
predicted time.
Performance of the second, of S-II, stage
was also very satisfactory and well within
tolerance.
Powered by its five J-2 engines, the S-II
stage burned for six minutes and nine seconds
before cutoff and separation from the S-IVB
stage.
The third, or S-IVB, stage was started at
525 seconds into the flight and inserted the
Apollo spacecraft into a parking orbit around
the Earth.
After coasting for two hours and thirty-nine
minutes, the stage was reignited to place
Apollo into translunar injection.
Performance of the vehicle’s instrument
unit was extremely accurate both in the Earth
orbital injection and the translunar injection
phases.
Reaching the Moon after its 230,000 mile journey,
Apollo 8 passed within seventy miles of the
lunar surface during the spacecraft’s ten
lunar orbits.
After some twenty hours in lunar orbit, Apollo
8 began its return trip to Earth.
Reentering Earth’s atmosphere at 25,000
miles per hour, Apollo 8 splashed down safely
on target in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
With the historic AS-503 flight accomplished,
AS-504, the fourth Saturn V flight vehicle,
now becomes the most immediate center of attention.
Erection of the AS-504 in the VAB was performed
in early October and checkout and testing
have been proceeding without any delay to
the launch schedule.
Rollout to the launch pad is set for early
January.
AS-504 is scheduled to launch the Apollo 9
spacecraft on February 28 for a low Earth
orbital mission involving the first manned
operation of the Apollo’s lunar module.
All stages for the fifth Saturn V flight vehicle,
AS-505, arrived at KSC this quarter from the
prime contractors.
The S-IC stage was delivered November 30,
the S-II stage arrived on December 10, the
S-IVB stage on December 3, and the instrument
unit on December 14.
Stacking of the AS-505 vehicle is due in early
January.
-505 is tentatively scheduled to launch Apollo
10 on a circumlunar mission in mid-May 1969.
Saturn V stage contractors were active during
the report period in testing stages for future
launch vehicles.
At NASA’s Mississippi Test Facility, static
firing tests of S-IC stages 7 and 8 were successfully
conducted by Boeing.
Also at MTF, static firing of S-II-6 was conducted
in October by North American Rockwell Space
Division, and post-static checkout and modifications
have been completed, S-II-7 has been installed
in MTF’s other S-II stand, and preparations
are underway for a mid-January firing.
At the Sacramento, California facility of
McDonnell Douglas, S-IVB-7 was static tested
in October.
Post-static checkout and mods are now finished.
Preparations are being made for static firing
of S-IVB-8 next quarter.
A solution to corrosion problems encountered
under the new S-II stage spray foam insulation
is now being applied at the contractor’s
Seal Beach, California facility.
The problem had been isolated to the primer
used on the aluminum prior to spray foam application.
The old primer is being removed and a new
type primer, which provides more effective
corrosion protection, will replace it.
In the three part S-II Stage Light Weight
Structural Test Program, final testing of
the A structure at the Marshall Center was
successfully completed in November at 130
percent of limit load.
The S-II light weight B test structure was
virtually demolished by an explosion during
preparation for a test on December 20 at Santa
Susana, California.
Cause of the blast was determined to be an
inadequate purge of liquid oxygen from the
tank prior to start of testing.
The test was to simulate S-II load conditions
at S-IC stage cutoff.
The destroyed test item is not expected to
be replaced.
It is believed that extrapolation of data
from other tests will provide adequate analysis
of the test condition.
On November 19, the S-II cutoff test condition
had been successfully conducted.
Testing of the C structure was successfully
completed at the Marshall Center during the
quarter, final tests indicating the structure
would sustain a 110 percent limit load without
failure.
At the Huntsville facility of the Saturn V
instrument unit contractor, IBM, installation
of modification kits and retest operations
continued on various IUs throughout the report
period.
The fifth Saturn IB flight vehicle, designated
AS-205, was launched on October 11 from Launch
Complex 34 of the Kennedy Space Center, placing
the first manned Apollo spacecraft, Apollo
7, into Earth orbit.
AS-205 performed flawlessly as it lifted astronauts
Walter Schirra, Don Eisele, and Walter Cunningham
to what would be an almost eleven day stay
in space.
The vehicle’s first, or S-IB, stage’s
propulsion and mechanical systems operated
very satisfactorily, within .12 percent of
performance values.
This included the fuel pressurization, liquid
oxygen pressurization, control pressure, and
engine systems.
Stage separation occurred at 145.5 seconds
after liftoff, only about one second beyond
predicted time.
Performance of the second, or S-IVB, stage
and associated systems was also perfect.
S-IVB burn time was 470 seconds, within one
second of nominal.
The instrument unit’s guidance and control
systems performed with extreme precision.
Apollo 7 was inserted into an orbit of 173.6
miles apogee and 137.9 miles perigee.
All launch vehicle mission objectives were
accomplished, including a valuation of the
J-2 engine augmented spark ignitor line modification.
With its fifth successful flight in as many
launches, the Saturn IB launch vehicle has
now completed its mission in Project Apollo.
The nine remaining vehicles of the fourteen
ordered by NASA will now be placed in storage
until the beginning of the Apollo Applications
Program flights in 1971.
Their separate components, either complete
in assembly or undergoing modification, will
be stored and kept in readiness by their respective
manufacturers until reactivated for AAP.
Seven of the nine S-IB stages have been completed
and assembly is in progress on the last two
by the Chrysler Corporation’s Space Division
at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New
Orleans.
Storage of seven completed S-IVB stages for
Saturn IB vehicles is being accomplished by
the prime contractor, McDonnell Douglas, at
its Sacramento, California facility.
The final two stages will be completed by
working them into the Saturn V production
schedule as an economy measure.
S-IVB is common to both launch vehicles.
All but two of the Saturn IB instrument units
have been completed and are being stored by
IBM, Huntsville.
The remaining units will be worked into the
Saturn V assembly schedule.
Maintenance of all stored Saturn IB vehicle
components for the resumption of launches
for AAP will be required for all prime contractors.
Systems are being developed for keeping the
stages in controlled environments to prevent
any possible deterioration.
In summation, the report period October, November,
December 1968 witnessed the culmination of
years of effort in its two historic milestones,
the launching of the first manned Apollo spacecraft
by AS-205 and the AS-503 launch, which resulted
in man’s first rendezvous with the Moon.
