AS-201
AS -201 (also known as SA -201 ) was the first unmanned test flight of the Apollo spacecraft of NASA.
Preparation
Both of the rocket as well as the payload it was the first flight. As a rocket for the first time was a Saturn IB available, compared to the Saturn I used to date been able to develop a greater thrust and had a new second stage. As an indicator for the Saturn IB, a "2 " in the hundreds place of the mission designation was used.
The payload consisted of an early version of the Apollo spacecraft with the serial number 009, it was planned that the spacecraft, the Earth should not revolve, but already ignite the own engine shortly after burnout of Saturn and should bring about an increased re-entry speed to the heat shield to test.
AS -201 was mounted on launch pad 34 Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral. The individual parts of the rocket arrived by sea: the first stage on 14 August 1965 the second stage on September 19th and the instrument unit on October 22.
The transport of the Apollo spacecraft had been delayed because the transport airplane " Pregnant Guppy " had remained several days on the Ellington Air Force Base because of engine trouble. The Aero Space Lines Company has been committed to continue to stock replacement parts for the aircraft at several airports along the usual lines.
On December 26, rocket and spacecraft were assembled, so that the tests could begin. At that time, the Gemini program was carried out in half, five of the scheduled ten manned flights had already taken place.
History of the flight
The launch was originally scheduled for February 23, 1966 but had to be postponed several times due to bad weather. On February 26, the countdown was stopped three seconds before the scheduled start due to an error in the helium system. Two times the starting count is reset and the countdown at T- 15 minutes has been added. Four minutes before the start reported a voltage monitor that the voltage on a manifold is below, but the flight management decided to perform the start anyway.
The launch took place on February 26, 1966 at 16:12:01 UTC. After 147 seconds, the first stage was dropped in 57 km altitude, after 602 seconds at 425 km, the second, the second between ten seconds longer than planned burning. There followed a period unpowered flight. In 488 km altitude, the Apollo spacecraft fired its engine to accelerate the re-entry. The engine first ran for 184 seconds, and later again for ten seconds. The entrance velocity in the Earth's atmosphere corresponded with 8.300 m / s ( 29,880 km / h ) about the re-entry after an orbital flight.
As expected, the wireless connection was interrupted 82 seconds long. 36 minutes and 59 seconds after starting to 16:49:00 UTC watered the Apollo landing capsule in the South Atlantic, at 8.18 ° S and 11.15 ° W, 8472 km from the launch site and 72 km away from the intended target point. The rescue was carried out by the aircraft carrier USS Boxer two and a half hours after splashdown. On 6 March, the landing capsule in Norfolk, Virginia brought ashore and transported on 10 March with an airplane for further investigation to North American Aviation Downey.
Impact on the Apollo program
Both rocket and spacecraft working mostly satisfactory.
Three major problems were identified:
- The Apollo engine worked only for 80 seconds error free. Due to a leak in a pipe was helium enters the combustion chamber, which led to sharp fluctuations in engine performance.
- An incorrect wiring the spacecraft lost the ability to control during reentry
- A short-circuit resulted in measurements during the re-entry could not be performed.
The next test, AS -202 should also be a suborbital flight, it was planned a longer flight time and a greater number of thruster firings. AS -203 was preferred, however, because the Apollo spacecraft was not yet available.
The Command Module CSM -009 was later used for drop tests at the White Sands Missile Range. Today it stands in the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska.