Note: Only forum leaders may delete posts.
*HTML is ON *UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend
Smilies Legend
[i]After the two engines had gone out, the vehicle had maintained a pitched-up attitude known as chi-freeze for far longer than it would have under ordinary circumstances. "Well, the S-IVB lit up," (Flight Dynamics Officer Jay) Greene recalled, "and the first thing it said was, 'Omigod, I've got too much altitude.' And so it pointed its nose straight at the center of the earth." This battle between the guidance system and the gimbal limits on the engine continued for about eighty seconds, with Greene getting closer and closer to an abort call of his own. When the S-IVB finally gave up trying to get to the altitude it wanted, it had a flight-path angle that was unacceptably low. "So then the little devil said, 'Well, this is bad, I've got to pick up the flight-path angle,' so it started pitching up, and as it started pitching up it said, 'Now I'm over speed,' so it actually went into orbit thrusting backward." The plot boards showing where the Saturn had wandered looked as if a drunk had been drawing the trajectory. It was without question the most exciting powered launch anybody in the MOCR had ever witnessed. "A fascinating flight," Greene said tersely — his very first shift in the MOCR. What was he doing all this time? "Puckering."[/i]
Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts
Copyright 1999-2024 collectSPACE. All rights reserved.