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Forum:	Space History Photo of the Week
Topic:	Photo of the week 550 (May 9, 2015)

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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#ffffff" FACE="sans-serif">T O P I C     R E V I E W</font></CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="sans-serif">heng44</FONT></TD><TD><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="sans-serif"><center><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/heng44/media/Photo%20of%20the%20Week/0550_19650505_S65-19886_zpsxjbmh58b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v286/heng44/Photo%20of%20the%20Week/0550_19650505_S65-19886_zpsxjbmh58b.jpg" border="0" width="480"/></a></center><P>Apollo command module boilerplate #22 atop Little Joe II launch vehicle 12-51-2 is awaiting launch from Launch Complex 36 at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The spacecraft was launched May 19, 1965, to test the launch escape system. Also known as A-003, this was the fourth abort test of the Apollo spacecraft. During the launch an actual abort situation occurred, but the LES successfully pulled BP-22 away from the malfunctioning Little Joe and it landed safely under parachutes.</FONT></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="sans-serif">stsmithva</FONT></TD><TD><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="sans-serif">One of my favorite scenes in the excellent Science Channel documentary "Moon Machines" occurred during this "successful failure." Sure, it showed that they had work to do on the booster's gyroscopes, but the fact that the rocket started to roll, eventually tearing itself apart, caused a perfect test of the escape tower.<P>If you'd like to see this 2-3 minute scene, you could start at 12:45.<P><center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/slUwVZJSVPY?showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Jonnyed

Terrific photo and story. Sorry to ask such a fundamental question (I'm a nuclear engineer not an aerospace engineer) but what is the intent of the launch pad cant angle? To ensure some movement downrange and away from the pad itself during most malfunction scenarios?

onesmallstep

Also the angle (which can be changed) is necessary to adjust to the wind direction to enable recovery by parachute within a designated area. The same applies to its smaller-scale cousins, toy model rockets launched from its own adjustable launch platform.

Jonnyed

Were there any Saturn V launch disaster scenarios (post ignition) where even this escape tower system would prove to be ineffective? Or did it cover 99.9% of the scenarios?

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