|
|
|
|
Author
|
Topic: For The Record
|
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
|
posted 11-09-2003 02:35 PM
   
FOR THE RECORD: CS.com's Today in Space History feature for Nov. 9, 1967, wasn't exactly true. The first Apollo/Saturn V flight test (AS-501/Apollo 4), which was perhaps one of NASA's most critical launches ever in the agency's history, never had a Lunar Module (LM) onboard as indicated. All three stages and components of a Saturn V "moon" rocket were successfully flown for the first time, however, concerning the Apollo spacecraft hardware that was above the S-IVB third stage and IBM's Instrument Unit--there was no LM inside the protective shroud, and ontop of that, there was an Apollo Command Service Module (CSM) and its emergency Launch Escape System (LES) rocket cluster. The unmanned Apollo command capsule splashed into the Pacific 8 hours and 37 minutes after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A for its first-time use. The first Apollo Lunar Module (LM) to actually take flight was the unmanned Apollo 5/Saturn 1B mission in 1968 with LM-1 (#3 was used by the Apollo 9 crew; first to fly a manned LM in space in 1969). |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42986
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 11-09-2003 03:13 PM
Thanks, Ken for the correction. I changed the text to read "LM test article" (LTA-10R was onboard Apollo 4). |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2913
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
|
posted 11-10-2003 02:11 PM
No correction needed, Robert, but the first operational flight article of the lunar module (LM-1) was actually planned to fly aboard AS-501/Apollo 4 up until June 1967 when Grumman told NASA LM-1 wasn't ready for flight. The lunar test article (LTA-10R) was 1 of 7 that Grumman used as structural flight articles, but most were used for ground support studies and various test operations. The last was used for Apollo 6/AS-502, the second and final unmanned Saturn V flight test. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
|
posted 11-10-2003 11:14 PM
I never heard or read that LM-1 was ever planned to fly aboard AS-501. In fact, AS-206 was being prepared on Pad 37B for the as then scheduled launch of LM-1 (spring '67). I am not disputing that AS-501 was planned to carry LM-1 but would say that it was not originally planned that way. After the Apollo 1 fire, a number of plans changed. Perhaps there was a period after the fire - a few months - in which consideration was given to flying LM-1 on AS-501. That would seem to make sense in light of the "all-up" testing approach NASA took during that time period. | |
Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts
Copyright 2020 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.
Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.47a
|
|
|
 advertisement
|
