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Author
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Topic: Saturn 1B vs V launch 'feel'
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Paul78zephyr
Member Posts: 678
From: Hudson, MA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 03-12-2007 07:35 PM
  
For those astronauts that rode both the 1B and the V (Conrad, Bean, Stafford) did they report a much different 'feel' during launch. Did the 1B give a smoother ride?Paul |
Joe Holloway
Member Posts: 74
From: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Registered: Jan 2007
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posted 03-12-2007 10:09 PM
In reviewing my late-father's launch audio cassette for Skylab 2, I know for certain that Astronaut Conrad specifically referred to the smooth ride of the IB.I seem to recall General Stafford also mentioning the easy ride on the IB, but would have to review tape/video to confirm that. Not sure about Captain Bean. |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3165
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-12-2007 10:38 PM
For an interview I did with the surviving ASTP crew members for an August 2001 "Spaceflight" magazine article, Stafford commented when comparing his three different boosters:"Gemini’s a lot more of a sporty ride. The big Saturn was twelve minutes to
orbit, four and three-quarters G atmaximum. The small Saturn was ten minutes to orbit, about 4Gs first stage. Gemini-Titan, you orbit in five minutes and 35 seconds, so there was over 5Gs first stage, 8 on the second. So the booster going out was really sporty. In terms of spacecraft, the real flying was Gemini, too. The Gemini was real small, of course, like a 104 fighter plane." |
Max Q
Member Posts: 399
From: Whyalla South Australia
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 03-13-2007 06:37 PM
I seem to recall in Lovell's " Lost Moon " I think it was that during the Apollo 8 mission there was a reference to the Saturn V as the old mans rocket due to its smooth ride now I know Lovell never rode the S1B but it strikes me as a fair indication. |
divemaster
Member Posts: 1376
From: ridgefield, ct
Registered: May 2002
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posted 03-13-2007 10:08 PM
Interesting question. I posed the same question to Stafford the first time we met. He gave me a much "more subtle" answer than he gave to Francis - he said that it was the Titan that was a real kick in the pants [and I don't think he used the word "pants", either].Not that he rode an S1b, but Dick Gordon once told me that because of the hypergolic fuel, the Titan "turned on" and then "turned off". The Saturn V was much more gentle.
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FFrench
Member Posts: 3165
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-13-2007 10:26 PM
Thanks Tracy - this reminded me, I also had the transcript of a talk I hosted for Stafford once - here's what he said there: "Our launch on the Saturn V - it was quite a monster to ride. It had a total of seven and a half million pounds of thrust, in fact the first stage burned four million pounds of propellant in two minutes. When you rode that monster up, you know you had a real tiger by the tail. It was quite a machine to ride out … it felt like a train wreck when you staged off that first stage to the second stage." Then, answering an audience query about the shuttle launch compared to his launches: "The G-forces on the shuttle are less. We have the first liquid rocket engines that we can throttle back. So you never get over 3 Gs. The big Saturn that I flew to the moon, we went up to four and three-quarter Gs first stage, staged off. Then about three and three quarters staged off, then up to three and a half G kicked out to the moon. It takes 11 minutes to orbit. The small Saturn I flew on Apollo-Soyuz was around four and a half first stage, three and a half second stage. That was about ten minutes to orbit. The shuttle goes up to 3Gs eyeballs in, the liquid engines throttle back when they go up through maximum dynamic pressure, to not put too much pressure on, then it goes back up. It just holds it steady around 3Gs as you are going, so the shuttle takes about eight minutes and twenty seconds. But it keeps it at a level of about 3Gs all the way up. On the Gemini-Titan, we were in orbit in five minutes and thirty-five seconds - so it was a real ride! You had about 6Gs first stage, bang, you stage in a fireball, then the second stage, we were out there pushing nearly 8Gs. You’re pushed back, and you go from 8Gs to zero-G in a tenth of a second. That was a real ride - and Mercury was actually, I think, a little bit more than that - a little over 8Gs." For more of Stafford's stories, check out his book "We Have Capture," co-authored with Mike Cassutt. www.amazon.com/We-Have-Capture-Stafford-Space/dp/1588341011/ [Edited by FFrench (March 13, 2007).] |
Aztecdoug
Member Posts: 1405
From: Huntington Beach
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 03-13-2007 11:48 PM
A few years back I spent some time with Gordon Cooper. I asked him about his impression of the Atlas versus the Titan. Referencing the Titan he grinned at me with a gleam in his eye and stated simply, "Five minutes to orbit!" I will never forget that look in his eye; it was like he had gone back about 40 years in time for a few seconds.
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Kind Regards Douglas Henry Enjoy yourself and have fun.... it is only a hobby!
http://home.earthlink.net/~aztecdoug/ |
Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 03-14-2007 02:55 PM
Doug:
Didn't the Mercury Atlas also take about 5 minutes to reach orbit? |
Aztecdoug
Member Posts: 1405
From: Huntington Beach
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 03-14-2007 11:35 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Tom:
Doug:
Didn't the Mercury Atlas also take about 5 minutes to reach orbit?
Well Hell's Bells... I looked back at the Apogee books for Friendship 7 and Sigma 7. According to the air ground communications they had SECO at 5:04 and 5:18 respectively.
I guess Atlas was the real Hot Rod and my memory needs to be readjusted a little bit! I think I was talking to Gordon Cooper! It was Big Bear, it was in the Summer and.... 
http://www.collectspace.com/sightings/sightings-cooper.html
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Kind Regards Douglas Henry Enjoy yourself and have fun.... it is only a hobby!
http://home.earthlink.net/~aztecdoug/ |
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