Posts: 730
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 10-23-2015 10:06 PM               

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Recently I read that at one time Apollo boilerplate 27 along with a launch escape system (LES) was planned to be flown atop the Saturn IB used to launch LM-1. I wish I could find the reference, but have forgotten the source.

This surprised me because I do not believe the Saturn IB could have lifted that much weight into orbit. As I recall, 41,000 pounds was its payload capacity.

Could the BP-27/LES combination have weighed only around 11,000 pounds? Boilerplate Apollo spacecraft had the same size, shape, weight, and center of gravity as an actual spacecraft, so this seems very unlikely.