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Author
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Topic: Apollo 21? How much hardware was there
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DFBrunswick
Member Posts: 40
From: California, USA
Registered: May 2015
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posted 02-25-2017 08:58 PM
   
How much Apollo hardware (Saturn V rockets, command and service modules and lunar modules) was there available for missions past Apollo 11?Apollo 20 was cancelled because the Saturn V for that mission was moved to the Skylab Program. But what about the CSMs and LMs? Was there enough hardware to go past Apollo 20? |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1220
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 02-25-2017 10:04 PM
Only two CSMs remain, 115A and 119. LM-9 is at KSC and LM-13 was built, so no, there was not enough hardware for more flights. Only stages for two flight worthy Saturn V are remaining. |
DFBrunswick
Member Posts: 40
From: California, USA
Registered: May 2015
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posted 02-26-2017 11:45 PM
I have seen the list of serial numbers of the CSMs and they go up to CSM-119. There is also CSM-115 and CSM-115a. And if CSM-115a had not been named as such then the list of CSMs would have gone up to CSM-120. Why was CSM-115a given that designation instead of being given a solid number? |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 02-27-2017 01:09 AM
The answer is probably that 115a was never intended as a flightworthy article. A 1978 NASA document listing the disposal of Apollo artifacts has it listed as a "spares vehicle." |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1220
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 02-28-2017 05:03 PM
I am not finding a CSM-115, just 115A. Maybe the "A" shows that it was modified from it's original configuration? |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 03-01-2017 12:40 AM
No - definitely two articles. In 1978 CSM 115 is listed as transferred to the Smithsonian and to be moved to JSC in April of that year. CSM 115a was stored in building 247 at Downey, but in January 1978 was transferred to the Smithsonian where, it is recorded, its location became unknown with a possibility that it might have been sent to Japan. |
Maia12
Member Posts: 11
From: Portugal
Registered: Nov 2015
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posted 03-01-2017 08:37 AM
The CSM-115 was intended for Apollo 19; CSM-115A for Apollo 20. After Apollo 20 was canceled in January 1970, this CSM was somehow placed "on hold." However, work on it did not stop as there was a possibility of using this CSM on a second workshop mission. You can check this here (January 7 entry).Eventually, work on this CSM stopped altogether: in June 1972, NASA Deputy Director George M. Low and Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dale D. Myers decided that there was no mission for the CSM-115A (and to 115). As we can see, the CSM-115 and CSM-115A aren't the same spacecraft. Source (June 26 entry). Now answering to your question, after the decision to fly Apollo 8 to the moon, the use of a Saturn V (SA-504) instead of two Saturn IB in Apollo 9, and the successful landing of Apollo 11, means that there were enough Saturn V to fly Apollo up to 20. And Apollo 20 was on the table for a few months (the mission was canceled in January 1970 so its Saturn V could be used to launch the space station. For Apollo 21 you need: - More Saturn V. In fact, the procurement for the SA-516 and the SA-517 had begun, but NASA never had the funds to build them, and was restricted to the initial order of 15 (Source).
- More CSMs.
- A reason to fly it. Could be a Type I mission (long duration lunar orbital).
- And the most obvious, funds and political support (which Apollo 18 and 19 did not have, so much for an Apollo 21).
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Ronpur
Member Posts: 1220
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 03-01-2017 06:24 PM
Okay, that clears up some items. I was looking on A Field Guide to American Spacecraft that lists 115A at JSC. And not 115. So 115 is missing? Or may have been sent to Japan? Wow. Is there any Apollo CSMs that have been displayed there? I remember reading of LM-7 1/2 in Japan. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 03-02-2017 12:56 AM
The entry for Vehicle Useage in the 1978 document for CSM 115 is a rather cryptic - AS 515 - SLA#25.Though an excellent reference, the Field Guide does contain errors and needs updating. The Smithsonian too does not always know where artifacts in its care are located. For example, at the present time they seem to have lost an Apollo boilerplate BP-1205 as it is most definitely not where they thought it was located and are unable to say where it is now. |
SaturnV
Member Posts: 24
From: Fowler, Ohio, USA
Registered: Sep 2013
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posted 03-06-2017 09:23 AM
How in the world do you "lose" a command module! Doesn't anybody at NASA or who worked at the Smithsonian have a clue what happened to CSM 115? |
cspg
Member Posts: 6222
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-06-2017 10:59 AM
Apparently (if you believe wikipedia), CSM 115 is at the Johnson Space Center. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 03-08-2017 01:00 AM
quote:
Originally posted by SaturnV:
Doesn't anybody at NASA or who worked at the Smithsonian have a clue what happened to CSM 115?
As I pointed out in my post of 1st March, CSM 115 was sent to JSC in 1978. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1220
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 03-08-2017 06:17 AM
So it is 115A that is currently location unknown. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 03-08-2017 07:48 AM
Again, see my post of 1st. March. 
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