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  Apollo 16 rollback to VAB (January 1972)

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Author Topic:   Apollo 16 rollback to VAB (January 1972)
LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 10-24-2019 07:55 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Was the slide wire emergency egress system in place at the 320-foot level of the launch umbilical tower (LUT) at Pad 39A when Apollo 16 had to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Jan. 27, 1972?

Was the slide wire system installed once (after rollout 2), or twice (after rollout 1 and again after rollout 2) at the pad?

LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 10-24-2019 11:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here is some film footage of the rollback to the VAB. Nice footage.

LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 10-26-2019 01:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
These Apollo 16 rollout photos in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal have the wrong dates:

Photo KSC-72P-66 shows rollout 2 and is dated Feb 8, 1972. The second rollout was actually on Feb 9.

Photo S72-19795 is described as the second rollout and is dated Feb 9. It is actually the first rollout on Dec 13, 1971.

LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 10-29-2019 06:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Apollo 16 rollback did not delay the launch. The launch date was changed from March 17 to April 16 before the command module RCS fuel system leak on Jan 25. From the January 12, 1972 news release:
Apollo 16 was rescheduled from a March 17 launch after problems were discovered with a suit fitting, a lunar module battery, and the docking ring jettison device on the command module.

LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 10-29-2019 11:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The first 45 seconds of this film clip show scenes of the rollback and the CM with the heatshield removed in the MSOB.

LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 10-31-2019 02:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The slide wire cables can be seen in this December 1971 photo of Apollo 16 on the pad, so the emergency egress system at the 320-foot level of LUT-3 must have been installed twice.

LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 11-01-2019 09:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The National Archives has these relevant film subjects (not available online):
  • KSC - Apollo 16 Rollout
  • KSC - Apollo 16 Vehicle Rollback to the VAB for Fuel Tank Installation in the CM
  • KSC - Apollo 16 Spacecraft De-Mating and Move to Workstand
  • KSC - Apollo 16 Spacecraft 113 Re-Work Activities, Reinstalling Heat Shield and Rollout from MSOB to VAB
  • KSC - Apollo 16 Spacecraft Re-Stacking and Docking Ring Modifications, High Bay, VAB
  • KSC - Apollo 16 Vehicle Rollback to the Pad (Rollout 2)

LM-12
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Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 11-14-2019 04:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
At what point in the Pad 39 processing schedule did the Apollo 16 rollback occur?

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