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Aviation History
1966
1966 - 0539.PDF
324 FLIGHT International, 24 February 1966 Spaceflight HEAVYWEIGHT PAYLOAD NASA's heaviest payload was scheduled to be launched by the United States' largest launch vehicle on a suborbital flight from Cape Kennedy yesterday, February 23. The payload was the first Apollo spacecraft (command and service modules); the vehicle the first Saturn IB. This flight was to be the first of at least three unmanned Apollo-/Saturn IB tests leading to manned Earth-orbital flights up to two weeks' duration in 1967. The command module of the spacecraft is a cone 13ft in base diameter and 12ft high. It weighs 11,0001b and has a habitable volume of 218 cu ft; during a manned flight it houses the three-man Apollo crew. The module has an inner pressure structure and an outer heat-shield structure separated by stringers for structural support and a microquartz fibre for thermal insulation. The outer housing limits heating of the pressure structure to less than 600 °F and the combined struc- tures keep the temperatures inside the spacecraft below 200 "F during re-entry. Outer structure is a three-piece heat-shield constructed of brazed honeycomb stainless steel to which is bonded an epoxy resin ablative material. Thickness of the ablative material varies from 0.9 to 2.6in (see diagram) according to the antici- pated aerodynamic heat distribution over the command module. Weighing a total of 45,9001b, the payload on the first Saturn IB flight comprised Apollo command module (ll,000lb), service module (22,8001b), spacecraft-LEM adapter (3,8001b) and launch escape system (8,3001b). No lunar excursion module was to be carried on this mission Q-Ball - Pitch control motor Canards (deployed) Jettison motor Launch escape motor Command module CM-to-SM fairing Service module RCS engines EPS radiator SC-LEM adapter (SLA) US - CM separation plane CM - SM separation plane ECS radiator (none functional) LAUNCH ESCAPE TOWER COMMAND MODULE SERVICE MODULE ADAPTER INSTRUMENT UNIT •GUIDANCE SYSTEMS •TELEMETRY EQUIPMENT • POWER SUPPLY BATTERIES AND INVERTERS 1/ SPACECRAFT •*• 83' 224- S-ffB SECOND STAGE •1J-2 ENGINE • 200.000 LB TOTAL THRUST • LOX/LH2 SIB FIRST STAGE • 8/H-l EKGINES • 1,600,000 LB TOTAL THRUST • LOX/RP-1 LAUNCH WEIGHT 1,304,000 LB LAUNCH VEHICLE 141' SPACE VEHICLE The Saturn IB launch vehicle. Main contractors include Chrysler (first stage), Rocketdyne (H-l and ]-2 engines), Douglas (second stage), IBM (instrument unit), Bendix (inenial platform for instrument unit) and • North American Aviation (Apollo command module, service module and LEM adapter) The inner structure—the primary load-carrying portion of the command module—is made of aluminium honeycomb bonded between sheets of aluminium alloy. An access cylinder (exit tunnel), capped by a pressure cover, extends from the crew compartment to the apex. Space around the cylinder just below the apex contains parachutes, pyrotechnics and elec- tronics equipment. The 22,8001b service module is a cylinder 22ft high and 13ft in diameter, containing four service propulsion system propel- lant tanks, the reaction control system and its tanks, radiators, batteries and expendables. The main propulsion unit of the spacecraft is at the base of the module, which has a shell of aluminium honeycomb sandwich panels, one inch thick with six radial support beams. The spacecraft-LEM adapter joins the service module and the S-IVB instrument unit. In future flights it will house the lunar excursion module (LEM) but on this flight it carries only an aluminium alloy bracing. The adapter is 28ft high, tapers from 22ft diameter at the instrument unit to 13ft at the service module, and weighs 3,8001b. It consists of four hinged aluminium honeycomb panels; these may be separated by explosive charges and opened petal-like to expose the LEM prior to docking manoeuvres on future flights. The ab/atiVe heot-sh/eM material for the com- mand module is sup- plied by Avco Research and Development Division. Thicknesses indicated in this cross- section are in inches. This epoxy resin material is bonded to a structure of brazed honeycomb stainless steel 2.6 Ablative material
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