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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0658.PDF
644 FLIGHT International, 20 April 1957 Spaceflight S-IVB STAGES AS WORKSHOPS Modifications to Saturn S-IVB stages, to enable them to be used in orbit as two-storey living and working quarters when empty of fuel, has begun at Douglas under a NASA pro- gramme. An orbiting S-IVB laboratory is one of the primary features of the Apollo Applications Programme outlined recently by NASA to extend the manned-spacefiight envelope developed in the Apollo lunar programme (see also Flight for March 16). The S-IVB's empty liquid-hydrogen tank will be the section occupied by astronauts. It is 21ft in diameter and 25ft long and will provide about 10,000 cu ft of space. The tank will be divided into two compartments by a lightweight metal grating, with one section as living quarters and the other as a work area for carrying out a variety of experiments. An airlock being developed by McDonnell will be attached to the forward end of the S-IVB to provide air and other life- support essentials. On the initial flight it will help to provide a "shirtsleeves environment" inside the big tank for up to 30 days. As outlined by NASA, the first AAP workshop mission will be flown late next year or in 1969 if the up-rated Saturn I launch vehicles are not needed for the Apollo pro- gramme. Because the AAP is being carried out on a strict basis of non-interference with the Apollo lunar landing programme, NASA has not yet designated a specific S-IVB vehicle for use as the spent-stage workshop. Instead, Douglas has been directed to modify several S-IVB vehicles now on the production line. The changes will permit any of these to be used as a workshop without compromising their performance as Apollo launch vehicles. There are two main changes. One is the fixing of threaded studs in the hydrogen-tank wall to serve as attachment points for floors, for handholds and for rails on which equipment will be mounted if the stage is selected for use as a workshop. The other is the development of a stage "passivation" system to ensure the shutdown of unwanted electrical circuits, dumping of unused hydraulic fluids and pneumatic gases and complete ventilation of the hydrogen tank before the crewmen enter. The system requires simple changes in the normal automatic sequences for opening or closing valves and switches. NASA also has authorised Douglas to develop a quick- opening hatch for easy access through the manhole at the top of the hydrogen tank—the standard manhole cover is held in place by 72 bolts. In addition, a fire-retarding aluminium- foil liner is to be fitted over the plastic-foam insulation of the hydrogen tank. The first AAP flight will be a dual-launch mission to establish the orbiting workshop, in which one up-rated Saturn I vehicle will boost an Apollo with its three-man crew int0 orbit. Four or five days later another up-rated Saturn I, ^j^, its S-IVB stage destined to become the workshop, will lift 0« to rendezvous with the Apollo in orbit. The second Saturn will carry the airlock and a special multiple docking structure. The S-IVB stage will be fully fuelled at launch but will deplete its propellants in reaching orbit. At an altitude of about 300 miles above the Earth the Apollo will dock with the S-IVB. The astronauts will leave their space- craft, enter the airlock and operate the systems to make the S-IVB habitable. After the last traces of propellant have been vented from the rocket the astronauts will open the manhole at the top of the hydrogen tank, enter, and start setting up housekeeping, a task which will take several days. They will install partitions, attach handholds and fix rails and nets to the tank walls to bring in food, supplies and experimental equipment stored in the airlock during the launch. With the completion of these preparations the astronauts will be ready for up to 28 days of in-space experiments before closing down and returning to Earth in their Apollo capsule. If successful, this operation would be followed about six months later by a second mission, the purpose of which would be to use the workshop as a base for an orbiting solai observatory. One up-rated Saturn I would boost an Apollo with a three-man crew and life-support supplies to a rendezvous with the orbiting S-IVB workshop. A day later another Saturn would transport a large solar telescope—the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) now being planned by NASA—for attachmeni to the docking structure of the workshop. Again, the astronaut crew would live in the S-IVB while setting up the telescope for operation. The second visit to the space laboratory might last up to 56 days before the astronauts returned by Apollo to Earth. WORLD WEATHER WATCH Final plans were announced in Geneva on March 23 for ths weather forecasting system which, known as the World Weathei Watch, will come into operation next year. It will be based on the use of a number of weather satellites transmitting in- formation to three computer centres, located in Washington Moscow and Melbourne. Data from these centres will permii accurate weather forecasts for up to 24hr ahead and will also it is claimed, improve long-range forecasting. According to the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation, accurate weather information could mean saving of more than £6,000 million per year for operators of aviation agricultural, building, forestry, maritime and other services. In Geneva 300 delegates are attending the 26-day Worlc Meteorological Congress, which opened there on April 3, a« which will be called upon to approve the WMO budget fo the next four years, which is estimated at $13 million. This artist's impression shows the S-IVB orbiting workshop. Extending from the airlock at the extreme right is the multiple docking adapter to which is docked an Apollo command service module and Apollo te/escope mount
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