Saturn IB SA-209

 

Dominating the Rocket Garden is a Saturn IB, SA-209. This booster, designated as the booster for a Skylab rescue mission should it prove necessary and later as a backup booster for the ASTP mission, it was never used for its intended purpose and today is one of two remaining Saturn IBs.

 

•General Specifications

oFunction: Apollo spacecraft development; S-IVB stage development in support of Saturn V; Skylab crew launcher

oManufacturer: Chrysler (S-IB); Douglas (S-IVB)

oCountry of Origin: United States

•Size

oHeight141.6 ft (43.2 m) without payload

oDiameter: 21.67 ft (6.61 m)

oMass: 1,300,220 lb (589,770 kg) without payload

oStages: 2

•Capacity

oPayload to LEO: 46,000 lb (21,000 kg)

•Launch History

oStatus: Retired

oLaunch Sites: LC-37 & LC-34, Cape Canaveral; LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center

oTotal Launches: 9

oSuccesses: 9

oFailures: 0

oFirst Flight: February 26, 1966

oLast Flight: July 15, 1975

oNotable Payloads: Unmanned Apollo CSM; Unmanned Apollo LM; Manned Apollo CSM

•First Stage – S-IB

oLength: 80.17 feet (24.44 m)

oDiameter: 21.42 feet (6.53 m)

oEmpty mass: 92,500 pounds (42,000 kg)

oGross mass: 973,000 pounds (441,000 kg)

oPropellant mass: 880,500 pounds (399,400 kg)

oEngines: 8 × Rocketdyne H-1

oThrust: 1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN)

oSpecific impulse: 272 seconds (2.67 km/s)

oBurn time: 150 seconds

oFuel: RP-1/LOX

•Second Stage – S-IVB-200

oLength: 58.42 feet (17.81 m)

oDiameter: 21.42 feet (6.53 m)

oEmpty mass: 23,400 pounds (10,600 kg)

oGross mass: 251,900 pounds (114,300 kg)

oPropellant mass: 228,500 pounds (103,600 kg)

oEngines: Rocketdyne J-2

oThrust: 200,000 lbf (890 kN)

oSpecific Impulse: 420 seconds (4.1 km/s)

oBurn Time: 480 seconds

oFuel: LH2 / LOX

 

The Saturn IB (pronounced “one B”, also known as the Uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It replaced the S-IV second stage of the Saturn I with the much more powerful S-IVB, able to launch a partially fueled Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) or a fully fueled Lunar Module (LM) into low Earth orbit for early flight tests before the larger Saturn V needed for lunar flight was ready.

 

By sharing the S-IVB upper stage, the Saturn IB and Saturn V provided a common interface to the Apollo spacecraft. The only major difference was that the S-IVB on the Saturn V burned only part of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit, so it could be restarted for trans-lunar injection. The S-IVB on the Saturn IB needed all of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit.

 

The Saturn IB launched two unmanned CSM suborbital flights, one unmanned LM orbital flight, and the first manned CSM orbital mission (first planned as Apollo 1, later flown as Apollo 7). It also launched one orbital mission, AS-203, without a payload so the S-IVB would have residual liquid hydrogen fuel. This mission supported the design of the restartable version of the S-IVB used in the Saturn V, by observing the behavior of the liquid hydrogen in weightlessness.

 

In 1973, the year after the Apollo lunar program ended, three Apollo CSM/Saturn IBs ferried crews to the Skylab space station. In 1975, one last Apollo/Saturn IB launched the Apollo portion of the joint US-USSR Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). A backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready for a Skylab rescue mission, but never flown.

 

The remaining Saturn IBs in NASA’s inventory were scrapped after the ASTP mission, as no use could be found for them and all heavy lift needs of the US space program could be serviced by the cheaper and more versatile Titan III family.

 

History

 

In 1959, NASA’s Silverstein Committee issued recommendations to develop the Saturn class launch vehicles, growing from the C-1. When the Apollo program was started in 1961 with the goal of landing men on the Moon, NASA chose the Saturn I for Earth orbital test missions. However, the Saturn I’s payload limit of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) would allow testing of only the Command Module with a smaller propulsion module attached, as the Apollo Command/Service Module would have a dry weight of at least 26,300 pounds (11,900 kg), in addition to service propulsion and reaction control fuel. In July 1962, NASA announced selection of the C-5 for the lunar landing mission, and decided to develop another launch vehicle by upgrading the Saturn I, replacing its S-IV second stage with the S-IVB, which would also be modified for use as the Saturn V third stage. The S-I first stage would also be upgraded to the S-IB by improving the thrust of its engines and removing some weight. The new Saturn IB, with a payload capability of at least 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg), would replace the Saturn I for Earth orbit testing, allowing the Command/Service Module to be flown with a partial fuel load. It would also allow launching the 32,000-pound (15,000 kg) Lunar Excursion Module separately for unmanned and manned Earth orbital testing, before the Saturn V was ready to be flown. It would also give early development to the third stage.

 

On May 12, 1966, NASA announced the vehicle’s name would be changed to the “Uprated Saturn I”, at the same time the “Lunar Excursion Module” was renamed the Lunar Module. However, the “Uprated Saturn I” name was reverted to Saturn IB on December 2, 1967.

 

By the time it was developed, the Saturn IB payload capability had increased to 41,000 pounds (19,000 kg). By 1973, when it was used to launch three Skylab missions, the first-stage engine had been upgraded further, raising the payload capability to 46,000 pounds (21,000 kg).

 

Specifications

 

Launch vehicle

 

ParameterS-IB 1st StageS-IVB-200 2nd StageInstrument Unit

Height80.17 ft (24.44 m)58.42 ft (17.81 m)3.00 ft (0.91 m)

Diameter21.42 ft (6.53 m)21.67 ft (6.61 m)21.67 ft (6.61 m)

Structural mass92,500 lb (42,000 kg)23,400 lb (10,600 kg)4,400 lb (2,000 kg)

PropellantRP-1 / LOXLH2 / LOXN/A

Propellant mass880,500 lb (399,400 kg)228,500 lb (103,600 kg)N/A

EnginesEight - H-1One - J-2N/A

Thrust1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN) sea level200,000 lbf (890 kN) vacuumN/A

Burn duration150 s480 sN/A

Specific impulse272 s (2.66 kN·s/kg) sea level420 s (4.12 kN·s/kg) vacuumN/A

ContractorChryslerDouglasIBM

 

Payload Configurations

 

ParameterCommand/Service ModuleApollo 5AS-203

Launch Escape System mass9,200 lb (4,200 kg)N/AN/A

Apollo Command/Service Module mass36,400 lb (16,500 kg) to

46,000 lb (21,000 kg)N/AN/A

Apollo Lunar Module massN/A31,650 lb (14,360 kg)N/A

Spacecraft LM Adapter mass4,050 lb (1,840 kg)4,050 lb (1,840 kg)N/A

Nose cone heightN/A8.3 ft (2.5 m)27.7 ft (8.4 m)

Payload height81.8 ft (24.9 m)36.3 ft (11.1 m)N/A

Total space vehicle height223.4 ft (68.1 m)177.9 ft (54.2 m)169.4 ft (51.6 m)

Payload Configurations

 

Command/Service ModuleApollo 5AS-203

Parameter: Launch Escape System mass

Command/Service Module 9,200 lb (4,200 kg)N/AN/A

Parameter: Apollo Command/Service Module mass36,400 lb (16,500 kg) to

46,000 lb (21,000 kg)N/AN/A

Parameter: Apollo Lunar Module massN/A31,650 lb (14,360 kg)N/A

Parameter: Spacecraft LM Adapter mass4,050 lb (1,840 kg)4,050 lb (1,840 kg)N/A

Parameter: Nose cone heightN/A8.3 ft (2.5 m)27.7 ft (8.4 m)

Payload height81.8 ft (24.9 m)36.3 ft (11.1 m)N/A

Total space vehicle height223.4 ft (68.1 m)177.9 ft (54.2 m)169.4 ft (51.6 m)

 

S-IB Stage

 

The S-IB stage was built by the Chrysler corporation at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. It was powered by eight Rocketdyne H-1 rocket engines burning RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX). Eight Redstone tanks (four holding fuel and four holding LOX) were clustered around a Jupiter rocket LOX tank. The four outboard engines were mounted on gimbals, allowing them to be steered to control the rocket. Eight fins surrounding the base thrust structure provided aerodynamic stability and control.

 

•Height: 80.17 ft. (24.44 m)

•Diameter: 21.42 ft. (6.53 m)

•Number of fins: 8

•Finspan: 39.42 ft. (12.02 m)

•Engines: 8 Rocketdyne H-1

•Thrust: 1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN)

•Fuel: RP-1 (Refined kerosene) 41,000 US gal (155 m3)

•Oxidizer: Liquid oxygen (LOX) 66,277 US gal (251 m3) nominal capacity including 1.5% ullage volume (43,284 US gal/163 m3 in four outer tanks plus 22,993 US gal/87 m3 in center tank)

•Burn time: 2.5 min

•Burnout altitude: 37 nmi (69 km)

 

S-IVB-200 Stage

 

The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB-200 model was similar to the S-IVB-500 third stage used on the Saturn V, with the exception of the interstage adapter, smaller auxiliary propulsion control modules, and lack of on-orbit engine restart capability. It was powered by a single Rocketdyne J-2 engine. The fuel and oxidizer tanks shared a common bulkhead, which saved about ten tons of weight and reduced vehicle length over ten feet.

 

•Height: 58.42 ft. (17.81 m)

•Diameter: 21.67 ft. (6.61 m)

•Engine: single J-2

•Thrust: 200,000 lbf (890 kN)

•Fuel: Liquid hydrogen (LH2) 64,000 US gal (242 m3)

•Oxidizer: Liquid oxygen (LOX) 20,000 US gal (76 m3)

•Burn time: approx. 7 min

•Burnout altitude (for Saturn IB): orbit

 

Instrument Unit

 

Main article: Saturn V Instrument Unit

 

IBM built the Instrument Unit at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Located at the top of the S-IVB stage, it consisted of a Launch Vehicle Digital Computer (LVDC), an inertial platform, accelerometers, a tracking, telemetry and command system and associated environmental controls. It controlled the entire rocket from just before liftoff until battery depletion. Like other rocket guidance systems, it maintained its state vector (position and velocity estimates) by integrating accelerometer measurements, sent firing and steering commands to the main engines and auxiliary thrusters, and fired the appropriate ordnance and solid rocket motors during staging and payload separation events.

 

As with other rockets, a completely independent and redundant range safety system could be invoked by ground radio command to terminate thrust and to destroy the vehicle should it malfunction and threaten people or property on the ground. In the Saturn IB and V, the range safety system was permanently disabled by ground command after safely reaching orbit. This was done to ensure that the S-IVB stage would not inadvertently rupture and create a cloud of debris in orbit that could endanger the crew of the Apollo CSM.

 

Launch Sequence Events

 

•Launch Event: Ignition Command

oTime (s): -3.02

•Launch Event: First Motion

oTime (s): -0.19

•Launch Event: Liftoff

oTime (s): 0.00

•Launch Event: Initiate Pitch Maneuver

oTime (s): 10.0

•Launch Event: Initiate Roll Maneuver

oTime (s): 10.0

•Launch Event: End Roll Maneuver

oTime (s): 38.0

•Launch Event: Mach One

oTime (s): 62.18

oAltitude (km): 7.63

•Launch Event: Max Q

oTime (s): 75.5

oAltitude (km): 12.16.

•Launch Event: Freeze Tilt

oTime: 134.40..

•Launch Event: Inboard Engine Cutoff

oTime (s): 140.65..

•Launch Event: Outboard Engine Cutoff

oTime (s): 144.32

•Launch Event: Ullage Rockets Ignition

oTime (s): 145.37

•Launch Event: S-IB / S-IVB Separation

oTime (s): 145.59

•Launch Event: S-IVB Ignition

oTime (s): 146.97

•Launch Event: Ullage Rocket Burnout

oTime (s): 148.33

•Launch Event: Ullage Rocket Jettison

oTime (s): 156.58

•Launch Event: Jettison LES

oTime (s): 163.28

•Launch Event: Start Pitch Over

oTime (s): 613.95

•Launch Event: S-IVB Cutoff

oTime (s): 616.76

•Launch Event: Orbit Insertion

oTime (s): 626.76

•Launch Event: Start S/C Sep Sequence

oTime (s): 663.11

•Launch Event: Spacecraft Separation

oTime (s): 728.31

 

Saturn IB Vehicles and Launches

 

The first five Saturn IB launches for the Apollo program were made from LC-34 and LC-37, Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.

 

The Saturn IB was used between 1973 and 1975 for three manned Skylab flights, and one Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight. This final production run did not have alternating black and white S-IB stage tanks, or vertical stripes on the S-IVB aft tank skirt, which were present on the earlier vehicles. Since LC-34 and 37 were inactive by then, these launches utilized Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39B. Mobile Launcher Platform No. 1 was modified, adding an elevated platform known as the “milkstool” to accommodate the height differential between the Saturn IB and the much larger Saturn V. This enabled alignment of the Launch Umbilical Tower’s access arms to accommodate crew access, fueling, and ground electrical connections for the Apollo spacecraft and S-IVB upper stage. The tower’s second stage access arms were modified to service the S-IB first stage.

 

SA-201

 

•Mission: AS-201

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,820

oLaunch Date: February 26, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM (Command/Service Module).

 

SA-203

 

•Mission: AS-203

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): None

oLaunch Date: July 5, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned test of unburned LH2 behavior in orbit to support S-IVB-500 restart design

 

SA-202

 

•Mission: AS-202

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 25,810

oLaunch Date: August 25, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM

 

SA-204

 

•Mission: Apollo 1

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,412

oNotes: Was to be first manned orbital test of Block I CSM. Cabin fire killed astronauts and damaged CM during dress rehearsal for planned February 21, 1967 launch.

•Mission: Apollo 5

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 14,360

oLaunch Date: January 22, 1968

oNotes: Unmanned orbital test of Lunar Module, used Apollo 1 launch vehicle.

 

SA-205

 

•Mission: Apollo 7

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 16,520

oLaunch Date: October 11, 1968

oNotes: Manned orbital test of Block II CSM.

 

SA-206

 

•Mission: Skylab 2

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 19,979

oLaunch Date: May 25, 1973

oNotes: Block II CSM ferried first crew to Skylab orbital workshop

 

SA-207

 

•Mission: Skylab 3

•Spacecraft Mass (kg): 20,121

•Launch Date: July 28, 1973

•Notes: Block II CSM ferried second crew to Skylab orbital workshop

 

SA-208

 

•Mission: AS-208

oNotes: Standby Skylab 3 rescue CSM-119; not needed.

•Mission: Skylab 4

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,847

oLaunch Date: November 16, 1973

oNotes: Block II CSM ferried third crew to Skylab orbital workshop.

 

SA-209

 

•Mission: AS-209

oNotes: Standby Skylab 4 and later Apollo-Soyuz rescue CSM-119. Not needed, currently on display in the KSC rocket garden.

•Mission: Skylab 5

oNotes: Planned CSM mission to lift Skylab workshop’s orbit to endure until Space Shuttle ready to fly; cancelled.

 

SA-210

 

•Mission: ASTP

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 16,780

oLaunch Date: July 15, 1975

oNotes: Apollo CSM with special docking adapter module, rendezvoused with Soyuz 19. Last Saturn IB flight.

 

SA-211

 

•Notes: Unused. First stage at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-65 in Ardmore, Alabama. S-IVB stage rests with Skylab underwater training simulator hardware and is on display outdoors at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

SA-212

 

•Notes: Unused. First stage scrapped. S-IVB stage converted to Skylab space station.

 

SA-213:

 

•Notes: Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped.

 

SA-214

 

•Notes: Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped.

 

For earlier launches of vehicles in the Saturn I series, see the list in the Saturn I article.

 

Saturn IB Rockets on Display

 

Currently there are three locations where Saturn IB vehicles (or parts thereof) are on display:

 

•SA-209 is on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, with the Apollo Facilities Verification Vehicle. Due to severe corrosion, the first stage engines and Service Module were replaced with fabricated duplicates in 1993–1994.

•The SA-211 first stage is on display with the S-IVB-S “Battleship” static test stage stacked in a launch-ready condition at the Alabama Welcome Center on Interstate 65 in Ardmore, Alabama. 34.954548°N 86.89193°W

•The SA-211 S-IVB stage was mated with the Skylab underwater training docking adapter and Apollo Telescope Mount and is on display in the Rocket Garden of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

 

Cost

 

In 1972, the cost of a Saturn IB including launch was US$55,000,000 (equivalent to $315,000,000 in 2016).

 

AS 209

 

Black-and-white picture from inside a tall building with a space capsule being lifted from the top of a rocket

 

The Skylab Rescue CSM is removed from its Saturn IB Launch vehicle following the successful recovery of Skylab 4.

 

After the Skylab 4 launch, another rescue flight was assembled as a backup contingency. The Saturn IB rocket AS 209 was assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Launch Complex 39 for possible use. It also used the CSM 119 Command Module that was to be launched with Brand and Lind.

 

There were also plans for a short 20-day Skylab 5 flight that would use this backup CSM. The crew, likely consisting of Brand, Lind, and Skylab backup Science Pilot William B. Lenoir, would have performed some scientific research and closed out the station until the Space Shuttle was operational. However, the extension of Skylab 4 from fifty-six to eighty-four days obviated the need for the additional mission.

 

AS 209 and CSM 119 were later used as a backup to the ASTP mission. Both are now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. CSM 119 is located in the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The Saturn IB booster for AS 209 is currently located in the Visitor Complex’s Rocket Garden. It is displayed horizontally, mated to an Apollo FVV (Facilities Verification Vehicle) which was formerly displayed at the VAB’s Visitor Complex c. October 1968. In 2007, after sitting untouched for over 30 years, NASA engineers used the command module for studies on the spacecraft’s life support adapter assembly—the projecting aerodynamic fairing that allows oxygen, water, and electricity to flow from the Service Module to the Command Module. This was in support of the design and construction of a similar system on the new Orion spacecraft, which resembles the Skylab Rescue configuration.

Saturn IB SA-209

 

Dominating the Rocket Garden is a Saturn IB, SA-209. This booster, designated as the booster for a Skylab rescue mission should it prove necessary and later as a backup booster for the ASTP mission, it was never used for its intended purpose and today is one of two remaining Saturn IBs.

 

•General Specifications

oFunction: Apollo spacecraft development; S-IVB stage development in support of Saturn V; Skylab crew launcher

oManufacturer: Chrysler (S-IB); Douglas (S-IVB)

oCountry of Origin: United States

•Size

oHeight141.6 ft (43.2 m) without payload

oDiameter: 21.67 ft (6.61 m)

oMass: 1,300,220 lb (589,770 kg) without payload

oStages: 2

•Capacity

oPayload to LEO: 46,000 lb (21,000 kg)

•Launch History

oStatus: Retired

oLaunch Sites: LC-37 & LC-34, Cape Canaveral; LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center

oTotal Launches: 9

oSuccesses: 9

oFailures: 0

oFirst Flight: February 26, 1966

oLast Flight: July 15, 1975

oNotable Payloads: Unmanned Apollo CSM; Unmanned Apollo LM; Manned Apollo CSM

•First Stage – S-IB

oLength: 80.17 feet (24.44 m)

oDiameter: 21.42 feet (6.53 m)

oEmpty mass: 92,500 pounds (42,000 kg)

oGross mass: 973,000 pounds (441,000 kg)

oPropellant mass: 880,500 pounds (399,400 kg)

oEngines: 8 × Rocketdyne H-1

oThrust: 1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN)

oSpecific impulse: 272 seconds (2.67 km/s)

oBurn time: 150 seconds

oFuel: RP-1/LOX

•Second Stage – S-IVB-200

oLength: 58.42 feet (17.81 m)

oDiameter: 21.42 feet (6.53 m)

oEmpty mass: 23,400 pounds (10,600 kg)

oGross mass: 251,900 pounds (114,300 kg)

oPropellant mass: 228,500 pounds (103,600 kg)

oEngines: Rocketdyne J-2

oThrust: 200,000 lbf (890 kN)

oSpecific Impulse: 420 seconds (4.1 km/s)

oBurn Time: 480 seconds

oFuel: LH2 / LOX

 

The Saturn IB (pronounced “one B”, also known as the Uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It replaced the S-IV second stage of the Saturn I with the much more powerful S-IVB, able to launch a partially fueled Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) or a fully fueled Lunar Module (LM) into low Earth orbit for early flight tests before the larger Saturn V needed for lunar flight was ready.

 

By sharing the S-IVB upper stage, the Saturn IB and Saturn V provided a common interface to the Apollo spacecraft. The only major difference was that the S-IVB on the Saturn V burned only part of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit, so it could be restarted for trans-lunar injection. The S-IVB on the Saturn IB needed all of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit.

 

The Saturn IB launched two unmanned CSM suborbital flights, one unmanned LM orbital flight, and the first manned CSM orbital mission (first planned as Apollo 1, later flown as Apollo 7). It also launched one orbital mission, AS-203, without a payload so the S-IVB would have residual liquid hydrogen fuel. This mission supported the design of the restartable version of the S-IVB used in the Saturn V, by observing the behavior of the liquid hydrogen in weightlessness.

 

In 1973, the year after the Apollo lunar program ended, three Apollo CSM/Saturn IBs ferried crews to the Skylab space station. In 1975, one last Apollo/Saturn IB launched the Apollo portion of the joint US-USSR Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). A backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready for a Skylab rescue mission, but never flown.

 

The remaining Saturn IBs in NASA’s inventory were scrapped after the ASTP mission, as no use could be found for them and all heavy lift needs of the US space program could be serviced by the cheaper and more versatile Titan III family.

 

History

 

In 1959, NASA’s Silverstein Committee issued recommendations to develop the Saturn class launch vehicles, growing from the C-1. When the Apollo program was started in 1961 with the goal of landing men on the Moon, NASA chose the Saturn I for Earth orbital test missions. However, the Saturn I’s payload limit of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) would allow testing of only the Command Module with a smaller propulsion module attached, as the Apollo Command/Service Module would have a dry weight of at least 26,300 pounds (11,900 kg), in addition to service propulsion and reaction control fuel. In July 1962, NASA announced selection of the C-5 for the lunar landing mission, and decided to develop another launch vehicle by upgrading the Saturn I, replacing its S-IV second stage with the S-IVB, which would also be modified for use as the Saturn V third stage. The S-I first stage would also be upgraded to the S-IB by improving the thrust of its engines and removing some weight. The new Saturn IB, with a payload capability of at least 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg), would replace the Saturn I for Earth orbit testing, allowing the Command/Service Module to be flown with a partial fuel load. It would also allow launching the 32,000-pound (15,000 kg) Lunar Excursion Module separately for unmanned and manned Earth orbital testing, before the Saturn V was ready to be flown. It would also give early development to the third stage.

 

On May 12, 1966, NASA announced the vehicle’s name would be changed to the “Uprated Saturn I”, at the same time the “Lunar Excursion Module” was renamed the Lunar Module. However, the “Uprated Saturn I” name was reverted to Saturn IB on December 2, 1967.

 

By the time it was developed, the Saturn IB payload capability had increased to 41,000 pounds (19,000 kg). By 1973, when it was used to launch three Skylab missions, the first-stage engine had been upgraded further, raising the payload capability to 46,000 pounds (21,000 kg).

 

Specifications

 

Launch vehicle

 

ParameterS-IB 1st StageS-IVB-200 2nd StageInstrument Unit

Height80.17 ft (24.44 m)58.42 ft (17.81 m)3.00 ft (0.91 m)

Diameter21.42 ft (6.53 m)21.67 ft (6.61 m)21.67 ft (6.61 m)

Structural mass92,500 lb (42,000 kg)23,400 lb (10,600 kg)4,400 lb (2,000 kg)

PropellantRP-1 / LOXLH2 / LOXN/A

Propellant mass880,500 lb (399,400 kg)228,500 lb (103,600 kg)N/A

EnginesEight - H-1One - J-2N/A

Thrust1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN) sea level200,000 lbf (890 kN) vacuumN/A

Burn duration150 s480 sN/A

Specific impulse272 s (2.66 kN·s/kg) sea level420 s (4.12 kN·s/kg) vacuumN/A

ContractorChryslerDouglasIBM

 

Payload Configurations

 

ParameterCommand/Service ModuleApollo 5AS-203

Launch Escape System mass9,200 lb (4,200 kg)N/AN/A

Apollo Command/Service Module mass36,400 lb (16,500 kg) to

46,000 lb (21,000 kg)N/AN/A

Apollo Lunar Module massN/A31,650 lb (14,360 kg)N/A

Spacecraft LM Adapter mass4,050 lb (1,840 kg)4,050 lb (1,840 kg)N/A

Nose cone heightN/A8.3 ft (2.5 m)27.7 ft (8.4 m)

Payload height81.8 ft (24.9 m)36.3 ft (11.1 m)N/A

Total space vehicle height223.4 ft (68.1 m)177.9 ft (54.2 m)169.4 ft (51.6 m)

Payload Configurations

 

Command/Service ModuleApollo 5AS-203

Parameter: Launch Escape System mass

Command/Service Module 9,200 lb (4,200 kg)N/AN/A

Parameter: Apollo Command/Service Module mass36,400 lb (16,500 kg) to

46,000 lb (21,000 kg)N/AN/A

Parameter: Apollo Lunar Module massN/A31,650 lb (14,360 kg)N/A

Parameter: Spacecraft LM Adapter mass4,050 lb (1,840 kg)4,050 lb (1,840 kg)N/A

Parameter: Nose cone heightN/A8.3 ft (2.5 m)27.7 ft (8.4 m)

Payload height81.8 ft (24.9 m)36.3 ft (11.1 m)N/A

Total space vehicle height223.4 ft (68.1 m)177.9 ft (54.2 m)169.4 ft (51.6 m)

 

S-IB Stage

 

The S-IB stage was built by the Chrysler corporation at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. It was powered by eight Rocketdyne H-1 rocket engines burning RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX). Eight Redstone tanks (four holding fuel and four holding LOX) were clustered around a Jupiter rocket LOX tank. The four outboard engines were mounted on gimbals, allowing them to be steered to control the rocket. Eight fins surrounding the base thrust structure provided aerodynamic stability and control.

 

•Height: 80.17 ft. (24.44 m)

•Diameter: 21.42 ft. (6.53 m)

•Number of fins: 8

•Finspan: 39.42 ft. (12.02 m)

•Engines: 8 Rocketdyne H-1

•Thrust: 1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN)

•Fuel: RP-1 (Refined kerosene) 41,000 US gal (155 m3)

•Oxidizer: Liquid oxygen (LOX) 66,277 US gal (251 m3) nominal capacity including 1.5% ullage volume (43,284 US gal/163 m3 in four outer tanks plus 22,993 US gal/87 m3 in center tank)

•Burn time: 2.5 min

•Burnout altitude: 37 nmi (69 km)

 

S-IVB-200 Stage

 

The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB-200 model was similar to the S-IVB-500 third stage used on the Saturn V, with the exception of the interstage adapter, smaller auxiliary propulsion control modules, and lack of on-orbit engine restart capability. It was powered by a single Rocketdyne J-2 engine. The fuel and oxidizer tanks shared a common bulkhead, which saved about ten tons of weight and reduced vehicle length over ten feet.

 

•Height: 58.42 ft. (17.81 m)

•Diameter: 21.67 ft. (6.61 m)

•Engine: single J-2

•Thrust: 200,000 lbf (890 kN)

•Fuel: Liquid hydrogen (LH2) 64,000 US gal (242 m3)

•Oxidizer: Liquid oxygen (LOX) 20,000 US gal (76 m3)

•Burn time: approx. 7 min

•Burnout altitude (for Saturn IB): orbit

 

Instrument Unit

 

Main article: Saturn V Instrument Unit

 

IBM built the Instrument Unit at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Located at the top of the S-IVB stage, it consisted of a Launch Vehicle Digital Computer (LVDC), an inertial platform, accelerometers, a tracking, telemetry and command system and associated environmental controls. It controlled the entire rocket from just before liftoff until battery depletion. Like other rocket guidance systems, it maintained its state vector (position and velocity estimates) by integrating accelerometer measurements, sent firing and steering commands to the main engines and auxiliary thrusters, and fired the appropriate ordnance and solid rocket motors during staging and payload separation events.

 

As with other rockets, a completely independent and redundant range safety system could be invoked by ground radio command to terminate thrust and to destroy the vehicle should it malfunction and threaten people or property on the ground. In the Saturn IB and V, the range safety system was permanently disabled by ground command after safely reaching orbit. This was done to ensure that the S-IVB stage would not inadvertently rupture and create a cloud of debris in orbit that could endanger the crew of the Apollo CSM.

 

Launch Sequence Events

 

•Launch Event: Ignition Command

oTime (s): -3.02

•Launch Event: First Motion

oTime (s): -0.19

•Launch Event: Liftoff

oTime (s): 0.00

•Launch Event: Initiate Pitch Maneuver

oTime (s): 10.0

•Launch Event: Initiate Roll Maneuver

oTime (s): 10.0

•Launch Event: End Roll Maneuver

oTime (s): 38.0

•Launch Event: Mach One

oTime (s): 62.18

oAltitude (km): 7.63

•Launch Event: Max Q

oTime (s): 75.5

oAltitude (km): 12.16.

•Launch Event: Freeze Tilt

oTime: 134.40..

•Launch Event: Inboard Engine Cutoff

oTime (s): 140.65..

•Launch Event: Outboard Engine Cutoff

oTime (s): 144.32

•Launch Event: Ullage Rockets Ignition

oTime (s): 145.37

•Launch Event: S-IB / S-IVB Separation

oTime (s): 145.59

•Launch Event: S-IVB Ignition

oTime (s): 146.97

•Launch Event: Ullage Rocket Burnout

oTime (s): 148.33

•Launch Event: Ullage Rocket Jettison

oTime (s): 156.58

•Launch Event: Jettison LES

oTime (s): 163.28

•Launch Event: Start Pitch Over

oTime (s): 613.95

•Launch Event: S-IVB Cutoff

oTime (s): 616.76

•Launch Event: Orbit Insertion

oTime (s): 626.76

•Launch Event: Start S/C Sep Sequence

oTime (s): 663.11

•Launch Event: Spacecraft Separation

oTime (s): 728.31

 

Saturn IB Vehicles and Launches

 

The first five Saturn IB launches for the Apollo program were made from LC-34 and LC-37, Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.

 

The Saturn IB was used between 1973 and 1975 for three manned Skylab flights, and one Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight. This final production run did not have alternating black and white S-IB stage tanks, or vertical stripes on the S-IVB aft tank skirt, which were present on the earlier vehicles. Since LC-34 and 37 were inactive by then, these launches utilized Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39B. Mobile Launcher Platform No. 1 was modified, adding an elevated platform known as the “milkstool” to accommodate the height differential between the Saturn IB and the much larger Saturn V. This enabled alignment of the Launch Umbilical Tower’s access arms to accommodate crew access, fueling, and ground electrical connections for the Apollo spacecraft and S-IVB upper stage. The tower’s second stage access arms were modified to service the S-IB first stage.

 

SA-201

 

•Mission: AS-201

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,820

oLaunch Date: February 26, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM (Command/Service Module).

 

SA-203

 

•Mission: AS-203

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): None

oLaunch Date: July 5, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned test of unburned LH2 behavior in orbit to support S-IVB-500 restart design

 

SA-202

 

•Mission: AS-202

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 25,810

oLaunch Date: August 25, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM

 

SA-204

 

•Mission: Apollo 1

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,412

oNotes: Was to be first manned orbital test of Block I CSM. Cabin fire killed astronauts and damaged CM during dress rehearsal for planned February 21, 1967 launch.

•Mission: Apollo 5

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 14,360

oLaunch Date: January 22, 1968

oNotes: Unmanned orbital test of Lunar Module, used Apollo 1 launch vehicle.

 

SA-205

 

•Mission: Apollo 7

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 16,520

oLaunch Date: October 11, 1968

oNotes: Manned orbital test of Block II CSM.

 

SA-206

 

•Mission: Skylab 2

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 19,979

oLaunch Date: May 25, 1973

oNotes: Block II CSM ferried first crew to Skylab orbital workshop

 

SA-207

 

•Mission: Skylab 3

•Spacecraft Mass (kg): 20,121

•Launch Date: July 28, 1973

•Notes: Block II CSM ferried second crew to Skylab orbital workshop

 

SA-208

 

•Mission: AS-208

oNotes: Standby Skylab 3 rescue CSM-119; not needed.

•Mission: Skylab 4

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,847

oLaunch Date: November 16, 1973

oNotes: Block II CSM ferried third crew to Skylab orbital workshop.

 

SA-209

 

•Mission: AS-209

oNotes: Standby Skylab 4 and later Apollo-Soyuz rescue CSM-119. Not needed, currently on display in the KSC rocket garden.

•Mission: Skylab 5

oNotes: Planned CSM mission to lift Skylab workshop’s orbit to endure until Space Shuttle ready to fly; cancelled.

 

SA-210

 

•Mission: ASTP

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 16,780

oLaunch Date: July 15, 1975

oNotes: Apollo CSM with special docking adapter module, rendezvoused with Soyuz 19. Last Saturn IB flight.

 

SA-211

 

•Notes: Unused. First stage at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-65 in Ardmore, Alabama. S-IVB stage rests with Skylab underwater training simulator hardware and is on display outdoors at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

SA-212

 

•Notes: Unused. First stage scrapped. S-IVB stage converted to Skylab space station.

 

SA-213:

 

•Notes: Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped.

 

SA-214

 

•Notes: Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped.

 

For earlier launches of vehicles in the Saturn I series, see the list in the Saturn I article.

 

Saturn IB Rockets on Display

 

Currently there are three locations where Saturn IB vehicles (or parts thereof) are on display:

 

•SA-209 is on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, with the Apollo Facilities Verification Vehicle. Due to severe corrosion, the first stage engines and Service Module were replaced with fabricated duplicates in 1993–1994.

•The SA-211 first stage is on display with the S-IVB-S “Battleship” static test stage stacked in a launch-ready condition at the Alabama Welcome Center on Interstate 65 in Ardmore, Alabama. 34.954548°N 86.89193°W

•The SA-211 S-IVB stage was mated with the Skylab underwater training docking adapter and Apollo Telescope Mount and is on display in the Rocket Garden of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

 

Cost

 

In 1972, the cost of a Saturn IB including launch was US$55,000,000 (equivalent to $315,000,000 in 2016).

 

AS 209

 

Black-and-white picture from inside a tall building with a space capsule being lifted from the top of a rocket

 

The Skylab Rescue CSM is removed from its Saturn IB Launch vehicle following the successful recovery of Skylab 4.

 

After the Skylab 4 launch, another rescue flight was assembled as a backup contingency. The Saturn IB rocket AS 209 was assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Launch Complex 39 for possible use. It also used the CSM 119 Command Module that was to be launched with Brand and Lind.

 

There were also plans for a short 20-day Skylab 5 flight that would use this backup CSM. The crew, likely consisting of Brand, Lind, and Skylab backup Science Pilot William B. Lenoir, would have performed some scientific research and closed out the station until the Space Shuttle was operational. However, the extension of Skylab 4 from fifty-six to eighty-four days obviated the need for the additional mission.

 

AS 209 and CSM 119 were later used as a backup to the ASTP mission. Both are now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. CSM 119 is located in the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The Saturn IB booster for AS 209 is currently located in the Visitor Complex’s Rocket Garden. It is displayed horizontally, mated to an Apollo FVV (Facilities Verification Vehicle) which was formerly displayed at the VAB’s Visitor Complex c. October 1968. In 2007, after sitting untouched for over 30 years, NASA engineers used the command module for studies on the spacecraft’s life support adapter assembly—the projecting aerodynamic fairing that allows oxygen, water, and electricity to flow from the Service Module to the Command Module. This was in support of the design and construction of a similar system on the new Orion spacecraft, which resembles the Skylab Rescue configuration.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The Messerschmitt Me 262 F was a series of multi-purpose jet planes designed by Messerschmitt for the Luftwaffe that entered service during the final phase of the Second World War in Europe. The aircraft’s design was begun in the summer of 1943 under the project handle P.1099, intended as an improvement to the successful Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter and also as a replacement for the Arado Ar 234 bomber/reconnaissance aircraft. The primary focus was on more payload, being either usable for more fuel (since early jet engines had poor mileage and therefore range and endurance) or for weapons, including bombs in an internal bomb bay that would enable the aircraft to fulfil a similar tactical role as the British de Havilland Mosquito. Beyond this high-speed bomber (Schnellbomber) variant, the P.1099 would also be a suitable basis for a fast reconnaissance plane, interceptors and night fighters, and trainer versions were also planned.

 

The Messerschmitt P.1099 was a 12 m long, conventional-looking aircraft with a wingspan of 12.6 m. It had a much wider fuselage than the Messerschmitt Me 262. It had a circular shape with a diameter of 1.7m (5 ft 6¾ in) and the cockpit was now moved closer to the aircraft’s nose, above the front landing gear well. The baseline aircraft featured a side-by-side cockpit for a crew of two, even though different layouts were envisioned for the specialized variants, including single-seaters. To save development time and to use existing jigs and tools as much as possible, the P.1099 retained the wings and the tail section of the Me 262A-2a. Despite a higher total weight (the P.1099’ MTOW was about 3 tons higher), the planned powerplants were initially two uprated Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engines, later to be replaced by more powerful Heinkel HeS 011 turbojets.

 

In January 1944 the P.1099 was accepted by the RLM and received, despite the aircraft’s different structure, the designation “Me 262 F”. The first variant, the Me 262 F-1 (internally designated P.1099A), was the baseline aircraft under the handle “Jäger I”, a jet-powered single seat daytime fighter. There were three planned versions, differing mainly in armament: Version F-1a was armed with four MK 108 30 mm cannon in the lower fuselage, comparable with the earlier Me 262 A fighter, just with more fuel and ammunition. Version F-1b carried two MK 103 30 mm cannon with longer range, firepower and ammunition supply, and Version F-1c was a heavy daytime fighter with two MK 108 and two MK 103 cannon in the nose.

In parallel the Me 262 F-2 was developed as a more heavily armed and armored variant, as a dedicated heavy bomber interceptor (“Pulkjäger” or “Zerstörer”) under the handle “Jäger II”. Again, three versions were foreseen: Version F-2a would be armed with a single MK 108 cannon and a heavy MK 112 55 mm cannon in the nose. Version F-2b was the same, but it was armed with a MK 114 50 mm cannon instead of the Mk 112. Both were single seaters with a heavily armored cockpit and canopy.

The F-2c was a more thoroughly modified two-seater version; it was armed with a single MG151/20 in a small nose turret, a pair of Mk 103 in the rear of the cockpit firing up- and backwards and two defensive MG 131 in remote-controlled FDL 151 barbettes in the tail. Due to the significant changes this model had the internal project designation P.1099B.

Another two-seater, the F-2d, remained very close to the original baseline aircraft with a crew of two in a side-by-side cockpit. This aircraft was armed with the standard four MK 108 in the nose, plus one launch rail under each wing for Ruhrstahl X-4 guided missiles, which were launched and steered by the second crewman via a wire connection with the mothership. This variant did not come to fruition, however, after the X-4 missile project had been cancelled in early 1945.

 

All P.1099 fighters also had hardpoints under the outer wings for racks with twelve 55mm R4M unguided air-to-air missiles each, a detail taken over from the Me 262 A, even though the fuel load had to be reduced to carry them. The radio equipment of all these versions would be a FuG 16, Peil G6, FuG 101 radio altimeter, FuBl 2 blind landing equipment, as well as the FuG 25a Erstling identification friend or foe transceiver.

 

Beyond these initial day fighter variants, further types based on the P.1099 airframe were envisioned, too. The F-3 was a dedicated night fighter version, developed in parallel to the Me 262 G. It was based on the F-2a heavy day fighter, but it carried a crew of two (the pilot and a rearward-facing radar operator) and was equipped with a FuG 240 “Berlin” radar set and a rotating dish antenna under a streamlined plywood cover in the nose. The armament consisted of four MK 108 under the nose, similar to the F-1a day fighter, plus two additional, upward-firing MK 108 cannon (“Schräge Musik”) in the rear fuselage.

Other proposed variants (with less priority, though) were the F-4 and the F-5, which were to become the basis for fast bombers and reconnaissance aircraft with only light defensive armament, typically only a pair of MG 131 in remote-controlled tail barbettes was to be carried. The F-4 resembled the baseline P.1099A, with two bomb bays in front of and behind the main landing gear wells and a crew of two seated side-by-side in a pressurized cockpit. Two MK 108 were carried in the nose, plus the MG 131 tail barbettes. The F-5 was similar but featured a glazed bomb aimer/navigator station in the nose instead of the MK 108’s and the glazing above the pilot’s station was reduced and asymmetrical. In both bomber variants the fuselage tanks were re-arranged to make room for a single SC 1.200 in the front bomb bay, but combinations of smaller bombs could be carried, too. Alternatively, mounts for up to three cameras or a 1.350 l auxiliary tank for extended range could be carried in the bays, too.

 

Initial flight tests of the Me 262 F in late 1944 showed severe directional instability: especially after fuel and ammunition had been depleted and the center of gravity shifted the aircraft tended to become nose-heavy and ditch down if it was not carefully monitored and trimmed by the pilot. To cope with this problem, the engine mounts were modified, so that the CoG was shifted back. Compared with the original Me 262 the engines were placed roughly 900 mm (35.5 in) further back under the wings. The emptying sequence of the fuselage tanks was also changed, and this mostly mended the problems. Another measure to mend the directional instability issues was the enlargement of the tail surfaces, even though later production aircraft frequently had smaller Me 262 A stabilizers fitted due to material shortages and simple lack of parts.- However, due to the higher weight the Me 262 F’s handling and agility were very limited – but most of its intended roles rather relied on speed, anyway, so that dogfights could be avoided.

 

From 1944 on the war situation worsened considerably, and production of the new Me 262 F superseded the A variant only on selected production lines. A disused mine complex under the Walpersberg mountain was adapted for the production of complete aircraft. These were hauled to the flat top of the hill where a runway had been cleared and flown out. Between 20 and 30 Me 262 Fs were built here until early 1946, primarily fighters, the underground factory being overrun by Allied troops before it could reach a meaningful output. Wings were produced in Germany's oldest motorway tunnel at Engelberg, to the west of Stuttgart. At B8 Bergkristall-Esche II, a vast network of tunnels was excavated beneath St. Georgen/Gusen, Austria, where fully equipped fuselages for the Me 262 at a planned monthly rate of 450 units on large assembly lines were to be produced from early 1945.

 

After the type’s introduction to frontline units in early 1945 further handling problems arose through the aircraft’ weight, resulting from its high wing load. Both starting and landing run were excessive, so that the number of airfields from which it could be operated was relatively small. No real short-term solution could be found without fully re-designing the wings, so that RATO bottles were frequently used to get a fully loaded Me 262 F up into the air from standard airfields. These were typically fitted to racks which were mounted under the fuselage, flanking the rear bomb bay.

The Me 262 F’s landing speed was dangerously high, too. A retrofittable brake parachute, housed in a simple tubular fairing under the tail, was developed to reduce the landing distance and save brakes, which frequently overheated and could set the landed aircraft aflame.

 

From the Me 262 F-2a “Pulkzerstörer I”, only a small number were built and eventually entered service. Its main armament, the MK 112, was a heavy German machine cannon produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig from 1945 on – in fact, the MK 112 was basically a scaled-up MK 108, a very compact weapon with relatively low weight. The MK 112 had a caliber of 55 mm and thus fired much larger shells than the 30 mm MK 108, but the rate of fire was significantly lower (300 rounds / min compared to about 600-660 rounds / min of the MK 108). This large-caliber gun was designed primarily to combat heavy bombers, its rate of fire would have been too slow for effective aerial battles with escort fighters – but the Me 262 F would not have been a dogfighter, anyway, so that the “hit-and-run” mission profile suited the aircraft well. Fire tests showed that a single MK 112 hit with mine grenades could destroy a bomber, and with a rate of fire of five shells per second this weapon could inflict considerably higher losses on the incoming streams of Allied bombers compared to other on-board weapons used on the German side. Only the unguided R4M missiles were as effective, but the MK 112 offered considerably higher accuracy and the opportunity to execute more than just a single attack run on an incoming bomber formation.

The MK 112 was mounted in the lower starboard section of the Me 262 F-2a’s nose, its barrel protruded more than 2 m (7 ft) from its nose. The gun’s drum magazine with sixty rounds partly took up the rear space of the cockpit behind the pilot and the gun mount even used up space of the weapon bay on port side, so that only a single MK 108 with 100 rounds as an additional weapon was mounted in the lower port side weapon bay.

Its sister, the Me 262 F-2b, remained on the drawing board, because its main weapon, the 50 mm MK 114 autocannon that had been derived from the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun, had turned out to be over-complicated, overweight and unreliable. A refined version was developed as the MK 214A, though, but after flight test from February 1945, but the weapon was not deployed operationally.

 

Only a handful Me 262 F-2a Pulkzerstörer were eventually fielded and operated before the end of hostilities – beyond the low production numbers the lack of fuel and loss of suitable airfields highly limited the aircraft’s potential. Probably less than ten were used by operational units, including JG 53 “Pik As”, in which they served alongside other interceptors, including other Me 262 variants. Typically, bomber formations were approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest, and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns. This broadside-attack tactic was very effective, and the aircraft’s high speed allowed the interceptors to turn around 180° and make at least a second attack run from the opposite side, before the machines dashed off and returned to their bases.

  

General characteristics

Crew: One

Length: 14,32 m (46 ft 11 in) overall

12,00 m (39 ft 3¾ in) fuselage only, w/o brake parachute housing

Wingspan: 12,61 m (41 ft 3¾ in)

Height: 4,43 m (14 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 24,2 m² (236 sq ft)

Empty weight: 5.061 kg (11,148 lb)

Loaded weight: 8.762 kg (19,300 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 10.062 kg (22,163 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 C turbojets with 12 kN (2,697 lb st) each

 

Performance

Maximum speed: 930 km/h (577 mph, 505 kn)

Cruising speed: 805 km/h (500 mph, 438 kn) at 6.500 m (21,290 ft)

Range: 1.340 km (830 ml, 728 nm) at 6000 m with internal fuel only

Service ceiling: 11,450 m (37,570 ft)

Rate of climb: 18 m/s (3,540 ft/min) at max. weight

 

Armament:

1× 55 mm (1.96 in) MK 112 machine cannon with 60 rounds

1× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 machine cannon with 100 rounds

Hardpoints under the outer wings for racks with twelve 55mm R4M unguided air-to-air missiles

  

The kit and its assembly:

This became a submission to the late 2021 “Gunships” group build at whatifmodellers.com – what would such a competition be without at least one gun-toting German Luft ’46 interceptor? The Messerschmitt P.1099 lent itself for such a build. Since 1996 Revell offers a 1:72 IP model kit of this paper aircraft, depicting more or less the two planned versions: a basic single-seat day fighter and a heavy two-seater Zerstörer, both based on the same basis.

 

This what-if model was based on Revell’s interpretation of the P.1099A, and the kit goes together well. Fit is very good, even though some designs are IMHO a bit dubious. The kit’s weakest point: Revell unfortunately missed the important detail of the modified engine nacelles: the kit comes with standard Me 262 wings and engines, but due to CoG reasons the P.1099 would have had its engines moved back by about 900 mm, as mentioned in the background. I corrected this on this build with some PSR – sounds simple, but since the nacelles are not expected to be stuck to the wings in their new position roughly 1 cm further back, some serious bodywork had to be done.

 

Otherwise the kit was basically built OOB. I just left away the inner wheels from the main landing gear because I found the twin wheels to be “too much” for this upgraded Me 262. The P.1099 might have been heavier than the Me 262, but…? And the wheels’ tractor-like tread design looks IMHO out of place, too, so that I replaced them with a pair of MiG-21 wheels, left over from a KP kit.

 

The cockpit was taken OOB, even though I have doubts concerning the canopy. And when you look at mockup pictures of the P.1099 you realize that cockpit access had been facilitated through a side door at starboard, similar to the D. H. Mosquito. The cockpit tub does not consider this hatch at all, and the engraved door on the fuselage (it’s actually there!) is so tiny that only a Halfling might use it?

Well, I stuck with it “as is” and just added a pilot figure (specifically from a Matchbox Hawker tempest, because it is one of the rare cases that you get a WWII pilot wearing an oxygen mask) and a “barrel” behind the bulbous pilot seat because there’s a lot of free space in this single seat variant that is otherwise occupied by a rear gunner in Revell’s P.1099B kit. I also have doubts concerning the kit’s canopy, since the original P.1099 had a cockpit for two seated side-by-side, with a canopy that resembled the D.H. Mosquito’s a lot. I am also not certain about the stabilizers – the kit comes with standard Me 262 parts, but trustworthy sources I consulted suggest that not only the fin had been enlarged (depicted well in Revell’s kit), but also the stabilizers? To improve this, I implanted a pair of modified stabilizers that came from a Heller PZL P.23 light bomber. Sounds odd, but they were a very good match in size, shape and thickness!

 

The only major modification concerns the armament, even though it became just a “graft-on” solution. On the lower left side, the upper gun port was PSRed away. On the right side I added a bulged fairing for the MK 112. It was sculpted from a Matchbox Saab J29 drop tank and blended into the hull with PSR. Protruding spent cases fairings were added for both guns. The MK 112 gun barrel is a resin piece, left over from a ModelTrans tank conversion set and actually depicts a German 55 mm gun, so that this became a perfect donor piece.

 

Since the airframe still looked rather clean and boring I finally added a pair of JATO bottle racks to the rear fuselage (scratched from styrene profile but left empty) and a brake parachute fairing under the fin, carved from a piece of sprue.

 

Furthermore, a display adapter was installed into the fuselage for in-flight pictures.

  

Painting and markings:

This became a challenge, because I wanted a rather unusual livery, neither a standard RLM 81/82/76 late-war combo nor an improvised-cammo-over-bare-metal finish. After some research I settled upon something that was actually carried by some He 177 bombers around 1944: a uniform RLM 74 (Graugrün, Humbrol 245) upper surface with “cloudy” mottles in RLM 76 (Humbrol 247). This appears like a winter camouflage, but it’s actually quite effective at medium altitude, esp. over a cloudy landscape. The original bombers had light blue (RLM 65) undersides, but for the P.1099 from a later period and as a fighter I rather used a darker shade of RLM76 in the form of Tamiya XF-23 (Light Blue). The model received a black ink washing and some post-panel-shading.

 

The cockpit interior became RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67) while the landing gear and the well were painted in uniform RLM 02 (I used Revell 45, a slightly more greenish tone), with wheel discs in RLM 66, too.

 

Unit markings became minimal and quite sober. I gave the aircraft a typical late-war “Reichsverteidigung” fuselage band, and in JG 53’s case it is plain black. The black band was deliberately chosen because it is a good, much darker contrast to the murky RLM 74, so that the latter appears lighter than it actually is, lowering the contrast to the RLM 76 spots.

 

The decals were puzzled together from various sources. As an aircraft of the 3rd group the unit’s ID color would be yellow, reflected in the tactical code and the fin tip. For some contrast and to emphasize the long gun barrel I gave it white and black stripes – as a security measure for ground handling. For some more variety I painted one air intake in very dark grey (Revell 06, Anthracite) and the other one in steel Metallizer, simulating replacement parts. The Balkenkreuze come from various sheets – I used simplified “low viz” versions all around. The undulating yellow bar for the 3rd group comes from a TL Modellbau sheet, while the yellow “4” came from a Fw 190 A sheet from Sky Models. A small “4” on the nose was added as a wacky detail, too, the “Pik As” unit markings came IIRC from a Hobby Boss Bf 109 sheet. Since they turned out to have poor contrast/opacity I only used a few stencils from the P.1099A sheet, but due to the disruptive paint scheme this is not apparent.

 

Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and a wire antenna, scratched from heated black sprue material, was added between cockpit and fin.

  

Well, this modified Messerschmitt P.1099A looks simple, but the modified engine nacelles as well as the gun fairing under the nose called for serious PSR. The result looks quite natural, though, and AFAIK this weapon configuration was actually on German drawing boards. However, I am not certain about the cockpit canopy and other details on Revell’s kit, reference information is contradictive.

The paint scheme looks good, even though it was lent from a heavy bomber, and the poor Humbrol enamels did not yield a finish that I had hoped for – the paintwork could certainly have been better, but the overall impression of a late-war Pulkzerstörer is O.K., and this eventually counts.

A model of the International Docking Adapter-3 payload is on display for NASA Social during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2019.

The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-18) mission to the station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch July 24, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

 

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a solar array is being inspected, tested and cleaned before being integrated with the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The Messerschmitt Me 262 F was a series of multi-purpose jet planes designed by Messerschmitt for the Luftwaffe that entered service during the final phase of the Second World War in Europe. The aircraft’s design was begun in the summer of 1943 under the project handle P.1099, intended as an improvement to the successful Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter and also as a replacement for the Arado Ar 234 bomber/reconnaissance aircraft. The primary focus was on more payload, being either usable for more fuel (since early jet engines had poor mileage and therefore range and endurance) or for weapons, including bombs in an internal bomb bay that would enable the aircraft to fulfil a similar tactical role as the British de Havilland Mosquito. Beyond this high-speed bomber (Schnellbomber) variant, the P.1099 would also be a suitable basis for a fast reconnaissance plane, interceptors and night fighters, and trainer versions were also planned.

 

The Messerschmitt P.1099 was a 12 m long, conventional-looking aircraft with a wingspan of 12.6 m. It had a much wider fuselage than the Messerschmitt Me 262. It had a circular shape with a diameter of 1.7m (5 ft 6¾ in) and the cockpit was now moved closer to the aircraft’s nose, above the front landing gear well. The baseline aircraft featured a side-by-side cockpit for a crew of two, even though different layouts were envisioned for the specialized variants, including single-seaters. To save development time and to use existing jigs and tools as much as possible, the P.1099 retained the wings and the tail section of the Me 262A-2a. Despite a higher total weight (the P.1099’ MTOW was about 3 tons higher), the planned powerplants were initially two uprated Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engines, later to be replaced by more powerful Heinkel HeS 011 turbojets.

 

In January 1944 the P.1099 was accepted by the RLM and received, despite the aircraft’s different structure, the designation “Me 262 F”. The first variant, the Me 262 F-1 (internally designated P.1099A), was the baseline aircraft under the handle “Jäger I”, a jet-powered single seat daytime fighter. There were three planned versions, differing mainly in armament: Version F-1a was armed with four MK 108 30 mm cannon in the lower fuselage, comparable with the earlier Me 262 A fighter, just with more fuel and ammunition. Version F-1b carried two MK 103 30 mm cannon with longer range, firepower and ammunition supply, and Version F-1c was a heavy daytime fighter with two MK 108 and two MK 103 cannon in the nose.

In parallel the Me 262 F-2 was developed as a more heavily armed and armored variant, as a dedicated heavy bomber interceptor (“Pulkjäger” or “Zerstörer”) under the handle “Jäger II”. Again, three versions were foreseen: Version F-2a would be armed with a single MK 108 cannon and a heavy MK 112 55 mm cannon in the nose. Version F-2b was the same, but it was armed with a MK 114 50 mm cannon instead of the Mk 112. Both were single seaters with a heavily armored cockpit and canopy.

The F-2c was a more thoroughly modified two-seater version; it was armed with a single MG151/20 in a small nose turret, a pair of Mk 103 in the rear of the cockpit firing up- and backwards and two defensive MG 131 in remote-controlled FDL 151 barbettes in the tail. Due to the significant changes this model had the internal project designation P.1099B.

Another two-seater, the F-2d, remained very close to the original baseline aircraft with a crew of two in a side-by-side cockpit. This aircraft was armed with the standard four MK 108 in the nose, plus one launch rail under each wing for Ruhrstahl X-4 guided missiles, which were launched and steered by the second crewman via a wire connection with the mothership. This variant did not come to fruition, however, after the X-4 missile project had been cancelled in early 1945.

 

All P.1099 fighters also had hardpoints under the outer wings for racks with twelve 55mm R4M unguided air-to-air missiles each, a detail taken over from the Me 262 A, even though the fuel load had to be reduced to carry them. The radio equipment of all these versions would be a FuG 16, Peil G6, FuG 101 radio altimeter, FuBl 2 blind landing equipment, as well as the FuG 25a Erstling identification friend or foe transceiver.

 

Beyond these initial day fighter variants, further types based on the P.1099 airframe were envisioned, too. The F-3 was a dedicated night fighter version, developed in parallel to the Me 262 G. It was based on the F-2a heavy day fighter, but it carried a crew of two (the pilot and a rearward-facing radar operator) and was equipped with a FuG 240 “Berlin” radar set and a rotating dish antenna under a streamlined plywood cover in the nose. The armament consisted of four MK 108 under the nose, similar to the F-1a day fighter, plus two additional, upward-firing MK 108 cannon (“Schräge Musik”) in the rear fuselage.

Other proposed variants (with less priority, though) were the F-4 and the F-5, which were to become the basis for fast bombers and reconnaissance aircraft with only light defensive armament, typically only a pair of MG 131 in remote-controlled tail barbettes was to be carried. The F-4 resembled the baseline P.1099A, with two bomb bays in front of and behind the main landing gear wells and a crew of two seated side-by-side in a pressurized cockpit. Two MK 108 were carried in the nose, plus the MG 131 tail barbettes. The F-5 was similar but featured a glazed bomb aimer/navigator station in the nose instead of the MK 108’s and the glazing above the pilot’s station was reduced and asymmetrical. In both bomber variants the fuselage tanks were re-arranged to make room for a single SC 1.200 in the front bomb bay, but combinations of smaller bombs could be carried, too. Alternatively, mounts for up to three cameras or a 1.350 l auxiliary tank for extended range could be carried in the bays, too.

 

Initial flight tests of the Me 262 F in late 1944 showed severe directional instability: especially after fuel and ammunition had been depleted and the center of gravity shifted the aircraft tended to become nose-heavy and ditch down if it was not carefully monitored and trimmed by the pilot. To cope with this problem, the engine mounts were modified, so that the CoG was shifted back. Compared with the original Me 262 the engines were placed roughly 900 mm (35.5 in) further back under the wings. The emptying sequence of the fuselage tanks was also changed, and this mostly mended the problems. Another measure to mend the directional instability issues was the enlargement of the tail surfaces, even though later production aircraft frequently had smaller Me 262 A stabilizers fitted due to material shortages and simple lack of parts.- However, due to the higher weight the Me 262 F’s handling and agility were very limited – but most of its intended roles rather relied on speed, anyway, so that dogfights could be avoided.

 

From 1944 on the war situation worsened considerably, and production of the new Me 262 F superseded the A variant only on selected production lines. A disused mine complex under the Walpersberg mountain was adapted for the production of complete aircraft. These were hauled to the flat top of the hill where a runway had been cleared and flown out. Between 20 and 30 Me 262 Fs were built here until early 1946, primarily fighters, the underground factory being overrun by Allied troops before it could reach a meaningful output. Wings were produced in Germany's oldest motorway tunnel at Engelberg, to the west of Stuttgart. At B8 Bergkristall-Esche II, a vast network of tunnels was excavated beneath St. Georgen/Gusen, Austria, where fully equipped fuselages for the Me 262 at a planned monthly rate of 450 units on large assembly lines were to be produced from early 1945.

 

After the type’s introduction to frontline units in early 1945 further handling problems arose through the aircraft’ weight, resulting from its high wing load. Both starting and landing run were excessive, so that the number of airfields from which it could be operated was relatively small. No real short-term solution could be found without fully re-designing the wings, so that RATO bottles were frequently used to get a fully loaded Me 262 F up into the air from standard airfields. These were typically fitted to racks which were mounted under the fuselage, flanking the rear bomb bay.

The Me 262 F’s landing speed was dangerously high, too. A retrofittable brake parachute, housed in a simple tubular fairing under the tail, was developed to reduce the landing distance and save brakes, which frequently overheated and could set the landed aircraft aflame.

 

From the Me 262 F-2a “Pulkzerstörer I”, only a small number were built and eventually entered service. Its main armament, the MK 112, was a heavy German machine cannon produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig from 1945 on – in fact, the MK 112 was basically a scaled-up MK 108, a very compact weapon with relatively low weight. The MK 112 had a caliber of 55 mm and thus fired much larger shells than the 30 mm MK 108, but the rate of fire was significantly lower (300 rounds / min compared to about 600-660 rounds / min of the MK 108). This large-caliber gun was designed primarily to combat heavy bombers, its rate of fire would have been too slow for effective aerial battles with escort fighters – but the Me 262 F would not have been a dogfighter, anyway, so that the “hit-and-run” mission profile suited the aircraft well. Fire tests showed that a single MK 112 hit with mine grenades could destroy a bomber, and with a rate of fire of five shells per second this weapon could inflict considerably higher losses on the incoming streams of Allied bombers compared to other on-board weapons used on the German side. Only the unguided R4M missiles were as effective, but the MK 112 offered considerably higher accuracy and the opportunity to execute more than just a single attack run on an incoming bomber formation.

The MK 112 was mounted in the lower starboard section of the Me 262 F-2a’s nose, its barrel protruded more than 2 m (7 ft) from its nose. The gun’s drum magazine with sixty rounds partly took up the rear space of the cockpit behind the pilot and the gun mount even used up space of the weapon bay on port side, so that only a single MK 108 with 100 rounds as an additional weapon was mounted in the lower port side weapon bay.

Its sister, the Me 262 F-2b, remained on the drawing board, because its main weapon, the 50 mm MK 114 autocannon that had been derived from the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun, had turned out to be over-complicated, overweight and unreliable. A refined version was developed as the MK 214A, though, but after flight test from February 1945, but the weapon was not deployed operationally.

 

Only a handful Me 262 F-2a Pulkzerstörer were eventually fielded and operated before the end of hostilities – beyond the low production numbers the lack of fuel and loss of suitable airfields highly limited the aircraft’s potential. Probably less than ten were used by operational units, including JG 53 “Pik As”, in which they served alongside other interceptors, including other Me 262 variants. Typically, bomber formations were approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest, and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns. This broadside-attack tactic was very effective, and the aircraft’s high speed allowed the interceptors to turn around 180° and make at least a second attack run from the opposite side, before the machines dashed off and returned to their bases.

  

General characteristics

Crew: One

Length: 14,32 m (46 ft 11 in) overall

12,00 m (39 ft 3¾ in) fuselage only, w/o brake parachute housing

Wingspan: 12,61 m (41 ft 3¾ in)

Height: 4,43 m (14 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 24,2 m² (236 sq ft)

Empty weight: 5.061 kg (11,148 lb)

Loaded weight: 8.762 kg (19,300 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 10.062 kg (22,163 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 C turbojets with 12 kN (2,697 lb st) each

 

Performance

Maximum speed: 930 km/h (577 mph, 505 kn)

Cruising speed: 805 km/h (500 mph, 438 kn) at 6.500 m (21,290 ft)

Range: 1.340 km (830 ml, 728 nm) at 6000 m with internal fuel only

Service ceiling: 11,450 m (37,570 ft)

Rate of climb: 18 m/s (3,540 ft/min) at max. weight

 

Armament:

1× 55 mm (1.96 in) MK 112 machine cannon with 60 rounds

1× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 machine cannon with 100 rounds

Hardpoints under the outer wings for racks with twelve 55mm R4M unguided air-to-air missiles

  

The kit and its assembly:

This became a submission to the late 2021 “Gunships” group build at whatifmodellers.com – what would such a competition be without at least one gun-toting German Luft ’46 interceptor? The Messerschmitt P.1099 lent itself for such a build. Since 1996 Revell offers a 1:72 IP model kit of this paper aircraft, depicting more or less the two planned versions: a basic single-seat day fighter and a heavy two-seater Zerstörer, both based on the same basis.

 

This what-if model was based on Revell’s interpretation of the P.1099A, and the kit goes together well. Fit is very good, even though some designs are IMHO a bit dubious. The kit’s weakest point: Revell unfortunately missed the important detail of the modified engine nacelles: the kit comes with standard Me 262 wings and engines, but due to CoG reasons the P.1099 would have had its engines moved back by about 900 mm, as mentioned in the background. I corrected this on this build with some PSR – sounds simple, but since the nacelles are not expected to be stuck to the wings in their new position roughly 1 cm further back, some serious bodywork had to be done.

 

Otherwise the kit was basically built OOB. I just left away the inner wheels from the main landing gear because I found the twin wheels to be “too much” for this upgraded Me 262. The P.1099 might have been heavier than the Me 262, but…? And the wheels’ tractor-like tread design looks IMHO out of place, too, so that I replaced them with a pair of MiG-21 wheels, left over from a KP kit.

 

The cockpit was taken OOB, even though I have doubts concerning the canopy. And when you look at mockup pictures of the P.1099 you realize that cockpit access had been facilitated through a side door at starboard, similar to the D. H. Mosquito. The cockpit tub does not consider this hatch at all, and the engraved door on the fuselage (it’s actually there!) is so tiny that only a Halfling might use it?

Well, I stuck with it “as is” and just added a pilot figure (specifically from a Matchbox Hawker tempest, because it is one of the rare cases that you get a WWII pilot wearing an oxygen mask) and a “barrel” behind the bulbous pilot seat because there’s a lot of free space in this single seat variant that is otherwise occupied by a rear gunner in Revell’s P.1099B kit. I also have doubts concerning the kit’s canopy, since the original P.1099 had a cockpit for two seated side-by-side, with a canopy that resembled the D.H. Mosquito’s a lot. I am also not certain about the stabilizers – the kit comes with standard Me 262 parts, but trustworthy sources I consulted suggest that not only the fin had been enlarged (depicted well in Revell’s kit), but also the stabilizers? To improve this, I implanted a pair of modified stabilizers that came from a Heller PZL P.23 light bomber. Sounds odd, but they were a very good match in size, shape and thickness!

 

The only major modification concerns the armament, even though it became just a “graft-on” solution. On the lower left side, the upper gun port was PSRed away. On the right side I added a bulged fairing for the MK 112. It was sculpted from a Matchbox Saab J29 drop tank and blended into the hull with PSR. Protruding spent cases fairings were added for both guns. The MK 112 gun barrel is a resin piece, left over from a ModelTrans tank conversion set and actually depicts a German 55 mm gun, so that this became a perfect donor piece.

 

Since the airframe still looked rather clean and boring I finally added a pair of JATO bottle racks to the rear fuselage (scratched from styrene profile but left empty) and a brake parachute fairing under the fin, carved from a piece of sprue.

 

Furthermore, a display adapter was installed into the fuselage for in-flight pictures.

  

Painting and markings:

This became a challenge, because I wanted a rather unusual livery, neither a standard RLM 81/82/76 late-war combo nor an improvised-cammo-over-bare-metal finish. After some research I settled upon something that was actually carried by some He 177 bombers around 1944: a uniform RLM 74 (Graugrün, Humbrol 245) upper surface with “cloudy” mottles in RLM 76 (Humbrol 247). This appears like a winter camouflage, but it’s actually quite effective at medium altitude, esp. over a cloudy landscape. The original bombers had light blue (RLM 65) undersides, but for the P.1099 from a later period and as a fighter I rather used a darker shade of RLM76 in the form of Tamiya XF-23 (Light Blue). The model received a black ink washing and some post-panel-shading.

 

The cockpit interior became RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67) while the landing gear and the well were painted in uniform RLM 02 (I used Revell 45, a slightly more greenish tone), with wheel discs in RLM 66, too.

 

Unit markings became minimal and quite sober. I gave the aircraft a typical late-war “Reichsverteidigung” fuselage band, and in JG 53’s case it is plain black. The black band was deliberately chosen because it is a good, much darker contrast to the murky RLM 74, so that the latter appears lighter than it actually is, lowering the contrast to the RLM 76 spots.

 

The decals were puzzled together from various sources. As an aircraft of the 3rd group the unit’s ID color would be yellow, reflected in the tactical code and the fin tip. For some contrast and to emphasize the long gun barrel I gave it white and black stripes – as a security measure for ground handling. For some more variety I painted one air intake in very dark grey (Revell 06, Anthracite) and the other one in steel Metallizer, simulating replacement parts. The Balkenkreuze come from various sheets – I used simplified “low viz” versions all around. The undulating yellow bar for the 3rd group comes from a TL Modellbau sheet, while the yellow “4” came from a Fw 190 A sheet from Sky Models. A small “4” on the nose was added as a wacky detail, too, the “Pik As” unit markings came IIRC from a Hobby Boss Bf 109 sheet. Since they turned out to have poor contrast/opacity I only used a few stencils from the P.1099A sheet, but due to the disruptive paint scheme this is not apparent.

 

Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and a wire antenna, scratched from heated black sprue material, was added between cockpit and fin.

  

Well, this modified Messerschmitt P.1099A looks simple, but the modified engine nacelles as well as the gun fairing under the nose called for serious PSR. The result looks quite natural, though, and AFAIK this weapon configuration was actually on German drawing boards. However, I am not certain about the cockpit canopy and other details on Revell’s kit, reference information is contradictive.

The paint scheme looks good, even though it was lent from a heavy bomber, and the poor Humbrol enamels did not yield a finish that I had hoped for – the paintwork could certainly have been better, but the overall impression of a late-war Pulkzerstörer is O.K., and this eventually counts.

The Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 19 (ELaNa 19) payload is prepared to be encapsulated inside the Rocket Lab Electron rocket payload fairing on Dec. 1, 2018, at the company’s facility in New Zealand. The ELaNa 19 payload comprises 10 CubeSats selected through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. The liftoff marks the debut of the agency’s innovative Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) effort. Managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, VCLS was developed to offer small payloads dedicated rides to space.

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Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers inspect the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/ Dimitri Gerondidakis

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the lander petals of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER- 2) have been reopened and its solar panels deployed to allow technicians access to the spacecraft to remove one of its circuit boards. A concern arose during prelaunch testing regarding how the spacecraft interprets signals sent from its main computer to peripherals in the cruise stage, lander and small deep space transponder. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers set to launch in June 2003. The problem will be fixed on both rovers. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum

Valentina Fossati, Ph.D., of the New York Stem Foundation Research Institute, left, and Andres Bratt-Leal, Ph.D., of Aspen Neuroscience, talk to NASA Social participants during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2019. Bratt-Leal and Fossati are principal investigators for the Effects of Microgravity on Microglia 3-Dimensional Models of Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis (Space Tango-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells) payload.

The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-18) mission to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch July 24, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Saturn IB SA-209

 

Dominating the Rocket Garden is a Saturn IB, SA-209. This booster, designated as the booster for a Skylab rescue mission should it prove necessary and later as a backup booster for the ASTP mission, it was never used for its intended purpose and today is one of two remaining Saturn IBs.

 

•General Specifications

oFunction: Apollo spacecraft development; S-IVB stage development in support of Saturn V; Skylab crew launcher

oManufacturer: Chrysler (S-IB); Douglas (S-IVB)

oCountry of Origin: United States

•Size

oHeight141.6 ft (43.2 m) without payload

oDiameter: 21.67 ft (6.61 m)

oMass: 1,300,220 lb (589,770 kg) without payload

oStages: 2

•Capacity

oPayload to LEO: 46,000 lb (21,000 kg)

•Launch History

oStatus: Retired

oLaunch Sites: LC-37 & LC-34, Cape Canaveral; LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center

oTotal Launches: 9

oSuccesses: 9

oFailures: 0

oFirst Flight: February 26, 1966

oLast Flight: July 15, 1975

oNotable Payloads: Unmanned Apollo CSM; Unmanned Apollo LM; Manned Apollo CSM

•First Stage – S-IB

oLength: 80.17 feet (24.44 m)

oDiameter: 21.42 feet (6.53 m)

oEmpty mass: 92,500 pounds (42,000 kg)

oGross mass: 973,000 pounds (441,000 kg)

oPropellant mass: 880,500 pounds (399,400 kg)

oEngines: 8 × Rocketdyne H-1

oThrust: 1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN)

oSpecific impulse: 272 seconds (2.67 km/s)

oBurn time: 150 seconds

oFuel: RP-1/LOX

•Second Stage – S-IVB-200

oLength: 58.42 feet (17.81 m)

oDiameter: 21.42 feet (6.53 m)

oEmpty mass: 23,400 pounds (10,600 kg)

oGross mass: 251,900 pounds (114,300 kg)

oPropellant mass: 228,500 pounds (103,600 kg)

oEngines: Rocketdyne J-2

oThrust: 200,000 lbf (890 kN)

oSpecific Impulse: 420 seconds (4.1 km/s)

oBurn Time: 480 seconds

oFuel: LH2 / LOX

 

The Saturn IB (pronounced “one B”, also known as the Uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It replaced the S-IV second stage of the Saturn I with the much more powerful S-IVB, able to launch a partially fueled Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) or a fully fueled Lunar Module (LM) into low Earth orbit for early flight tests before the larger Saturn V needed for lunar flight was ready.

 

By sharing the S-IVB upper stage, the Saturn IB and Saturn V provided a common interface to the Apollo spacecraft. The only major difference was that the S-IVB on the Saturn V burned only part of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit, so it could be restarted for trans-lunar injection. The S-IVB on the Saturn IB needed all of its propellant to achieve Earth orbit.

 

The Saturn IB launched two unmanned CSM suborbital flights, one unmanned LM orbital flight, and the first manned CSM orbital mission (first planned as Apollo 1, later flown as Apollo 7). It also launched one orbital mission, AS-203, without a payload so the S-IVB would have residual liquid hydrogen fuel. This mission supported the design of the restartable version of the S-IVB used in the Saturn V, by observing the behavior of the liquid hydrogen in weightlessness.

 

In 1973, the year after the Apollo lunar program ended, three Apollo CSM/Saturn IBs ferried crews to the Skylab space station. In 1975, one last Apollo/Saturn IB launched the Apollo portion of the joint US-USSR Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). A backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready for a Skylab rescue mission, but never flown.

 

The remaining Saturn IBs in NASA’s inventory were scrapped after the ASTP mission, as no use could be found for them and all heavy lift needs of the US space program could be serviced by the cheaper and more versatile Titan III family.

 

History

 

In 1959, NASA’s Silverstein Committee issued recommendations to develop the Saturn class launch vehicles, growing from the C-1. When the Apollo program was started in 1961 with the goal of landing men on the Moon, NASA chose the Saturn I for Earth orbital test missions. However, the Saturn I’s payload limit of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) would allow testing of only the Command Module with a smaller propulsion module attached, as the Apollo Command/Service Module would have a dry weight of at least 26,300 pounds (11,900 kg), in addition to service propulsion and reaction control fuel. In July 1962, NASA announced selection of the C-5 for the lunar landing mission, and decided to develop another launch vehicle by upgrading the Saturn I, replacing its S-IV second stage with the S-IVB, which would also be modified for use as the Saturn V third stage. The S-I first stage would also be upgraded to the S-IB by improving the thrust of its engines and removing some weight. The new Saturn IB, with a payload capability of at least 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg), would replace the Saturn I for Earth orbit testing, allowing the Command/Service Module to be flown with a partial fuel load. It would also allow launching the 32,000-pound (15,000 kg) Lunar Excursion Module separately for unmanned and manned Earth orbital testing, before the Saturn V was ready to be flown. It would also give early development to the third stage.

 

On May 12, 1966, NASA announced the vehicle’s name would be changed to the “Uprated Saturn I”, at the same time the “Lunar Excursion Module” was renamed the Lunar Module. However, the “Uprated Saturn I” name was reverted to Saturn IB on December 2, 1967.

 

By the time it was developed, the Saturn IB payload capability had increased to 41,000 pounds (19,000 kg). By 1973, when it was used to launch three Skylab missions, the first-stage engine had been upgraded further, raising the payload capability to 46,000 pounds (21,000 kg).

 

Specifications

 

Launch vehicle

 

ParameterS-IB 1st StageS-IVB-200 2nd StageInstrument Unit

Height80.17 ft (24.44 m)58.42 ft (17.81 m)3.00 ft (0.91 m)

Diameter21.42 ft (6.53 m)21.67 ft (6.61 m)21.67 ft (6.61 m)

Structural mass92,500 lb (42,000 kg)23,400 lb (10,600 kg)4,400 lb (2,000 kg)

PropellantRP-1 / LOXLH2 / LOXN/A

Propellant mass880,500 lb (399,400 kg)228,500 lb (103,600 kg)N/A

EnginesEight - H-1One - J-2N/A

Thrust1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN) sea level200,000 lbf (890 kN) vacuumN/A

Burn duration150 s480 sN/A

Specific impulse272 s (2.66 kN·s/kg) sea level420 s (4.12 kN·s/kg) vacuumN/A

ContractorChryslerDouglasIBM

 

Payload Configurations

 

ParameterCommand/Service ModuleApollo 5AS-203

Launch Escape System mass9,200 lb (4,200 kg)N/AN/A

Apollo Command/Service Module mass36,400 lb (16,500 kg) to

46,000 lb (21,000 kg)N/AN/A

Apollo Lunar Module massN/A31,650 lb (14,360 kg)N/A

Spacecraft LM Adapter mass4,050 lb (1,840 kg)4,050 lb (1,840 kg)N/A

Nose cone heightN/A8.3 ft (2.5 m)27.7 ft (8.4 m)

Payload height81.8 ft (24.9 m)36.3 ft (11.1 m)N/A

Total space vehicle height223.4 ft (68.1 m)177.9 ft (54.2 m)169.4 ft (51.6 m)

Payload Configurations

 

Command/Service ModuleApollo 5AS-203

Parameter: Launch Escape System mass

Command/Service Module 9,200 lb (4,200 kg)N/AN/A

Parameter: Apollo Command/Service Module mass36,400 lb (16,500 kg) to

46,000 lb (21,000 kg)N/AN/A

Parameter: Apollo Lunar Module massN/A31,650 lb (14,360 kg)N/A

Parameter: Spacecraft LM Adapter mass4,050 lb (1,840 kg)4,050 lb (1,840 kg)N/A

Parameter: Nose cone heightN/A8.3 ft (2.5 m)27.7 ft (8.4 m)

Payload height81.8 ft (24.9 m)36.3 ft (11.1 m)N/A

Total space vehicle height223.4 ft (68.1 m)177.9 ft (54.2 m)169.4 ft (51.6 m)

 

S-IB Stage

 

The S-IB stage was built by the Chrysler corporation at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. It was powered by eight Rocketdyne H-1 rocket engines burning RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX). Eight Redstone tanks (four holding fuel and four holding LOX) were clustered around a Jupiter rocket LOX tank. The four outboard engines were mounted on gimbals, allowing them to be steered to control the rocket. Eight fins surrounding the base thrust structure provided aerodynamic stability and control.

 

•Height: 80.17 ft. (24.44 m)

•Diameter: 21.42 ft. (6.53 m)

•Number of fins: 8

•Finspan: 39.42 ft. (12.02 m)

•Engines: 8 Rocketdyne H-1

•Thrust: 1,600,000 lbf (7,100 kN)

•Fuel: RP-1 (Refined kerosene) 41,000 US gal (155 m3)

•Oxidizer: Liquid oxygen (LOX) 66,277 US gal (251 m3) nominal capacity including 1.5% ullage volume (43,284 US gal/163 m3 in four outer tanks plus 22,993 US gal/87 m3 in center tank)

•Burn time: 2.5 min

•Burnout altitude: 37 nmi (69 km)

 

S-IVB-200 Stage

 

The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB-200 model was similar to the S-IVB-500 third stage used on the Saturn V, with the exception of the interstage adapter, smaller auxiliary propulsion control modules, and lack of on-orbit engine restart capability. It was powered by a single Rocketdyne J-2 engine. The fuel and oxidizer tanks shared a common bulkhead, which saved about ten tons of weight and reduced vehicle length over ten feet.

 

•Height: 58.42 ft. (17.81 m)

•Diameter: 21.67 ft. (6.61 m)

•Engine: single J-2

•Thrust: 200,000 lbf (890 kN)

•Fuel: Liquid hydrogen (LH2) 64,000 US gal (242 m3)

•Oxidizer: Liquid oxygen (LOX) 20,000 US gal (76 m3)

•Burn time: approx. 7 min

•Burnout altitude (for Saturn IB): orbit

 

Instrument Unit

 

Main article: Saturn V Instrument Unit

 

IBM built the Instrument Unit at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Located at the top of the S-IVB stage, it consisted of a Launch Vehicle Digital Computer (LVDC), an inertial platform, accelerometers, a tracking, telemetry and command system and associated environmental controls. It controlled the entire rocket from just before liftoff until battery depletion. Like other rocket guidance systems, it maintained its state vector (position and velocity estimates) by integrating accelerometer measurements, sent firing and steering commands to the main engines and auxiliary thrusters, and fired the appropriate ordnance and solid rocket motors during staging and payload separation events.

 

As with other rockets, a completely independent and redundant range safety system could be invoked by ground radio command to terminate thrust and to destroy the vehicle should it malfunction and threaten people or property on the ground. In the Saturn IB and V, the range safety system was permanently disabled by ground command after safely reaching orbit. This was done to ensure that the S-IVB stage would not inadvertently rupture and create a cloud of debris in orbit that could endanger the crew of the Apollo CSM.

 

Launch Sequence Events

 

•Launch Event: Ignition Command

oTime (s): -3.02

•Launch Event: First Motion

oTime (s): -0.19

•Launch Event: Liftoff

oTime (s): 0.00

•Launch Event: Initiate Pitch Maneuver

oTime (s): 10.0

•Launch Event: Initiate Roll Maneuver

oTime (s): 10.0

•Launch Event: End Roll Maneuver

oTime (s): 38.0

•Launch Event: Mach One

oTime (s): 62.18

oAltitude (km): 7.63

•Launch Event: Max Q

oTime (s): 75.5

oAltitude (km): 12.16.

•Launch Event: Freeze Tilt

oTime: 134.40..

•Launch Event: Inboard Engine Cutoff

oTime (s): 140.65..

•Launch Event: Outboard Engine Cutoff

oTime (s): 144.32

•Launch Event: Ullage Rockets Ignition

oTime (s): 145.37

•Launch Event: S-IB / S-IVB Separation

oTime (s): 145.59

•Launch Event: S-IVB Ignition

oTime (s): 146.97

•Launch Event: Ullage Rocket Burnout

oTime (s): 148.33

•Launch Event: Ullage Rocket Jettison

oTime (s): 156.58

•Launch Event: Jettison LES

oTime (s): 163.28

•Launch Event: Start Pitch Over

oTime (s): 613.95

•Launch Event: S-IVB Cutoff

oTime (s): 616.76

•Launch Event: Orbit Insertion

oTime (s): 626.76

•Launch Event: Start S/C Sep Sequence

oTime (s): 663.11

•Launch Event: Spacecraft Separation

oTime (s): 728.31

 

Saturn IB Vehicles and Launches

 

The first five Saturn IB launches for the Apollo program were made from LC-34 and LC-37, Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.

 

The Saturn IB was used between 1973 and 1975 for three manned Skylab flights, and one Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight. This final production run did not have alternating black and white S-IB stage tanks, or vertical stripes on the S-IVB aft tank skirt, which were present on the earlier vehicles. Since LC-34 and 37 were inactive by then, these launches utilized Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39B. Mobile Launcher Platform No. 1 was modified, adding an elevated platform known as the “milkstool” to accommodate the height differential between the Saturn IB and the much larger Saturn V. This enabled alignment of the Launch Umbilical Tower’s access arms to accommodate crew access, fueling, and ground electrical connections for the Apollo spacecraft and S-IVB upper stage. The tower’s second stage access arms were modified to service the S-IB first stage.

 

SA-201

 

•Mission: AS-201

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,820

oLaunch Date: February 26, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM (Command/Service Module).

 

SA-203

 

•Mission: AS-203

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): None

oLaunch Date: July 5, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned test of unburned LH2 behavior in orbit to support S-IVB-500 restart design

 

SA-202

 

•Mission: AS-202

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 25,810

oLaunch Date: August 25, 1966

oNotes: Unmanned suborbital test of Block I CSM

 

SA-204

 

•Mission: Apollo 1

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,412

oNotes: Was to be first manned orbital test of Block I CSM. Cabin fire killed astronauts and damaged CM during dress rehearsal for planned February 21, 1967 launch.

•Mission: Apollo 5

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 14,360

oLaunch Date: January 22, 1968

oNotes: Unmanned orbital test of Lunar Module, used Apollo 1 launch vehicle.

 

SA-205

 

•Mission: Apollo 7

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 16,520

oLaunch Date: October 11, 1968

oNotes: Manned orbital test of Block II CSM.

 

SA-206

 

•Mission: Skylab 2

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 19,979

oLaunch Date: May 25, 1973

oNotes: Block II CSM ferried first crew to Skylab orbital workshop

 

SA-207

 

•Mission: Skylab 3

•Spacecraft Mass (kg): 20,121

•Launch Date: July 28, 1973

•Notes: Block II CSM ferried second crew to Skylab orbital workshop

 

SA-208

 

•Mission: AS-208

oNotes: Standby Skylab 3 rescue CSM-119; not needed.

•Mission: Skylab 4

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 20,847

oLaunch Date: November 16, 1973

oNotes: Block II CSM ferried third crew to Skylab orbital workshop.

 

SA-209

 

•Mission: AS-209

oNotes: Standby Skylab 4 and later Apollo-Soyuz rescue CSM-119. Not needed, currently on display in the KSC rocket garden.

•Mission: Skylab 5

oNotes: Planned CSM mission to lift Skylab workshop’s orbit to endure until Space Shuttle ready to fly; cancelled.

 

SA-210

 

•Mission: ASTP

oSpacecraft Mass (kg): 16,780

oLaunch Date: July 15, 1975

oNotes: Apollo CSM with special docking adapter module, rendezvoused with Soyuz 19. Last Saturn IB flight.

 

SA-211

 

•Notes: Unused. First stage at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-65 in Ardmore, Alabama. S-IVB stage rests with Skylab underwater training simulator hardware and is on display outdoors at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

SA-212

 

•Notes: Unused. First stage scrapped. S-IVB stage converted to Skylab space station.

 

SA-213:

 

•Notes: Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped.

 

SA-214

 

•Notes: Only first stage built. Unused and scrapped.

 

For earlier launches of vehicles in the Saturn I series, see the list in the Saturn I article.

 

Saturn IB Rockets on Display

 

Currently there are three locations where Saturn IB vehicles (or parts thereof) are on display:

 

•SA-209 is on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, with the Apollo Facilities Verification Vehicle. Due to severe corrosion, the first stage engines and Service Module were replaced with fabricated duplicates in 1993–1994.

•The SA-211 first stage is on display with the S-IVB-S “Battleship” static test stage stacked in a launch-ready condition at the Alabama Welcome Center on Interstate 65 in Ardmore, Alabama. 34.954548°N 86.89193°W

•The SA-211 S-IVB stage was mated with the Skylab underwater training docking adapter and Apollo Telescope Mount and is on display in the Rocket Garden of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

 

Cost

 

In 1972, the cost of a Saturn IB including launch was US$55,000,000 (equivalent to $315,000,000 in 2016).

 

AS 209

 

Black-and-white picture from inside a tall building with a space capsule being lifted from the top of a rocket

 

The Skylab Rescue CSM is removed from its Saturn IB Launch vehicle following the successful recovery of Skylab 4.

 

After the Skylab 4 launch, another rescue flight was assembled as a backup contingency. The Saturn IB rocket AS 209 was assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Launch Complex 39 for possible use. It also used the CSM 119 Command Module that was to be launched with Brand and Lind.

 

There were also plans for a short 20-day Skylab 5 flight that would use this backup CSM. The crew, likely consisting of Brand, Lind, and Skylab backup Science Pilot William B. Lenoir, would have performed some scientific research and closed out the station until the Space Shuttle was operational. However, the extension of Skylab 4 from fifty-six to eighty-four days obviated the need for the additional mission.

 

AS 209 and CSM 119 were later used as a backup to the ASTP mission. Both are now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. CSM 119 is located in the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The Saturn IB booster for AS 209 is currently located in the Visitor Complex’s Rocket Garden. It is displayed horizontally, mated to an Apollo FVV (Facilities Verification Vehicle) which was formerly displayed at the VAB’s Visitor Complex c. October 1968. In 2007, after sitting untouched for over 30 years, NASA engineers used the command module for studies on the spacecraft’s life support adapter assembly—the projecting aerodynamic fairing that allows oxygen, water, and electricity to flow from the Service Module to the Command Module. This was in support of the design and construction of a similar system on the new Orion spacecraft, which resembles the Skylab Rescue configuration.

The Sikorsky H-34 (company designation S-58) is a piston-engined military helicopter that was originally designed by American aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky for the United States Navy for service in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role. It has seen extended use when adapted to turbine power by the British licensee as the Westland Wessex and Sikorsky as the later S-58T.

 

Beginning in 1962, the H-34 served as the primary Marine Corps assault helicopter of the Vietnam War until its replacement by the turbine-powered CH-46. It began in 1952 as a Navy anti-submarine warfare helicopter evolved from the Sikorsky S-55 series.

 

A large payload capacity and generous center-of-gravity range made the H-34 series an effective transport helicopter for the 1950s. Its weaknesses were a reciprocating engine that struggled in the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia and maintenance intensive mechanical components. This Marine Corps UH-34D never served overseas, but wears the markings of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 that did see extensive combat in Vietnam.

 

Sources: www.wikipedia.org, airandspace.si.edu

 

December 30, 2012, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia, taken here

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician installs thermal blankets around the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Michelle Stone

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Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a solar array is being inspected, tested and cleaned before being integrated with the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

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Valentina Fossati, Ph.D., of the New York Stem Foundation Research Institute, left, and Andres Bratt-Leal, Ph.D., of Aspen Neuroscience, talk to NASA Social participants during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2019. Bratt-Leal and Fossati are principal investigators for the Effects of Microgravity on Microglia 3-Dimensional Models of Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis (Space Tango-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells) payload.

The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-18) mission to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch July 24, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Jason August, International Space Station Mission Evaluation Room manager, talks to NASA Social participants about the International Docking Adapter-3 payload during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2019.

The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-18) mission to the station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch July 24, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Encapsulated in its payload fairing, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander is transported to Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

Photo credit: USAF 30th Space Wing/Daniel Herrera

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The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle, a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program. Operated from 1977 to 2011 by NASA, the U.S. space agency, this vehicle could carry astronauts and payloads into low Earth orbit, perform in-space operations, then re-enter the atmosphere and land as a glider, returning its crew and any on-board payload to the Earth.

Six orbiters were built for flight: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. All were built in Palmdale, California, by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Rockwell International company. The first orbiter, Enterprise, made its maiden flight in 1977. An unpowered glider, it was carried by a modified Boeing 747 airliner called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and released for a series of atmospheric test flights and landings. Enterprise was partially disassembled and retired after completion of critical testing. The remaining orbiters were fully operational spacecraft, and were launched vertically as part of the Space Shuttle stack.

Columbia was the first space-worthy orbiter; it made its inaugural flight in 1981. Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis followed in 1983, 1984, and 1985 respectively. In 1986, Challenger was destroyed in an accident shortly after its 10th launch. Endeavour was built as Challenger's successor, and was first launched in 1992. In 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry, leaving just three remaining orbiters. Discovery completed its final flight on March 9, 2011, and Endeavour completed its final flight on June 1, 2011. Atlantis completed the final Shuttle flight, STS-135, on July 21, 2011.

In addition to their crews and payloads, the reusable orbiter carried most of the Space Shuttle System's liquid-propellant rocket system, but both the liquid hydrogen fuel and the liquid oxygen oxidizer for its three main rocket engines were fed from an external cryogenic propellant tank. Additionally, two reusable solid rocket boosters (SRBs) provided additional thrust for approximately the first two minutes of launch. The orbiters themselves did carry hypergolic propellants for their Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters and Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines.

  

Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_orbiter" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_orbiter</a>

The Rockwell (now part of Boeing) B-1 Lancer is a four-engine, variable-sweep wing strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force. First envisioned in the 1960s as a supersonic bomber with sufficient range and payload to replace the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, it developed primarily into a low-level penetrator with long range and supersonic speed capability.

 

The bomber's development was delayed multiple times over its history, as the theory of strategic balance changed from flexible response to mutually assured destruction and back again. The initial B-1A version was developed in the early 1970s, but its production was canceled and only four prototypes were built. In 1980, the B-1 resurfaced as the B-1B version with the focus on low-level penetration bombing. The B-1B entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1986.

 

The B-1B began service with the USAF Strategic Air Command as a nuclear bomber. In the 1990s, it was converted to conventional bombing use. It was first used in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B continues to support U.S. and NATO military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Lancer is the supersonic component of the USAF's long-range bomber force, along with the subsonic B-52 and Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit. The bomber is commonly called the "Bone" (originally from "B-One"). With the retirement of the General Dynamics/Grumman EF-111A Raven in 1998 and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006, the B-1B is the U.S. military's only active variable-sweep wing aircraft.

 

General characteristics

 

* Crew: 4 (aircraft commander, copilot, offensive systems officer and defensive systems officer)

* Payload: 125,000 lb (56,600 kg) ; internal and external ordnance combined

* Length: 146 ft (44.5 m)

* Wingspan:

o Extended: 137 ft (41.8 m)

o Swept: 79 ft (24.1 m)

* Height: 34 ft (10.4 m)

* Wing area: 1,950 ft² (181.2 m²)

* Airfoil: NA69-190-2

* Empty weight: 192,000 lb (87,100 kg)

* Loaded weight: 326,000 lb (148,000 kg)

* Max takeoff weight: 477,000 lb (216,400 kg)

* Powerplant: 4× General Electric F101-GE-102 augmented turbofans

o Dry thrust: 14,600 lbf (64.9 kN) each

o Thrust with afterburner: 30,780 lbf (136.92 kN) each

* Fuel capacity, optional: 10,000 U.S. gal (38,000 L) fuel tank for 1–3 internal weapons bays each

 

Performance

 

* Maximum speed:

o At altitude: Mach 1.25 (721 knots, 830 mph, 1,340 km/h at 50,000 ft/15,000 m altitude)

o At low level: Mach 0.92 (700 mph, 1,130 km/h at 200–500 ft/60-150 m altitude)

* Range: 6,478 nmi (7,456 mi, 11,998 km)

* Combat radius: 2,993 nmi (3,445 mi, 5,543 km)

* Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

* Wing loading: 167 lb/ft² (816 kg/m²)

* Thrust/weight: 0.38

 

Armament

 

* Hardpoints: six external hardpoints for 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) of ordnance (use for weapons currently restricted by START I treaty) and 3 internal bomb bays for 75,000 lb (34,000 kg) of ordnance.

* Bombs:

o 84× Mk-82 AIR inflatable retarder general purpose bombs

o 81× Mk-82 low drag general purpose bombs

o 84× Mk-62 Quickstrike sea mines

o 24× Mk-65 naval mines

o 30× CBU-87/89/CBU-97 Cluster Bomb Units (CBU)[N 1]

o 30× CBU-103/104/105 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser

o 24× GBU-31 JDAM GPS guided bombs[N 2]

o 15× GBU-38 JDAM GPS guided bombs (Mk-82 general purpose warhead)[N 3]

o 24× Mk-84 general purpose bombs

o 12× AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon

o 96× or 144× GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb GPS guided bombs[N 4] (not fielded on B-1 yet)

o 24× AGM-158 JASSM

o 24× B61 thermonuclear variable-yield gravity bombs (no longer carried)

o 24x B83 nuclear bomb (no longer carried)

 

Avionics

 

* 1× AN/APQ-164 forward-looking offensive passive phased-array radar

* 1× AN/ALQ-161 radar warning and defensive jamming equipment

* 1× AN/ASQ-184 defensive management system

* 1× Lockheed Martin Sniper XR targeting pod (optional)

Astrobotic CEO, John Thornton, fourth from left, speaks about their lunar lander with, from left to right, NASA Press Officer, Felicia Chou; NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen; Astrobotic Mission Director, Sharad Bhaskaran; Chairman of the Board of Intuitive Machines, Kam Ghaffarian; VP of Research and Development of Intuitive Machines, Tim Crain; President and CEO of OrbitBeyond, Siba Padhi; and Chief Science Officer, OrbitBeyond, Jon Morse, Friday, May 31, 2019, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Md. Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and OrbitBeyond have been selected to provide the first lunar landers for the Artemis program's lunar surface exploration. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Astrobotic Mission Director, Sharad Bhaskaran , third from left, speaks about their lunar lander with, from left to right, NASA Press Officer, Felicia Chou; NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen; Astrobotic CEO, John Thornton; Chairman of the Board of Intuitive Machines, Kam Ghaffarian; VP of Research and Development of Intuitive Machines, Tim Crain; President and CEO of OrbitBeyond, Siba Padhi; and Chief Science Officer, OrbitBeyond, Jon Morse, Friday, May 31, 2019, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Md. Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and OrbitBeyond have been selected to provide the first lunar landers for the Artemis program's lunar surface exploration. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The payload fairing protecting NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory spacecraft, or DSCOVR, tops the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to lift off at 6:10 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

DSCOVR is a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force. DSCOVR will maintain the nation's real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of NOAA's space weather alerts and forecasts. To learn more about DSCOVR, visit www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Astronaut John M. Grunsfeld, payload commander, peers into the crew cabin of the Space Shuttle Columbia during the first STS-109 extravehicular activity (EVA-1) on March 4, 2002. Grunsfeld's helmet visor, with the sunshield in place, displays mirrored images of the Earth's hemisphere and the Space Shuttle Columbia's aft cabin. The distorted reflection gives the crew cabin a cyclops-like appearance. Astronauts Grunsfeld and Richard M. Linnehan replaced the starboard solar array on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) on the first of five scheduled STS-109 spacewalks. The lower portion of the giant telescope can be seen behind the payload commander. The image was recorded with a digital still camera by a crewmate on shuttle's aft flight deck.

 

Credit: NASA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians prepare to conduct an electromagnetic interference verification test using the solar arrays for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and an antenna simulator. If no interference is found during the test, the Shallow Radar Antenna (SHARAD) will be installed on the spacecraft. The spacecraft is undergoing multiple mechanical assembly operations and electrical tests to verify its readiness for launch. The MRO was built by Lockheed Martin for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. It is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10. The MRO is an important next step in fulfilling NASAs vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum

Desson's been working on the payload all week, has the antenna shrunk, thinking of swapping in a new science package

PictionID:44808801 - Catalog:14_014213 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Filename:14_014213.TIF - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

Vice President of Research and Development of Intuitive Machines, Tim Crain, second from right, speaks about their lunar lander, Friday, May 31, 2019, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Md. Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Orbit Beyond have been selected to provide the first lunar landers for the Artemis program's lunar surface exploration. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Jason August, International Space Station Mission Evaluation Room manager, talks to NASA Social participants about the International Docking Adapter-3 payload during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2019.

The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-18) mission to the station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch July 24, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians transfer supplies and hardware into the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized module during late stowage operations. The Cygnus spacecraft will carry more than 7,000 pounds of cargo on the next resupply flight to the International Space Station. Cygnus is undergoing prelaunch processing at Kennedy before launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket scheduled for December 3 from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

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The two EVEX payloads side by side. On the right of the image are the Goddard electric field experiments, with four-foot long fiberglass masts housing the magnetometers, and double-articulated "booms" that open up in flight to deploy sensors over eight feet away from the rocket body.

 

Credit: NASA

 

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A NASA-funded sounding rocket mission will launch from an atoll in the Pacific this spring. The mission will help scientists better understand and predict the electrical storms in Earth's upper atmosphere that can negatively affect satellite communication and global positioning signals.

 

The mission, called EVEX, for the Equatorial Vortex Experiment, will launch into a crucial layer of charged particles surrounding our planet. Called the ionosphere, this layer serves as the medium through which high frequency radio waves – such as those sent down to the ground by global positioning system (GPS) satellites or, indeed, any satellite communicating with Earth – travel. The ionosphere begins about 60 miles above the ground and is filled with electrons and ions, alongside the more familiar extension of our electrically neutral atmosphere. Governed by Earth’s magnetic field, high-altitude winds, and incoming material and energy from the sun, the ionosphere can be calm in certain places or times of day, and quite turbulent at others.

EVEX will launch two rockets for a twelve-minute journey through the equatorial ionosphere above the South Pacific. This area of the ionosphere is known for calm days and tempestuous evenings, times when the ionosphere becomes rippled like a funhouse mirror, disturbing radio signals, and introducing GPS errors of a half mile or more. The two rockets will measure events in two separate regions of the ionosphere to see how they work together to drive the ionosphere from placid and smooth to violently disturbed. Such information could ultimately lead to the ability to accurately forecast this important aspect of space weather.

The launch window for EVEX is from April 27 to May 10. The team will decide when to fly based on conditions in the ionosphere on any given night.

 

Read more at www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sounding-rockets/news/evex.html

 

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

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Technicians inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida install a commemorative plaque on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Monday, July 27, 2026. In addition to honoring the legacy of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer and one of the architects of the agency’s modern science program, the plaque features a memory card containing a total of 1,350,144 names submitted by people from across the globe, including astronauts from NASA’s Artemis II and Artemis III missions. The Roman observatory will travel to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, or L2, about one million miles from Earth, where the Sun’s and Earth’s gravity balance out, to complete a statistical census of planetary systems in our galaxy and settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. Photo credit: NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)

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Chief Science Officer, OrbitBeyond, Jon Morse speaks about their lunar lander with, from left to right, NASA Press Officer, Felicia Chou; NASA Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen; Astrobotic Mission Director, Sharad Bhaskaran; Astrobotic CEO, John Thornton; Chairman of the Board of Intuitive Machines, Kam Ghaffarian; VP of Research and Development of Intuitive Machines, Tim Crain; President and CEO of OrbitBeyond, Siba Padhi, Friday, May 31, 2019, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Md. Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and OrbitBeyond have been selected to provide the first lunar landers for the Artemis program's lunar surface exploration. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

S86-25192 (January 1986) --- Two payload specialists in training for the STS-51L mission, and a payload specialist from STS-61C share a "zero-gravity" flight aboard a KC-135 aircraft over the Gulf of Mexico. Left to right are United States Representative Bill Nelson (Democrat, Florida), Sharon Christa McAuliffe, and Barbara R. Morgan. The congressman is a payload specialist for the STS-61C mission. McAuliffe is the prime payload specialist for the Teacher-in-Space Project aboard the STS-51L mission; and Morgan is her backup. The photo was taken by Keith meyers of the New York Times.

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: The STS-51L crew members lost their lives in the space shuttle Challenger accident moments after launch on Jan. 28, 1986 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Photo credit: NASA

Astrobotic CEO, John Thornton, second from right, speaks about their lunar lander, Friday, May 31, 2019, at Goddard Space Flight Center in Md. Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Orbit Beyond have been selected to provide the first lunar landers for the Artemis program's lunar surface exploration. Photo credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Apis Mellifera (Honey bee) stinger with ejected venom

 

Courtesy of Clifford Barnes

 

Image Details

Instrument used: Quanta Family

Magnification: 578x

Horizontal Field Width: 500 um

Vacuum: 3 Torr

Voltage: 10 kV

Spot: 4.0

Working Distance: 8.4

Detector: GSED

 

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers hoist the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to a rotation stand for testing. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/ Dimitri Gerondidakis

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Taken from Jalama Beach Road at 2141L 25 Sep 10.

 

"SBSS Block 10 will complement an array of ground-based sensors to detect and track objects in space, such as satellites and orbital debris, to enhance operations and situational awareness. NASA may also use information collected by SBSS Block 10 to maneuver the International Space Station away from threatening orbital debris.

 

"This mission will be the inaugural orbital flight of the Minotaur IV, which is capable of carrying out a variety of orbital and suborbital missions for the U.S. Air Force and other customers. Orbital currently has eight additional Minotaur IV launches scheduled, the next of which will launch STP-S26, a research and development mission for the Air Force that will carry seven small satellites with 16 experimental payloads into orbit."

 

www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/release.asp?prid=746

 

The SpaceX payload fairing that will surround and encapsulate NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, has been uncreated from its shipping container for inspections and preflight processing. The satellite is NASA's next step in the search for planets outside of the solar system also known as "exoplanets." TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, is the provider of the Falcon 9 launch service. TESS is scheduled to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than April 16, 2018 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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PictionID:55953343 - Catalog:14_038317.tif - Title:Atlas Centaur Testing Details: Centaur Nose Cone Jettison Test; Pt Loma Site Date: 01/06/1961 - Filename:14_038317.tif - ---- Images from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum

An operator dons a Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suit inside a room in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 31, 2018. SCAPE operators, wearing the suits, will participate in a hypergolic systems hot flow test at the MPPF. The test will serve as operational validation of the hypergol subsystem and demonstrate that the hypergols subsystem can service the Orion spacecraft, flow fuel at the required rates, drain and de-service the system, and meet the intended timeline. SCAPE suite are used in operations involving toxic propellants and are supplied with air either through a hardline or through a self-contained environmental control unit. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

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The 19,647-square-foot Multi-Payload Processing Facility, or MPPF, is where Orion will receive its flight load of propellant, high pressure gasses and coolant. After years of design work, state-of-the-art equipment now is being tested. The MPPF is where the Orion spacecraft will receive its flight load of propellant, high pressure gasses and coolant in a building where recently completed modifications now are being tested.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

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The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) was lifted up by crane and moved into the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The fairing will be mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. The satellite is slated to launch aboard the ULA Atlas V on March 1. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

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In the Kennedy Space Center's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, engineers and technicians are preparing to close the hatch on the Orbital ATK CRS-4 spacecraft. Scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2015, the enhanced Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft will lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station will deliver more than 7,000 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials that improve life on Earth and drive progress toward future space exploration.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

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Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians encapsulate the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in its payload fairing. Targeted for liftoff at 7:05 p.m. EDT Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

 

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers are about to place the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on a rotation stand for testing. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/ Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.