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In an emergency during launch, the rockets in the escape tower would pull the manned capsule away fom the rest of the rocket.
In an emergency during launch, the rockets in the escape tower would pull the manned capsule away fom the rest of the rocket.
Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum
Apollo Command Module Boilerplate
A boilerplate is a simplified metal model created to test specific aspects of the real spacecraft, such as water landings, launch abort escape rockets, or recovery systems. It duplicates the size, weight, shape, and center of gravity of the actual vehicle.
This particular boilerplate is BP-1101A. NASA used it for flotation tests in the Gulf of Mexico in July, 1965. After some modifications, NASA used it for additional ocean testing in 1966 and 1967.
On Ioan from the National Air and Space Museum.
Edited (with a dreamscape-like program) NASA image of an Apollo Command Module in orbit around the Moon.
Here's a closer view. Wally Schirra's seat was on the left, Walt Cunningham's on the right. There's no figure for Donn Eisele's center seat.
Edited Apollo 17 image (taken from the ascending Lunar Module) of the Command Service Module in a lower lunar orbit than the Lunar Module. This was to let the CSM catch up with the Lunar Module (lower orbits are faster than higher orbits which leads to the weird (but true!) situation in orbital mechanics: if you want to go faster around a planet (or moon), you need to brake).
Al Worden was the Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot, and was the first man to perfrom a deep space EVA.
Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum
Apollo Command Module Boilerplate
A boilerplate is a simplified metal model created to test specific aspects of the real spacecraft, such as water landings, launch abort escape rockets, or recovery systems. It duplicates the size, weight, shape, and center of gravity of the actual vehicle.
This particular boilerplate is BP-1101A. NASA used it for flotation tests in the Gulf of Mexico in July, 1965. After some modifications, NASA used it for additional ocean testing in 1966 and 1967.
On Ioan from the National Air and Space Museum.
Fernbank Science Center
Before you is the Command Module of the Apollo 6. If you look under the capsule you will see a series of holes. These holes were drilled to investigate how the heat shield held up after this capsule re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.
The Apollo 6 mission provided a second rehearsal for launching the massive Saturn V rocket. Scientists and engineers were testing the "staging" of a giant rocket to be sure each section would work properly. An important mission objective was to check out all systems before sending astronauts into space. The vehicle carried a full payload, including a mock-up lunar module, and was to test the capsule's heat shield to see if it could withstand re-entry speeds.
Initially, the launch seemed to be fine. But approximately two minutes into the flight, the first stage's five F-1 engines developed serious thrust fluctuations that caused the rocket to bounce like a pogo stick for 30 seconds. These oscillations were so intense that an airborne chase plane's cameras recorded pieces of the adapter stage (housing the lunar module) falling off of the vehicle. Such low-frequency vibrations (known as "pogo effect") exceeded the engineering/safety design criteria of the Apollo 6 Command Module. Had astronauts been onboard the spacecraft, the mission would have been aborted by jettisoning the capsule away from the failing rocket.
Although the oscillations stopped once the first stage was discarded, the vehicles second stage performance was also less than perfect. Two of the stage's five J-2 engines failed, causing the remaining three engines to burn for a longer period of time than planned. As a result, the second stage ran out of fuel before reaching the desired 100 mile circular orbit.
To compensate the Saturn's third stage burned longer and placed the spacecraft into an unplanned 110 by 230 mile elliptical orbit. NASA engineers left Apollo 6 in this "parking orbit for two revolutions around the Earth to assess the situation and perform various system checks. When flight controllers attempted to fire the third stage again, to simulate the flight to the Moon, the J-2 engine failed to restart.
The issues with the Saturn V's three stages altered the mission, and it was decided that after separation from the third stage, the Service Module's engine would burn for seven minutes, pushing the Apollo 6 capsule to an altitude of almost 14,000 miles. At such an altitude, enough re-entry speed could then be acquired to simulate an Apollo spacecraft returning from the Moon. The capsule's heat shield withstood the fireball created by a 22,000 mile per hour plunge into the Earth's atmosphere. Apollo 6 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, completing its 10 hour perilous space odyssey, and was recovered by the crew of the U.S.S. Okinawa.
Rocket Science. Apollo Control Panel.
Dove gray on black; charcoal; white.
Standard width microfiber.
This is a command module from one of the Saturn V's from one of the Apollo missions that was scrapped.
Scott Carpenter was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, he was the second american to oribit the earth and the first astronaut / aquanaut.
The two circles that look like weird eyes are for the scanning telescope and the space sextant, used to take star fixes for navigation updates.
The Apollo 7 CM display left the center couch empty. It gives a better view of the interior and show how the couches were built.
i found myself blown away by everything I found at the Air and Space Museum. I've always liked learning about space travel, but to see some of the things that were actually taken there is just something totally new. Seeing in person the tools and devices of man's battle between two super powers to race to the stars is something I'll never forget. I can only hope that man's desire for knowledge continues us on the path that these men started us on.