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Apollo 12

Apollo 12

Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon.

Crew

- Pete Conrad (flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, & Skylab 2), commander
- Richard Gordon (flew on Gemini 11 & Apollo 12), command module pilot
- Alan Bean (flew on Apollo 12, Skylab 3), lunar module pilot

Backup crew

- David Scott(flew on Gemini 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 15), commander
- Alfred Worden(flew on Apollo 15), command module pilot
- James Irwin(flew on Apollo 15), lunar module pilot

Support crew

- Gerald Carr(flew on Skylab 4)
- Edward Gibson(flew on Skylab 4)
- Paul Weitz(flew on Skylab 2, STS-6)

Mission parameters

- Mass: CSM 28,838; LM 15,235 kg
- Perigee: 185 km
- Apogee: 189.8 km
- Inclination: 32.54°
- Period: 88.16 min
- Perilune: 115.9 km
- Apolune: 257.1 km
- Inclination: °
- Period: 120 min
- Landing Site: [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunar_sites.html 3.01239 S - 23.42157 W] or
3° 0' 44.60" S - 23° 25' 17.65" W

LM - CSM docking

- Undocked: November 19, 1969 - 04:16:02 UTC
- Redocked: November 20, 1969 - 17:58:20 UTC

EVAs

EVA 1 start: November 19, 1969, 11:32:35 UTC

- Conrad - EVA 1
- Stepped onto Moon: 11:44:22 UTC
- LM ingress: 15:27:17 UTC
- Bean - EVA 1
- Stepped onto Moon: 12:13:50 UTC
- LM ingress: 15:14:18 UTC

EVA 1 end: November 19, 15:28:38 UTC

- Duration: 3 hours, 56 minutes, 03 seconds

EVA 2 start: November 20, 1969, 03:54:45 UTC

- Conrad - EVA 2
- Stepped onto Moon: 03:59:00 UTC
- LM ingress: 07:42:00 UTC
- Bean - EVA 2
- Stepped onto Moon: 04:06:00 UTC
- LM ingress: 07:30:00 UTC

EVA 2 end: November 20, 07:44:00 UTC

- Duration: 3 hours, 49 minutes, 15 seconds

Quote

Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me. —Pete Conrad as he stepped onto the lunar surface for the first time.

Mission Highlights

Shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, the Saturn V rocket body was hit by a bolt of upper-atmosphere lightning. The CM's instruments went off-line for a few seconds, but power was quickly restored after the crew followed EECOM John Aaron's advice of "Flight, try SCE to 'Aux'". The S-IVB third stage was originally intended to be put into a solar orbit by venting the remaining propellant. However an extra long burn of the ullage motors meant that venting the remaining propellant in the tank of the S-IVB did not give the rocket stage enough energy to escape the Earth-Moon system and instead the stage ended up in a semi-stable orbit around the Earth after passing by the Moon in November 18, 1969. It finally entered into solar orbit 1971, but returned to Earth orbit (briefly) 31 years later. It was discovered by amateur astronomer Bill Yeung and he gave it the temporary designation J002E3 before it was determined to be an artificial, not natural, object. The Apollo 12 mission landed on an area of the Ocean of Storms that had been visited earlier by several unmanned missions (Luna 5, Surveyor 3, and Ranger 7). The International Astronomical Union, recognizing this, christened this region Mare Cognitium (Known Sea). The landing site would thereafter be listed as Statio Cognitium on lunar maps (Conrad and Bean did not formally name their landing site, interestingly enough, though the intended touchdown point was nicknamed Pete's Parking Lot by Conrad). The second lunar landing was an exercise in precision targeting. The descent was automatic, with only a few manual corrections by Conrad. Although Apollo 11 had made an almost embarrassingly imprecise landing well outside the designated target area, Apollo 12 succeeded, on November 19, in making a pin-point landing, within walking distance (less than 200 meters) of the Surveyor 3 probe, which had landed on the Moon in April 1967. Conrad actually landed Intrepid 580 feet short of Pete's Parking Lot because the planned landing point looked rougher than anticipated during the final approach to touchdown. The planned landing point was a little under 1180 feet from Surveyor 3, a distance that was chosen to eliminate the possibility of lunar dust (being kicked up by Intrepid's descent engine during landing) from covering Surveyor 3. But the actual touchdown point - 600 feet from Surveyor 3 - did cause a thin film of dust to coat the probe, giving it a light tan hue. To improve the quality of television pictures from the Moon, a color camera was carried on Apollo 12 (unlike the monochrome camera that was used on Apollo 11). Unfortunately, when Bean carried the camera to the place near the lunar module where it was to be set up, he inadvertently pointed it directly into the Sun, destroying the vidicon tube. Television coverage of this mission was thus terminated almost immediately. Conrad and Bean removed pieces of the Surveyor 3, to be taken back to Earth for analysis, and took two Moon-walks lasting just under four hours each. They collected rocks and set up equipment that took measurements of the Moon's seismicity, solar wind flux and magnetic field, and relayed the measurements to Earth. (By accident Bean left several rolls of exposed film on the lunar surface.) Meanwhile Gordon, on board the Yankee Clipper in lunar orbit, took multispectral photographs of the surface. The lunar plaque attached to the descent stage of Intrepid is unique in that unlike the other lunar plaques, it (a) did not have a depiction of the Earth, and (b) it was textured differently (the other plaques had black lettering on polished stainless steel while the Apollo 12 plaque had the lettering in polished stainless steel while the background was brushed flat). Intrepid's ascent stage was dropped (per normal procedures) after Conrad and Bean rejoined Gordon in orbit. It impacted the Moon on 20 November, 1969 at 3.94 S, 21.20 W. The seismometers the astronauts had left on the lunar surface registered the vibrations for more than an hour. The crew stayed an extra day in lunar orbit taking photographs, for a total lunar stay of thirty-one and a half hours. The command module and its crew were flawlessly recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. The ship is now open to the public as a museum in Alameda, CA. The command module is displayed at the Virginia Air and Space Center, Hampton, Virginia

Trivia

- Pete Conrad smuggled a camera-shutter self-timer device on to the mission with the intent of taking a photograph with both himself and Alan Bean in the frame. As the timer was not part of their standard equipment, such an image would have thrown post-mission photo analysts into confusion over how the photo was taken. Unfortunately the self-timer was mis-placed during the EVA and the plan was never executed.
- The Apollo 12 backup crew managed to 'insert' into the astronaut's lunar checklist (attached to the wrists of Conrad's and Bean's spacesuits) reduced sized pictures of Playboy centerfolds, thus introducing pornography to the moon for the first time when Conrad and Bean were looking through the lists during their first EVA.
- Another idea that did not materialize was that Conrad - who loved collecting baseball caps - had a giant one made that would fit over his space helmet. He wanted to wear it during his lunar EVA's, but there was no way that it could be smuggled on board Apollo 12 without it being found out.
- The Apollo 12 mission patch has four stars on it—one each for the three astronauts who flew the mission and one for Clifton Williams. Williams was killed on October 5, 1967, after a mechanical failure caused the controls of his T-38 trainer to stop responding. He had been assigned to the back-up crew for what would be the Apollo 9 mission and would have most likely been assigned as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 12.
- A part of one of the rock samples collected on Apollo 12, lunar sample 12013, has a composition which is remarkably similar to some tektites. It is especially similar to high-magnesium javenites (part of the Australasian strewn field of Southeast Asia).

Reference

- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol3/table2.40.htm Apollo 12 Characteristics - SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720019081_1972019081.pdf Analysis of Surveyor 3 material and photographs returned by Apollo 12 (PDF) 1972]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19730064630_1973064630.pdf Examination of Surveyor 3 surface sampler scoop returned by Apollo 12 mission (PDF) 1971]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19760072997_1976072997.pdf Apollo 12 Mission Report (PDF) March 1970]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720066106_1972066106.pdf Analysis of Apollo 12 Lightning Incident, (PDF) February 1970]

External links

- [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-12/apollo-12-patch.jpg Image of mission patch]
- [http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/maps/images/AP12Trav.jpg Map of surface activities for Apollo 12]
- [http://www.astronautix.com/flights/apollo12.htm Apollo 12 entry in Encyclopedia Astronautica]
- [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/sc-query.html NASA NSSDC Master Catalog]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_00a_Cover.htm APOLLO BY THE NUMBERS: A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff (NASA)]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/cover.htm The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/apsr/apsr.htm Apollo Program Summary Report] Category:Lunar spacecraft Category:Human spaceflights Category:Apollo program ja:アポロ12号

Project Apollo

:For other meanings, see Apollo (disambiguation). Apollo (disambiguation) Project Apollo was a series of human spaceflight missions undertaken by the United States of America using the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn launch vehicle, conducted during the years 1961–1972. It was devoted to the goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth within the decade of the 1960s. This goal was achieved with the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. The program continued into the early 1970s to carry out the initial hands-on scientific exploration of the Moon, with a total of six successful landings. As of 2005, there has not been any further human spaceflight beyond low earth orbit. The later Skylab program and the joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project used equipment originally produced for Apollo, and are often considered to be part of the overall program. The name Apollo, like earlier manned space-flight programs, was named after a god from classical civilizations, and comes from one of the Greek gods.

Background

The Apollo Program was originally conceived late in the Eisenhower administration as a follow-on to the Mercury program, doing advanced manned earth-orbital missions. In fact, it became the third program, following Gemini. The Apollo Program was dramatically reoriented to an aggressive lunar landing goal by President Kennedy with his announcement at a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: :"...I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish..." (Excerpt from "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs" [http://www.jfklibrary.org/j052561.htm])

Choosing a mission mode

Having settled upon the Moon as a target, the Apollo mission planners were faced with the challenge of designing a set of flights that would meet Kennedy's stated goal while minimizing risk to human life, cost and demands on technology and astronaut skill. Three possible plans were considered. 1961
- Direct ascent: This plan was to boost a spaceship directly to the moon. The entire spacecraft would land on and return from the moon. This would have required a Nova rocket far more powerful than any in existence at the time.
- Earth orbit rendezvous: This plan, known as Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR), would have required the launch of two Saturn V rockets, one containing the space ship and one containing fuel. The spaceship would have docked in earth orbit and be fueled with enough fuel to make it to the moon and back. Again, the entire spacecraft would have landed on the moon.
- Lunar orbit rendezvous: This plan, which was adopted, is credited to John Houbolt and used the technique of 'Lunar Orbit Rendezvous' (LOR). The spacecraft was modular, composed of a 'Command/Service Module' (CSM) and a 'Lunar Module' (LM; originally Lunar Excursion Module ). The CSM contained the life support systems for the three man crew's five day round trip to the moon and the heat shield for their reentry to Earth's atmosphere. The LM would separate from the CSM in lunar orbit and carry two astronauts for the descent to the lunar surface, then back up to the CSM. In contrast with the other plans, the LOR plan required only a small part of the spacecraft to land on the moon, thereby minimizing the mass to be launched from the moon's surface for the return trip. The mass to be launched was further minimized by leaving part of the LM (that with the descent engine) behind, on the moon. The Lunar Module itself was composed of a descent stage and an ascent stage, the former serving as a launch platform for the latter when the lunar exploration party blasted off for lunar orbit where they would dock with the CSM prior to returning to Earth. The plan had the advantage that since the LM was to be eventually discarded, it could be made very light, so the moon mission could be launched with a single Saturn V rocket. However, at the time that LOR was decided, some mission planners were uneasy at the large numbers of dockings and undockings called for by the plan. To learn lunar landing techniques, astronauts practiced in the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), a flying vehicle that simulated (by means of a special, additional jet engine) the reduced gravity that the Lunar Module would actually fly in.

Flights

The Apollo program included eleven manned flights, designated Apollo 7 through Apollo 17, all launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Apollo 4 through Apollo 6 were unmanned test flights (officially there was no Apollo 2 or Apollo 3). The Apollo 1 designation was retroactively applied to the originally planned first manned flight which ended in a disastrous fire during a launch pad test that killed three astronauts, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White, and Roger B. Chaffee, in January 1967. The first of the manned flights employed the Saturn IB launch vehicle; the remaining flights all used the more powerful Saturn V. Two of the flights (Apollo 7 and Apollo 9) were Earth orbital missions, two of the flights (Apollo 8 and Apollo 10) were lunar orbital missions, and the remaining 7 flights were lunar landing missions (although one, Apollo 13, failed to land). Apollo 7 tested the Apollo command and service modules (CSM) in Earth orbit. Apollo 8 tested the CSM in lunar orbit. Apollo 9 tested the lunar module (LM) in earth orbit. Apollo 10 tested the LM in lunar orbit. Apollo 11 achieved the first human lunar landing. Apollo 12 achieved the first lunar landing at a precise location. Apollo 13 failed to achieve a lunar landing, but succeeded in returning the crew safely to earth following a potentially disastrous in-flight explosion. Apollo 14 resumed the lunar exploration program. Apollo 15 introduced a new level of lunar exploration capability, with a long-stay-time LM and a lunar roving vehicle. Apollo 16 was the first manned landing in the lunar highlands. Apollo 17, the final mission, was the first to include a scientist-astronaut, and the program's first manned night launch.

Apollo Applications Program

In the speech which initiated Apollo, Kennedy declared that no other program would have as great a long-range effect on America's ambitions in outer space. Following the success of Project Apollo, both NASA and its major contractors investigated several post-lunar applications for the Apollo hardware. The "Apollo Extension Series", later called the "Apollo Applications Program", proposed at least ten flights. Many of these would use the space that the lunar module took up in the Saturn rocket to carry scientific equipment. One plan involved using the Saturn IB to take the Command/Service Module (CSM) to a variety of low-earth orbits for missions lasting up to 45 days. Some missions would involve the docking of two CSMs, and transfer of supplies. The Saturn V would be necessary to take it to polar orbit, or sun-synchronous orbit (neither of which has yet been achieved by any manned spacecraft), and even to the geosynchronous orbit of Syncom 3, a communications satellite not quite in geostationary orbit. This was the first functioning communications satellite at that now-common great distance from the Earth, and it was small enough to be carried through the hatch and taken back to Earth for study as to the effects of radiation on its electronic components in that environment over a period of years. A return to the moon was also planned, this time to orbit for a longer time to map the surface with high-precision equipment. This mission would not include a landing. Of all the plans only two were implemented; the Skylab space station (May 1973 – February 1974), and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (July 1975). Skylab's fuselage was constructed from the second stage of a Saturn IB, and the station was equipped with the Apollo Telescope Mount, itself based on a lunar module. The station's three crews were ferried into orbit atop Saturn IBs, riding in CSMs; the station itself had been launched with a modified Saturn V. Skylab's last crew departed the station on February 8, 1974, whilst the station itself returned prematurely to Earth in 1979, by which time it had become the oldest operational Apollo component. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project involved a docking in Earth orbit between an un-named CSM and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The mission lasted from July 15 to July 24, 1975. Although the Soviet Union continued to operate the Soyuz and Salyut space vehicles, NASA's next manned mission would not be until STS-1 on April 12, 1981.

End of the program

1981 Originally three additional lunar landing missions had been planned, as Apollo 18 through Apollo 20. In light of the drastically shrinking NASA budget and the decision not to produce a second batch of Saturn Vs, these missions were cancelled to make funds available for the development of the Space Shuttle, and to make their Apollo spacecraft and Saturn V launch vehicles available to the Skylab program. Only one of the Saturn Vs was actually used; the others became museum exhibits. Another excerpt from Kennedy's Special Message to Congress: :"I believe we should go to the moon. But I think every citizen of this country as well as the Members of the Congress should consider the matter carefully in making their judgment, to which we have given attention over many weeks and months, because it is a heavy burden, and there is no sense in agreeing or desiring that the United States take an affirmative position in outer space, unless we are prepared to do the work and bear the burdens to make it successful. If we are not, we should decide today and this year. Skylab :"This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, material and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. It means a degree of dedication, organization and discipline which have not always characterized our research and development efforts. It means we cannot afford undue work stoppages, inflated costs of material or talent, wasteful interagency rivalries, or a high turnover of key personnel. :"New objectives and new money cannot solve these problems. They could in fact, aggravate them further--unless every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, contractor, and civil servant gives his personal pledge that this nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space." (Excerpt from "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs")

Reasons for Apollo

The Apollo program was at least partly motivated by psycho-political considerations, in response to persistent perceptions of American inferiority in space technology vis-a-vis the Soviets, in the context of the Cold War and the Space Race. In this respect it succeeded brilliantly. In fact, American superiority in manned spaceflight was achieved in the precursory Gemini program, even before the first Apollo flight. The Apollo program stimulated many areas of technology. The flight computer design used in both the lunar and command modules was, along with the Minuteman Missile System, the driving force behind early research into integrated circuits. The fuel cell developed for this program was the first practical fuel cell. Computer controlled machining (CNC) was pioneered in fabricating Apollo structural components. Many astronauts and cosmonauts have commented on the profound effects that seeing earth from space has had on them. One of the most important legacies of the Apollo program was the now-common, but not universal view of Earth as a fragile, small planet, captured in the photographs taken by the astronauts during the lunar missions. The most famous of these photographs, taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts, is "The Blue Marble." These photographs have also motivated many people toward environmentalism and space colonization.

Miscellaneous information

- The cost of the entire Apollo program: USD $25.4 billion -1969 Dollars ($135-billion in 2005 Dollars). See NASA Budget. (Includes Mercury, Gemini, Ranger, Surveyor, Lunar Orbitar, Apollo programs.) Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket cost alone, was about $ 83-billion 2005 Dollars (Apollo spacecraft cost $ 28-billion (CS/M $ 17-billion; LM $ 11-billion), Saturn I, IB, V costs about $ 46-billion 2005 dollars).
- Amount of moon material brought back by the Apollo program: 381.7 kg (841.5 lb). Most of the material is stored at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston.

Missions

Lunar Receiving Laboratory The Apollo program used four types of launch vehicles:
- Little Joe II - unmanned suborbital launch escape system development.
- Saturn I - unmanned suborbital and orbital hardware development.
- Saturn IB - unmanned and manned earth orbit development and operational missions.
- Saturn V - unmanned and manned earth orbit and lunar missions. Something to note with Apollo flights is that Marshall Space Flight Center, which designed the Saturn rockets, referred to the flights as Saturn-Apollo (SA), while Kennedy Space Center referred to the flights as Apollo-Saturn (AS). This is why the unmanned Saturn 1 flights are referred to as SA and the unmanned Saturn 1B are referred to as AS. Dates given below are dates of launch.

Unmanned Saturn I

- SA-1 - October 27, 1961. Test of the S-1 Rocket
- SA-2 - April 25, 1962. Test of the S-1 Rocket and carried 109 m³ of water into the upper atmosphere to investigate effects on radio transmission and changes in local weather conditions.
- SA-3 - November 16, 1962. Same as SA-2
- SA-4 - March 28, 1963. Test effects of premature engine shutdown
- SA-5 - January 29, 1964. First flight of live second stage
- A-101 - May 28, 1964. Tested the structural integrity of a boilerplate Apollo Command and Service Module
- A-102 - September 18, 1964. Carried the first programmable computer on the Saturn I vehicle; last test flight
- A-103 - February 16, 1965. Carried Pegasus A micrometeorite satellite
- A-104 - May 25, 1965. Carried Pegasus B micrometeorite satellite
- A-105 - July 30, 1965. Carried Pegasus C micrometeorite satellite

Unmanned pad abort tests

1965
- Pad Abort Test-1 - November 7, 1963. Launch Escape System (LES) abort test from launch pad.
- Pad Abort Test-2 - June 29, 1965. LES pad abort test of near Block-I CM.

Unmanned Little Joe II

- QTV - August 28, 1963. Little Joe II qualification test.
- A-001 - May 13, 1964. LES transonic abort test.
- A-002 - December 8, 1964. LES maximum altitude, Max-Q abort test.
- A-003 - May 19, 1965. LES canard maximum altitude abort test.
- A-004 - January 20, 1966. LES test of maximum weight, tumbling Block-I CM.

Unmanned Apollo-Saturn IB and Saturn V

- AS-201 - February 26, 1966. First test flight of Saturn IB rocket
- AS-203 - July 5, 1966. Investigated effects of weightlessness on fuel tanks of S-IVB
- AS-202 - August 25, 1966. Sub-orbital test flight of Command and Service Module
- Apollo 4 - November 9, 1967. First test of the Saturn V booster
- Apollo 5 - January 22, 1968. Test of the Saturn IB booster and Lunar Module
- Apollo 6 - April 4, 1968. Test of the Saturn V booster

Manned

- Apollo 1 - Crew died in spacecraft fire atop launch vehicle during pre-launch tests on January 27, 1967.
- Apollo 7 - October 11, 1968. First manned Apollo flight, first manned flight of the Saturn IB.
- Apollo 8 - December 21, 1968. First manned flight around the Moon, first manned flight of the Saturn V.
- Apollo 9 - March 3, 1969. First manned flight of the Lunar Module.
- Apollo 10 - May 18, 1969. First manned flight of the Lunar Module around the Moon.
- Apollo 11 - July 16, 1969. First manned landing on the Moon, July 20.
- Apollo 12 - November 14, 1969. First precise manned landing on the Moon.
- Apollo 13 - April 11, 1970. Oxygen tank explodes en route, landing is cancelled, first (and, as of 2005, only) manned non-orbital lunar flight.
- Apollo 14 - January 31, 1971. Alan Shepard, the sole astronaut of the Mercury MR-3 mission, walks on the Moon.
- Apollo 15 - July 26, 1971. First mission with the Lunar Rover vehicle.
- Apollo 16 - April 16, 1972. First landing in the lunar highlands.
- Apollo 17 - December 7, 1972. Final Apollo lunar mission, first night launch, only mission with a professional geologist. The original pre-lunar landing program was more conservative but as the 'all-up' test flights for the Saturn V proved successful missions were deleted. The revised schedule published in October 1967 had the first manned Apollo CSM earth orbit mission (Apollo 7) followed by an Earth Orbit Rendezvous of the CSM and LM launched on two Saturn 1Bs (Apollo 8) followed by a Saturn V launched CSM on a Large Earth Orbit Mission (Apollo 9) followed by the Saturn V launched dress rehearsal in Lunar Orbit with Apollo 10. By the summer of 1968 it became clear to program managers that a fully functional LM would not be available for the Apollo 8 mission. Rather than perform a simple earth orbiting mission, they chose to send Apollo 8 around the moon during Christmas. The original idea for this switch was the brainchild of George Low. Although it has often been claimed that this change was made as a direct response to Soviet attempts to fly a piloted Zond spacecraft around the moon, there is no evidence that this was actually the case. NASA officials were aware of the Soviet Zond flights, but the timing of the Zond missions does not correspond well with the extensive written record from NASA about the Apollo 8 decision. It is relatively certain that the Apollo 8 decision was primarily based upon the LM schedule, rather than fear of the Soviets beating the Americans to the moon.

Cancelled missions

- Apollo 18
- Apollo 19
- Apollo 20

Later missions using left over Apollo hardware

- Skylab - May 14, 1973.
- Skylab 2 - May 25, 1973.
- Skylab 3 - July 28, 1973.
- Skylab 4 - November 16, 1973.
- Apollo-Soyuz - July 15, 1975.

Apollo Launch Complex utilization

- Launch Complex 34 - SA-1, SA-2, SA-3, SA-4, AS-201, AS-202, AS-204 (Apollo 1), AS-205 (Apollo 7)
- Launch Complex 37A - no launches
- Launch Complex 37B - SA-5, A-101, A-102, A-103, A-104, A-105, AS-203, AS-204 (Apollo 5)
- Launch Complex 39A - AS-501 (Apollo 4), AS-502 (Apollo 6), AS-503 (Apollo 8), AS-504 (Apollo 9), AS-506 (Apollo 11), AS-507 (Apollo 12), AS-508 (Apollo 13), AS-509 (Apollo 14), AS-510 (Apollo 15), AS-511 (Apollo 16), AS-512 (Apollo 17), AS-513 (Skylab 1)
- Launch Complex 39B - AS-505 (Apollo 10), AS-206 (Skylab 2), AS-207 (Skylab 3), AS-208 (Skylab 4), AS-210 (ASTP).

References

- Kranz, Gene, Failure is Not an Option. Factual, from the standpoint of a chief flight controller during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs. ISBN 0743200799
- Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon. ISBN 0140272011. Chaikin has interviewed all the surviving astronauts, plus many others who worked with the program.
- Murray, Charles; Cox, Catherine B. Apollo: The Race to the Moon. ISBN 0671611011. This is an excellent account of what it took to build and fly Apollo.
- Cooper, Henry S. F. Jr. Thirteen: The Flight That Failed. ISBN 0801850975. Although this book focuses on Apollo 13, it is extremely well-researched and provides a wealth of background information on Apollo technology and procedures.
- Wilhelms, Don E. To a Rocky Moon. ISBN 0816510652. Tells the history of Lunar exploration from a geologist's point of view.
- Pellegrino, Charles R.; Stoff, Joshua. Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon. ISBN 0380802619. Tells Grumman's story of building the Lunar Modules.
- Lovell, Jim; Kluger, Jeffrey. Lost Moon: The perilous voyage of Apollo 13 aka Apollo 13: Lost Moon. ISBN 0618056653. Details the flight of Apollo 13.
- Collins, Michael . Carrying the Fire; an Astronaut's journeys. Astronaut Mike Collins autobiography of his experiences as an astronaut, including his flight aboard Apollo 11, the first landing on the Moon
- Slayton, Donald K.; Cassutt, Michael. Deke! An Autobiograpy. ISBN 031285918X. This is an excellent account of Deke Slayton's life as an astronaut and of his work as chief of the astronaut office, including selection of the crews which flew Apollo to the Moon.
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790020032_1979020032.pdf Chariots for Apollo: A history of Manned Lunar Spacecraft - NASA report (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690022643_1969022643.pdf The Apollo spacecraft. Volume 1 - A chronology: From origin to 7 Nov. 1962 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740004394_1974004394.pdf The Apollo spacecraft: Volume 2 - A chronology: 8 November 1962 - 30 September 1964 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19760014180_1976014180.pdf The Apollo spacecraft: Volume 3 - A chronology: 1 October 1964 - 20 January 1966 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19800011953_1980011953.pdf The Apollo spacecraft: Volume 4 - A chronology: 21 January 1966 - 13 July 1974 - (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750013242_1975013242.pdf Apollo program summary report: Synopsis of the Apollo program - NASA report (PDF format)]

External links

- [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/index.html Official Apollo program website]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/contents.html Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft By Courtney G Brooks, James M. Grimwood, Loyd S. Swenson]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/cover.htm NASA SP-4009 The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm SP-4029 Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff]
- [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo.html The Apollo Program (1963 - 1972)]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal]
- [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo.html Project Apollo (Kennedy Space Center)]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/apollo.html Project Apollo Drawings and Technical Diagrams]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/diagrams/diagrams.htm Technical Diagrams and Drawings]
- [http://www.lunarrock.com/Inventory.asp Lunar Rock Inventory]
- [http://www.apolloarchive.com/ The Project Apollo Archive]
- [http://www.globalcuts.com/NASA/stock_footage_trailer_movie.htm Spirit of Apollo] Apollo 11 Memorial Video
- [http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/apollo.htm The Apollo Program (National Air and Space Museum)]
- [http://www.io.com/~o_m/ssh_forgotten_astp.html OMWorld's ASTP Docking Trainer Page]
- [http://sourceforge.net/projects/nassp/ Project Apollo for Orbiter spaceflight simulator]
- [http://moon.google.com/ Google Moon: interactive map of the Moon and Apollo landing sites] Category:Human spaceflight programmes ko:아폴로 계획 ja:アポロ計画

Charles Conrad

Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999), was an American astronaut and the third man to walk on the moon. He served on Gemini 5 & 11, Apollo 12, and Skylab 2 missions, and may have been scheduled for the Apollo 20 mission, which was canceled. Conrad was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After receiving a bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Princeton University in 1953 he entered the United States Navy, where he became a test pilot and later an instructor. He was one of the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 - he had previously been considered and turned down for the Mercury Seven. Regarded as one of the best pilots in the group he was one of the first of his group to be assigned a Gemini mission. As pilot of Gemini 5 he set a new space endurance record of 8 days - the time it would take to get to the moon and back - and tested many spacecraft systems essential to the Apollo program. Conrad was also one of the smallest of the astronauts in height and build so he found the confinement of the Gemini capsule less onerous. He was then back up Commander for Gemini 8 and commander of Gemini 11 in which a first orbit rendevous and docking was achieved as well as using the Agena to boost the crew to a new altitude record of 800 miles. Conrad was due to be back-up commander of the first flight of the full Saturn V/Apollo into high earth orbit. When NASA created the Apollo 8 mission both prime and back-up crews were switched. But for this Conrad would have been in-line to command Apollo 11. He retired from NASA and the Navy in 1973, and went to work for American Television and Communications Company. He worked for McDonnell Douglas from 1976, and during the 1990s he was the ground-based pilot for several test flights of the Delta Clipper experimental single stage to orbit launch vehicle. Although the third man to walk on the moon, he was the first right-handed man to do so. After stepping onto the lunar surface, Conrad joked about his own small stature by remarking: :Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me. He later revealed that this was in order to win a bet he had made with Oriana Fallaci. In 1999, while motorcycling in Ojai, California with friends, he ran off of the road and crashed. His injuries were first thought to be minor, but he died from internal bleeding about six hours later. In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, Conrad was played by Peter Scolari (in the first episode, "Can We Do This?") and by Paul McCrane in episode 7, "That's All There Is"). A month before he died, Conrad appeared on ABC News Nightline and said, "I think the Space Shuttle is worth one Billion dollars a launch. I think that it is worth two Billion dollars for what it does. I think the Shuttle is worth it for the work it does."

External link

- [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/conrad-c.html NASA Bio of Pete Conrad]

Scientific References related to Apollo 12 & Charles Conrad

# O'Keefe, J.A. (June 5, 1970) "Tektite glass in Apollo 12 sample". Science, Vol 168, 1209–1210. Conrad,Pete Conrad,Pete Conrad, Pete Conrad,Pete Conrad, Pete Conrad, Pete Conrad, Pete

Gemini 5

Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) was a 1965 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the 3rd manned Gemini flight, the 11th manned American flight and the 19th spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 km).

Crew

- Gordon Cooper (flew on Mercury 9 & Gemini 5), Command Pilot
- Pete Conrad (flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, & Skylab 2), Pilot

Backup crew

- Neil A. Armstrong, Command Pilot
- Elliot M. See, Jr., Pilot

Mission parameters

- Mass: 3,605 kg
- Perigee: 162 km
- Apogee: 350.1 km
- Inclination: 32.61°
- Period: 89.59 min
- REP (Radar Evaluation Pod) sub-satellite: On August 21, 1965 at 16:07:15 UTC, the REP was released into orbit from the Gemini 5 spacecraft.

Objectives

Gemini V doubled the space-flight record to eight days, thanks to new fuel cells that generated enough electricity to power longer missions. Cooper and Conrad were to have made a practice rendezvous with a "pod" deployed from the spacecraft, but problems with the electricity supply forced a switch to a simpler "phantom rendezvous," whereby the Gemini maneuvered to a predetermined position in space. Mercury veteran Gordon Cooper was the first person to travel on orbital missions twice. He and Conrad took high-resolution photographs for the Defense Department, but problems with the fuel cells and maneuvering system forced the cancellation of several other experiments. The astronauts found themselves marking time in orbit, and Conrad later lamented that he had not brought along a book. On-board medical tests, however, continued to show the feasibility of longer flights. Gemini 5 doubled the length of the Gemini 4 mission. It was solely a long duration flight, aiming for eight days, the length of time that it would take to fly a mission to the moon. There would also be an attempt to rendezvous with a pod released from the spacecraft. This was also the first mission to carry fuel cells that would be pivotal in any Apollo flight.

Flight

The launch was perfect except for a few seconds of pogo. This was when the rocket had lateral movement. This was measured at +0.38 g (3.7 m/s²) during stage 1 flight, exceeding the permitted +0.25 g (2.5 m/s²) for a total of about 13 seconds. The cause was traced to a pre-launch procedure and pogo never affected another Gemini flight. The initial orbit was 163 by 349 kilometres. The first major event on the mission was the ejection of the rendezvous pod at 2 hours and 13 minutes into the flight. The radar showed that the pod was moving a relative speed of two meters per second. While out of radio contact with the ground they found that the pressure in the fuel cell had dropped to from 850 to 65 lbf/in² (5,860 to 450 kPa) 4 hours and 22 minutes into the flight. This was still above the 22.2 lbf/in² (153 kPa) minimum but Cooper decided to shut it down. Without power they would be unable to rendezvous with the pod and it could mean a premature end to the mission. Tests on the ground found that it was possible for the fuel cell to work, even with low oxygen pressure. However with the fuel cell off, they would only be able to stay in orbit for a day and still have enough battery power for reentry. It was decided to turn the fuel cells back on and test them by using equipment that required more and more power. These showed that the fuel cells were stable and the crew could continue the mission. In the meantime, Buzz Aldrin had been working out an alternative rendezvous test. He had a PhD in orbital mechanics and worked out a scheme where the crew could rendezvous with a "point in space". The crew became cold as they drifted. Even with the coolant pipes in the suits turned off and the airflow on low they still shivered. There was also the annoying fact that stars slowly drifting by the window were disorientating, so the crew put covers on the windows. As with Gemini 4 they had trouble sleeping with the alternate sleep periods. They still had little rest when they decided to take their sleep periods together. The phantom rendezvous came on the third day. It went perfectly even though it was the first precision maneuver on a spaceflight. They tried four maneuvers—apogee adjust, phase adjust, plane change, and coelliptical maneuver—using the orbit attitude and maneuvering system (OAMS). The ground realised that there was a small problem during the next day. The fuel cell produced water, though this was not suitable for drinking as it was too acidic. It was therefore stored on a tank on board. The problem was that this was the same tank as the drinking water, with the two separated by a bladder wall. The problem was that the fuel cell was producing 20% more discharge than expected. However it was soon discovered that there would still be room left over at the end of the mission. On the fifth day a relatively major problem occurred. One of thrusters in the OAMS stopped working. This meant the cancellation of all the experiments requiring fuel and none of the solutions worked to getting the thrusters to start working again. Seventeen experiments were planned with one cancelled, as it involved photography of the pod. D-1 involved the crew photographing celestial objects, and D-6 was a ground photography experiment. D-4/D-7 involved making brightness measurements of celestial and terrestrial backgrounds and on rocket plumes. S-8/D-13 was an experiment to investigate whether the crews eyesight changed during the mission. All the medical experiments from Gemini 4 were performed as well as M-1 into the performance of the heart. This involved Conrad wearing inflatable leg cuffs. There was also M-9 which investigated whether their ability to measure horizontally changed. S-1 involved Cooper taking the first photographs of the zodiacal light and the gegenschein from orbit. There were also syntopic photography of Earth. One photograph of the Zagros Mountains showed more detail than the official Geologic Map of Iran. S-7, Cloud-Top Spectrometer found that you could tell the height of cloud from orbit. Retrofire came 190 hours 27 minutes 43 seconds into the mission over Hawaii. They controlled the reentry, creating drag and lift by rotating the capsule. They still landed 130 kilometers short of the planned landing point. But the computer had worked perfectly, the problem was in the programming. Someone had entered the rate of the Earth's rotation as 360° per 24 hours instead of 360.98° See Sidereal day. The Gemini 5 mission was supported by the following U.S. Department of Defense resources; 10,265 personnel, 114 aircraft and 19 ships.

Insignia

This was the first mission to have an actual patch. Cooper realised that he had never been in a military organisation that didn't have its own patch. They decided on a covered wagon due to the pioneering nature of the flight. It was also intended to have '8 Days or Bust' across the wagon, but this plan was scuttled by the NASA manangers who feared that if the mission didn't last the full duration, it would be seen as a failure even if it wasn't. It also placed too much emphasis on the mission length and not the experiments. In the end they were 104 minutes short of eight days.

Capsule location

The capsule is on display at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.

External links

- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750067642_1975067642.pdf Gemini 5 Mission Report (PDF) October 1965]
- On The Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/cover.htm
- Spaceflight Mission Patches: http://www.genedorr.com/patches/Intro.html
- NASA data sheet: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1965-068A
- U.S. Space Objects Registry http://usspaceobjectsregistry.state.gov/search/index.cfm Gemini 05 Gemini 05

Gemini 11

Gemini 11 (officially Gemini XI) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the 9th manned Gemini flight, the 17th manned American flight and the 25th spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 km).

Crew

- Pete Conrad (flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, & Skylab 2), Command Pilot
- Richard Gordon (flew on Gemini 9, Gemini 11, & Apollo 12), Pilot

Backup crew

- Neil A. Armstrong, Command Pilot
- William A. Anders, Pilot

Mission parameters

- Mass: 3,798.4 kg Highest orbit (followed twice):
- Perigee: 289.7 km
- Apogee: 1374.1 km (a record; apart from the missions to the Moon this has, as of 2005, never been surpassed)
- Inclination: 28.85°
- Period: 101.52 min

Docking

- Docked: September 12, 1966 - 16:16:00 UTC
- Undocked: September 14, 1966 - 16:55:00 UTC

Space walk

- Gordon - EVA 1
- Start: September 13, 1966, 14:44:00 UTC
- End: September 13, 1966, 15:17:00 UTC
- Duration: 0 hours, 33 minutes
- Gordon - EVA 2 (stand up)
- Start: September 14, 1966, 12:49:00 UTC
- End: September 14, 1966, 14:57:00 UTC
- Duration: 2 hours, 08 minutes

Objectives

With Apollo looming on the horizon, Gemini project managers wanted to accomplish a rendezvous immediately after reaching orbit, just as it would have to be done around the Moon. Only 85 minutes after launch, Conrad and Gordon matched orbits with their Agena target stage and docked several times. Conrad had originally hoped for a Gemini flight around the Moon, but had to settle for the highest Earth orbit ever reached by an American manned spacecraft (1374 kilometer altitude). Gordon's first space-walk once again proved more difficult than ground simulations, and had to be cut short when he became overtired. A second, two-hour "stand-up" space walk went more smoothly: Gordon even fell asleep while floating halfway out the hatch. An experiment to link the Agena and Gemini vehicles with a 15 meter tether (which Gordon had attached during his space-walk) and rotate the joined pair was troublesome-Conrad had problems keeping the tether taut-but was able to generate a modicum of "artificial gravity." The mission ended with the first totally automatic, computer-controlled reentry, which brought Gemini XI down only 4.5 kilometers from its recovery ship. Gemini 11 was designed to achieve a first orbit rendezvous and docking with the Agena target vehicle, to accomplish two extra-vehicular activity (EVA) tests, to perform docking practice, docked configuration maneuvers, tethered operations, parking of the Agena target vehicle and demonstrate an automatic reentry.
reentry reentry

Experiments

The 12 scientific experiments were (1) synergistic effect of zero-g and radiation on white blood cells, (2) synoptic terrain photography, (3) synoptic weather photography, (4) nuclear emulsions, (5) airglow horizon photography, (6) UV astronomical photography, (7) Gemini ion wake measurement, and (8) dim sky photography.

Reentry

The reentry was the first computer-controlled reentry in the US space program. They landed only 4.5 km away from the intended landing site and were recovered by USS Guam. The Gemini 11 mission was supported by the following U.S. Department of Defense resources; 9,054 personnel, 73 aircraft and 13 ships.

Insignia

On the Gemini 11 crew insigina, stars are used to mark the major milestones of the mission. The first orbit Agena rendezvous is marked by a small gold star just above the earth, to the left. The Agena docking is marked by a large star on the left. The star at the top marks the record high apogee (1,368 km) reached by Gemini 11. Finally the star on right marks Dick Gordon's spacewalk. The docking, record apogee and spacewalk are also shown on the patch by the Agena, orbital apogee path and spacewalking astronaut. The patch is done in U.S. Navy colors, blue and gold. Conrad and Gordon were both members of the U.S. Navy.

Capsule location

The capsule is on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.

External links

- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/cover.htm On The Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini]
- [http://www.genedorr.com/patches/Intro.html Spaceflight Mission Patches]
- http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1966-081A
- U.S. Space Objects Registry http://usspaceobjectsregistry.state.gov/search/index.cfm Category:Human spaceflights Category:Gemini program

Skylab 2

Skylab 2 or SL-2 was the first human spaceflight mission to Skylab, the first U.S. orbital space station. The mission was launched on a Saturn IB rocket. The name also refers to the vehicle used for that mission. Skylab 2 established a record for human spaceflight duration. (Skylab 2 was sometimes called Skylab 1, but this name properly refers to the unmanned launch of the space station itself.)

Crew

- Pete Conrad (flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, & Skylab 2)
- Paul Weitz (flew on Skylab 2 & STS-6), pilot
- Joseph Kerwin (flew on Skylab 2), science pilot

Backup Crew

- Rusty Schweickart
- Story Musgrave
- Bruce McCandless

Support Crew

- Robert Crippen
- Richard Truly
- Henry Hartsfield
- William Thornton

Mission Parameters

- Mass: 19,979 kg
- Maximum Altitude: 440 km
- Distance: 18,536,730.9 km
- Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB
- Perigee: 428 km
- Apogee: 438 km
- Inclination: 50°
- Period: 93.2 min

- Docked: May 26, 1973 - 21:56:00 UTC
- Undocked: June 22, 1973 - 19:48:07 UTC
- Time Docked: 26 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes, 7 seconds,

Space walks

- Weitz - EVA 1 - (stand up EVA - CM side hatch)
- EVA 1 Start: May 26, 1973, 00:40 UTC
- EVA 1 End: May 26, 01:20 UTC
- Duration: 40 minutes
- Conrad and Kerwin - EVA 2
- EVA 2 Start: June 7, 1973, 15:15 UTC
- EVA 2 End: June 7, 18:40 UTC
- Duration: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Conrad and Weitz - EVA 3
- EVA 3 Start: June 19, 1973, 10:55 UTC
- EVA 3 End: June 19, 12:31 UTC
- Duration: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Mission Highlights

Splashdown Launched on May 25, 1973 the first Skylab crew's main job first was to repair the space station. Skylab's meteorite and sunshield and one of its solar arrays had torn loose during launch, and the remaining primary solar array was jammed. Due to concerns that high temperatures inside the workshop — the result of no sunshield — would release toxic materials and ruin on-board film and food, the crew had to work fast. After a failed attempt to deploy the stuck solar panel, they set up a "parasol" as a replacement sunshade. The "fix" worked, and temperatures inside dropped low enough that the crew could enter. Two weeks later Conrad and Kerwin conducted a space-walk, and after a struggle, were able to free the stuck solar panel and begin electricity flowing to their new "home." For nearly a month they made further repairs to the workshop, conducted medical experiments, gathered solar and Earth science data and returned some 29,000 frames of film with a total of 392 hours of experiments. The Skylab 2 astronauts spent 28 days in space, which doubled the previous U.S. record. The mission lasted until June 22, 1973. Skylab 2 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 9.6 km from the recovery ship, USS Ticonderoga. The mission set the records for the longest duration manned spacelight, greatest distance travelled and greatest mass docked in space. Conrad set the record for most time in space for an astronaut.

Relics

The command module they flew to the station in is displayed at the Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida.

Reference

- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720067844_1972067844.pdf Skylab: Command service module systems handbook, CSM 116 - 119 (PDF) April 1972]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740021163_1974021163.pdf Skylab Saturn 1B flight manual (PDF) September 1972]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/contents.htm NASA Skylab Chronology]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/app2.htm Marshall Space Flight Center Skylab Summary]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol3/table2.49.htm Skylab 2 Characteristics SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK] Category:Human spaceflights Category:Skylab program

Richard Gordon

Richard F. Gordon, Jr. (born October 5 1929) (Captain, USN, Ret.) is a retired NASA astronaut.

Military and Flight Experience

Gordon was born in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from North Kitsap High School, Poulsbo, Washington, then received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Washington in 1951. He received his wings as a naval aviator in 1953. He then attended All-Weather Flight School and jet transitional training and was subsequently assigned to an all-weather fighter squadron at the Naval Air Station at Jacksonville, Florida. In 1957, he attended the Navy's Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, and served as a flight test pilot until 1960. During this tour of duty, he did flight test work on the F8U Crusader, F11F Tiger, FJ Fury, and A4D Skyhawk, and was the first project test pilot for the F4H Phantom II. He served with Fighter Squadron 121 at the Miramar, California, Naval Air Station as a flight instructor in the F4H and participated in the introduction of that aircraft to the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. He was also flight safety officer, assistant operations officer, and ground training officer for Fighter Squadron 96 at Miramar. He won the Bendix Trophy Race from Los Angeles to New York in May 1961, in which he established a new speed record of 869.74 miles per hour and a transcontinental speed record of 2 hours and 47 minutes. He was also a student at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California. He has logged more that 4,500 hours flying time—3,500 hours in jet aircraft.

NASA Experience

Captain Gordon was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. Gordon served as backup pilot for the Gemini 8 flight. In September 1966, he made his first space flight as pilot of Gemini 11, alongside Pete Conrad - Gordon was already good friends with Conrad, who had previously been his roommate on the carrier "Ranger". On the flight, Gordon performed two EVAs, which included attaching a tether to the Agena and retrieving a nuclear emulsion experiment package. Gordon was subsequently assigned as backup command module pilot for Apollo 9, and in November 1969, he flew as command module pilot of Apollo 12, the second manned mission to land on the Moon. While his crewmates Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed in the Ocean of Storms, Gordon remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module, "Yankee Clipper," obtaining desired mapping photographs of tentative landing sites for future missions. Gordon was then backup commander of Apollo 15 and slated to walk on the Moon as commander of Apollo 18, but the mission was cancelled. In all, Gordon completed two space flights, logging a total of 315 hours and 53 minutes in space, 2 hours and 44 minutes of which were spent in EVA. Captain Gordon retired from NASA and the USN in January 1972.

After NASA

Since leaving NASA, Gordon has served as Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints Professional Football Club in the National Football League (1972); was General Manager of Energy Developers, Limited (EDL), a Texas Partnership involved in a joint venture with Rocket Research Corporation for the development of a liquid chemical explosive for use in the oil and gas industry (1977); President of Resolution Engineering and Development Company (REDCO) which provided design and operational requirements for wild oil well control and fire fighting equipment onboard large semi-submersible utility vessels (1978); following REDCO merger with Amarco Resources, Gordon assumed the additional duties of Vice President of Marketing, Westdale, an oil well servicing subsidiary of AMARCO operating in North Central Texas and Oklahoma, and also served as Vice President for Operations, Texas Division (1980); served as Director, Scott Science and Technology, Inc., Los Angeles Division (1981-1983). In March 1982 he became President of Astro Sciences Corporation. This company provides a range of services including engineering, project management, project field support teams, to software and hardware system design for control room applications. In the Summer of 1984, Gordon was a Technical Advisor for and played the part of "Capcom" in the CBS mini-series Space by James A. Michener. He is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, an associate fellow of Society of Experimental Test Pilots and a member of the Navy League.

Awards and Honors

- NASA Distinguished Service Medal
- NASA Exceptional Service Medal
- Navy Distinguished Flying Crosses (2)
- Navy Astronaut Wings
- Navy Distinguished Service Medal
- Institute of Navigation Award for 1969
- Godfrey L. Cabot Award in 1970
- Rear Admiral William S. Parsons Award for Scientific and Technical Progress, 1970
- Phi Sigma Kappa Merit Award, 1966
- NASA MSC Superior Achievement Award
- NASA Group Achievement Award
- FAI Record (1961; Transcontinental Speed Record)
- FAI World Record (Altitude Record, Gemini XI)

Technical Papers

- Gordon, R. F., F4H-1 Navy Preliminary Evaluation, Phase I, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, September 1958.
- Gordon, R. F., F4H-1 Navy Preliminary Evaluation, Phase I Supplement, October 1958.
- Gordon, R. F., FJ-4B Fuel Consumption and Performance Report, Flight Test, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, 1958.
- Gordon, R. F., F11F Fuel Consumption and Performance Report, Flight Test, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, 1958.
- Gordon, R. F., Revised Roll Performance Requirements for MIL-SPEC-F-8785. All Aircraft in Configuration PA, Flight Test, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, 1958.
- Gordon, R. F., F8U Spin Evaluation Report, Flight Test, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, 1959.
- Gordon, R. F., Gemini XI, Gemini Program Mission Report, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Report, October 1966.
- Gordon, R. F., Apollo XII Mission Report, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Report, December 1969.

External link

- [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/gordon-rf.html/ Source] Gordon, Richard F. Jr. Gordon, Richard F. Jr. Gordon, Richard F. Jr.

Gemini 11

Crew

- Pete Conrad (flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, & Skylab 2), Command Pilot
- Richard Gordon (flew on Gemini 9, Gemini 11, & Apollo 12), Pilot

Backup crew

- Neil A. Armstrong, Command Pilot
- William A. Anders, Pilot

Mission parameters

Docking

- Docked: September 12, 1966 - 16:16:00 UTC
- Undocked: September 14, 1966 - 16:55:00 UTC

Space walk

Objectives

Experiments

Reentry

Insignia

Capsule location

The capsule is on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.

External links

Alan Bean

Alan Bean (born March 15, 1932 in Wheeler, Texas) is a former NASA Astronaut. He graduated from Paschal High School in Fort Worth, Texas; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955 and after a four year tour as a fighter pilot trained as a Navy Test Pilot where his instructor was his future Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of science from [http://www.txwesleyan.edu/ Texas Wesleyan College] in 1972, and was presented an honorary doctorate of engineering science degree from the University of Akron (Ohio) in 1974. Bean was selected by NASA as part of group 3 in 1963 but was unsuccessful in securing an early flight assignment. When fellow astronaut Clifton Williams was killed in a training accident a space was opened for Bean on the back-up crew for Apollo 9. Captain Bean was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, the second lunar landing. In November 1969, Captain Bean and Captain Pete Conrad landed in the moon's Ocean of Storms—after a flight of 250,000 miles. They explored the lunar surface, deployed several lunar surface experiments, and installed the first nuclear power generator station on the moon to provide the power source. Captain Richard Gordon remained in lunar orbit photographing landing sites for future missions. Richard Gordon Captain Bean was also the spacecraft commander of Skylab 3, the second manned mission to Skylab, July 29 to September 25, 1973. With him on the 59-day, 24,400,000 mile world record setting flight were scientist-astronaut Dr. Owen Garriott and Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Jack Lousma. During the mission Bean also tested a prototype of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and led three space walks totaling 13 hours. On his next assignment, Captain Bean was backup spacecraft commander of the United States flight crew for the joint American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Captain Bean retired from the Navy in October 1975 but continued as head of the Astronaut Candidate Operations and Training Group within the Astronaut Office in a civilian capacity. Bean resigned from NASA in June 1981 to devote his full time to painting. Many of his paintings reside on the walls of space enthusiasts. He said his decision was based on the fact that, in his 18 years as an astronaut, he was fortunate enough to visit worlds and see sights no artist's eye, past or present, has ever viewed firsthand and he hopes to express these experiences through the medium of art. He is pursuing this dream at his home and studio in Houston. He is married and has two grown children, a son and a daughter. An entire episode of the miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon was narrated from Bean's perspective; in this episode, he was portrayed by Dave Foley. Rock band Hefner have a song called Alan Bean, featuring the lyrics "Everyone will forget soon, The fourth man on the moon, But I've got it in my mind."

External links

- [http://www.alanbeangallery.com Alan Bean Online Gallery] - An authorized gallery of all his paintings
- [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/bean-al.html Alan Bean Astronaut Bio] - NASA's biography of Bean Bean, Alan Bean, Alan Bean, Alan Bean, Alan Bean, Alan Bean, Alan

David Scott

:Alternate meaning: David Scott (politician) David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) a former NASA Astronaut, was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963 and is one of only twelve men who have walked on the moon. He was born in San Antonio, Texas and was educated at Texas Military Institute, Westpoint and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and received an honorary doctorate of Astronautical Science from the University of Michigan in 1971. Scott was the first of the group three astronauts to be selected to fly and was also the first to command a mission of their own. On March 16, 1966, he and command pilot Neil Armstrong were launched into space on the Gemini 8 mission-- a flight originally scheduled to last three days but terminated early due to a malfunctioning thruster. The crew performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space and demonstrated great piloting skill in overcoming the thruster problem and bringing the spacecraft to a safe landing. Scott served as command module pilot for Apollo 9, March 3-13, 1969. This was the third manned flight in the Apollo series, the second to be launched by a Saturn V, and the first to complete a comprehensive earth-orbital qualification and verification test of a "fully configured Apollo spacecraft." The ten-day flight provided vital information previously not available on the operational performance, stability, and reliability of lunar module propulsion and life support systems. Highlight of this evaluation was completion of a critical lunar-orbit rendezvous simulation and subsequent docking, initiated by James McDivitt and Russell Schweickart from within the lunar module at a separation distance which exceeded 100 miles (60 km) from the command/service module piloted by Scott. The crew also demonstrated and confirmed the operational feasibility of crew transfer and extravehicular activity techniques and equipment, with Schweickart completing a 46-minute EVA outside the lunar module. During this period, Dave Scott completed a 1-hour stand-up EVA in the open command module hatch photographing Schweickart's activities and also retrieving thermal samples from the command module exterior. Apollo 9 splashed down less than four nautical miles (7 km) from the helicopter carrier USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7). In his next assignment, Scott was designated backup spacecraft commander for Apollo 12. He made his third space flight as spacecraft commander of Apollo 15, July 26 - August 7, 1971. His companions on the flight were Alfred M. Worden (command module pilot) and James B. Irwin (lunar module pilot). Apollo 15 was the fourth manned lunar landing mission and the first to visit and explore the moon's Hadley Rille and Apennine Mountains which are located on the southeast edge of the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). The lunar module, "Falcon," remained on the lunar surface for 66 hours and 54 minutes (setting a new record for lunar surface stay time) and Scott and Irwin logged 18 hours and 35 minutes each in extravehicular activities conducted during three separate excursions onto the lunar surface. Using "Rover-1" to transport themselves and their equipment along portions of Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountains, Scott and Irwin performed a selenological inspection and survey of the area and collected 180 pounds (82 kg) of lunar surface materials. They deployed an ALSEP package which involved the emplacement and activation of surface experiments, and their lunar surface activities were televised using a TV camera which was operated remotely by ground controllers stationed in the mission control center located at Houston, Texas. Other Apollo 15 achievements include: largest payloads ever placed into earth and lunar orbits; first scientific instrument module bay flown and operated on an Apollo spacecraft; longest distance traversed on lunar surface; first use of a lunar surface navigation device (mounted on Rover-1); first subsatellite launched in lunar orbit; and first extravehicular (EVA) from a command module during transearth coast. The latter feat performed by Worden during three excursions to "Endeavour's" SIM-bay where he retrieved film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras and reported his personal observations of the general condition of equipment housed there. Apollo 15 concluded with a Pacific Ocean splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS Okinawa (LPH-3). He has a B.S. from the United States Military Academy and an S.M. from MIT. He has been awarded two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, two Air Force Distinguished Service Medals, the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Force Association's David C. Schilling Trophy and the Robert J. Collier Trophy.

Stamp scandal

After the return of Apollo 15 it was discovered that the crew had taken 400 commemorative first day covers to the moon of which a hundred were then sold to a German stamp dealer. The profits of the sale were used to establish trust funds for Apollo 15 crew's children. Although their action was not illegal and NASA had turned a blind eye to similar activities on earlier flights the administration decided to make an example of Scott and his crew with none of them flying in space again.

External links

- [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/scott-dr.html David R. Scott: Official NASA biography]
- [http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?tip=1&id=3102 David R. Scott: Challenges facing the human exploration of Mars] public lecture at the Royal Society in London Scott, David Scott, David Scott, David

Apollo 9

Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo program, a ten day earth-orbital mission launched 3 March 1969. It was the second manned flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle and the first manned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM).

Crew

- James McDivitt (flew on Gemini 4 & Apollo 9), commander
- David Scott (flew on Gemini 8, Apollo 9, & Apollo 15), command module pilot
- Russell Schweickart (flew on Apollo 9), lunar module pilot

Backup crew

- Pete Conrad(flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 2), commander
- Dick Gordon(flew on Gemini 11, Apollo 12), command module pilot
- Alan Bean(flew on Apollo 12, Skylab 3), lunar module pilot.

Support crew

- Fred Haise(flew on Apollo 13)
- Jack Lousma(flew on Skylab 3, STS-3)
- Ed Mitchell(flew on Apollo 14)
- Al Worden(flew on Apollo 15)

Mission parameters

- Mass: CSM 26,801 kg; LM 14,575 kg
- Perigee: 189.5 km
- Apogee: 192.4 km
- Inclination: 32.57°
- Period: 88.64 min

LM - CSM docking

- Undocked: March 7, 1969 - 12:39:36 UTC
- Re-docked:March 7, 1969 - 19:02:26 UTC

EVA

- Schweickart - EVA - LM forward hatch
- Start: March 6, 1969, 16:45:00 UTC
- End: March 6, 1969, 17:52:00 UTC
- Duration: 1 hour, 07 minutes
- Scott - EVA - CM side hatch
- Start: March 6, 1969, 17:01:00 UTC
- End: March 6, 1969, 18:02:00 UTC
- Duration: 1 hour, 01 minute

Original mission profile

In October 1967, it was planned that following the first manned orbital flight of the CSM (Apollo 7, also known as the C Mission), the second manned Apollo mission (D Mission) would have a manned CSM launched on a Saturn 1B, and a few days later the Lunar Module launched on a second Saturn 1B to practise the first orbit rendevous. McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart were given this mission, with Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders being assigned to a later, similar Earth-orbit test (E Mission), this time using the Saturn V to carry both the CSM and LM. However, production problems with the LM meant that the D Mission would not be able to fly until the spring of 1969, so NASA officials created another "C-Prime" mission to go inbetween the C and D missions, involving the CSM (with no LM) making the first manned flight to the Moon. This flight became Apollo 8, and was given to Borman, Lovell and Anders. Although he was in the rotation for it, McDivitt claims he was never offered the "C-Prime" mission as he was already experienced with the LM - but if he had been offered it, he probably would have declined, as he wanted to fly the LM. The original E Mission was subsequently scrubbed - Apollo 9 was the only Earth-orbit test of the full Apollo spacecraft, and was launched on a Saturn V instead of two Saturn 1Bs. This had long lasting consequence - when the crew rotation for Apollos 8 and 9 were swapped, their backup crews were also swapped, putting Neil Armstrong and his crew (who were Borman, Lovell and Anders' backups) in line for the first manned landing mission instead of Pete Conrad and his crew.

Mission highlights

Apollo 9 was the first space test of the complete Apollo spacecraft, including the third critical piece of Apollo hardware - the lunar module. For ten days, the astronauts put all three Apollo vehicles through their paces in Earth orbit, undocking and then redocking the lunar lander with the command module, just as they would in lunar orbit. Apollo 9 gave proof that the Apollo machines were up to the task of orbital rendezvous and docking. For this and all subsequent Apollo flights, the crews were allowed to name their own spacecraft. The gangly lunar module was named "Spider," and the command module was labelled "Gumdrop" on account of the blue cellophane wrapping in which the craft arrived at KSC. Schweickart and Scott performed an EVA - Schweickart checked out the new Apollo spacesuit, the first to have its own life support system rather than being dependent on an umbilical connection to the spacecraft, while Scott filmed him from the command module hatch. Schweickart was due to carry out a more extensive set of activity to test the suit, and demonstrate that it was possible for astronauts to perform an EVA from the lunar module to the command module in an emergency, but as he had been suffering from space sickness, this was restricted to the stand up test in the Lunar Module hatch. McDivitt and Schweickart later testflew the LM, and practiced separation and docking maneuvers in earth orbit. They flew the LM up to 111 miles from "Gumdrop", using the engine on the descent stage to propel them originally, before jettisoning it and using the ascent stage to return. The splashdown point was 23 deg 15 min N, 67 deg 56 min W, 180 miles (290 km) east of Bahamas and within sight of the recovery ship USS Guadalcanal. The command module was displayed at the Michigan Space and Science Center, Jackson, Michigan until April 2004 when the center closed. In May, 2004, the command module Gumdrop was moved to San Diego Aerospace Museum in southern California. The LM ascent stage orbit decayed on 23 October

Apollo 12

Crew

Backup crew

Support crew

Mission parameters

LM - CSM docking

EVAs

EVA 1 start: November 19, 1969, 11:32:35 UTC

EVA 1 end: November 19, 15:28:38 UTC

EVA 2 start: November 20, 1969, 03:54:45 UTC

EVA 2 end: November 20, 07:44:00 UTC

See also

Quote

Mission Highlights

Trivia

Reference

External links

Project Apollo

Background

Choosing a mission mode

Flights

Apollo Applications Program

End of the program

Reasons for Apollo

Miscellaneous information

Missions

Unmanned Saturn I

Unmanned pad abort tests

Unmanned Little Joe II

Unmanned Apollo-Saturn IB and Saturn V

Manned

Cancelled missions

Later missions using left over Apollo hardware

Apollo Launch Complex utilization

See also

References

External links

Charles Conrad

External link

Scientific References related to Apollo 12 & Charles Conrad

Gemini 5

Crew

Backup crew

Mission parameters

See also

Objectives

Flight

Insignia

Capsule location

External links

Gemini 11

Crew

Backup crew

Mission parameters

Docking

Space walk

See also

Objectives

Experiments

Reentry

Insignia

Capsule location

External links

Skylab 2

Crew

Backup Crew

Support Crew

Mission Parameters

Space walks

See also

Mission Highlights

Relics

Reference

Richard Gordon

Military and Flight Experience

NASA Experience

After NASA

Awards and Honors

Technical Papers

External link