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Apollo 16

Apollo 16

Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fifth mission to land on the Moon.

Crew

- John W. Young (flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, & STS-9), commander
- Thomas K. (Ken) Mattingly Jr. (flew on Apollo 16, STS-4, & STS-51-C), command module pilot
- Charles Duke Jr. (flew on Apollo 16), lunar module pilot

Backup crew

- Fred Haise, commander
- Stuart Roosa, command module pilot
- Edgar Mitchell, lunar module pilot

Support crew

- Philip Chapman
- Anthony England
- Henry Hartsfield
- Robert Overmyer

Mission parameters

- Mass:
- Launch mass: 2,921,005 kg
- Total spacecraft: 46,782 kg
- CSM mass: 30,354 kg, of which CM was 5840 kg, SM 24,514 kg
- LM mass: transposition and docking 36,252 lb (16,444 kg), separation for landing 36,743 lb (16,666 kg), ascent stage at lunar liftoff 10,949 lb (4966 kg)
- Earth orbits: 3 before leaving for Moon, about one on return
- Lunar orbits: 64
- Perigee: 166.7 km
- Apogee: 176.0 km
- Inclination: 32.542°
- Period: 87.85 min
- Perilune: 107.6 km
- Apolune: 315.4 km
- Inclination: 168°
- Period: 120 min
- Landing Site: [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunar_sites.html 8.97301° S - 15.50019° E] or
8° 58' 22.84" S - 15° 30' 0.68" E

LM - CSM docking

- Undocked: April 20, 1972 - 18:07:31 UTC
- Docked: April 24, 1972 - 03:35:18 UTC

EVAs

- Young and Duke - EVA 1
- EVA 1 Start: April 21, 1972, 16:47:28 UTC
- EVA 1 End: April 21, 23:58:40 UTC
- Duration: 7 hours, 11 minutes, 02 seconds
- Young and Duke - EVA 2
- EVA 2 Start: April 22, 1972, 16:33:35 UTC
- EVA 2 End: April 22, 23:56:44 UTC
- Duration: 7 hours, 23 minutes, 09 seconds
- Young and Duke - EVA 3
- EVA 3 Start: April 23, 1972, 15:25:28 UTC
- EVA 3 End: April 23, 21:05:31 UTC
- Duration: 5 hours, 40 minutes, 03 seconds
- Mattingly - Transearth EVA 4
- EVA 4 Start: April 25, 1972, 20:33:46 UTC
- EVA 4 End: April 25, 21:57:28 UTC
- Duration: 1 hour, 23 minutes, 42 seconds The splashdown point was 0 deg 43 min S, 156 deg 13 min W, 215 miles (350 km) southeast of Christmas Island and 5 km (3 mi) from the recovery ship USS Ticonderoga.

Introduction

USS Ticonderoga The crew members: John W. Young, commander; Ken Mattingly, command module pilot; and Charles Duke, lunar module pilot. It was a J-class mission, featuring a Lunar Rover. It brought back 94.7 kg of lunar samples. It included three lunar EVA: 7.2 hours, 7.4 hours, 5.7 hours and one trans-earth EVA of 1.4. This was only the second trans-earth EVA ever and was used to bring in film from exterior cameras and conduct an experiment on microbial survival. The Apollo 16 subsatellite was launched from the CSM while it was in lunar orbit. The subsatellite carried out experiments on magnetic fields and solar particles. It was launched April 24, 1972 at 21:56:09 UTC and orbited the Moon for 34 days and 425 revolutions. It had a mass of 80 lb (36.3 kg) and consisted of a central cylinder and three 1.5 m booms.

Mission highlights

1972 1972 A malfunction in a yaw gimbal servo loop in the main propulsion system of the CSM "Casper" caused concerns about firing the engine to adjust the CSM's lunar orbit, and nearly caused the Moon landing to be scrubbed. But it was decided that the malfunction presented relatively little risk, and Young and Duke (who were already undocked, and flying LM "Orion" when the problem occurred) were permitted to land on the Moon. However, the mission was shortened by a day (reducing the time in orbit around the Moon after the LM left the Moon and docked with the CSM), as a safety measure. Young and Duke spent three days exploring the Descartes highland region, while Mattingly circled overhead in "Casper." The astronauts discovered that what was thought to have been a region of volcanism was actually a region full of impact-formed rocks (breccias). Their collection of returned specimens included an 25 pound (11 kg) chunk that was the largest single rock returned by the Apollo astronauts (nicknamed Big Muley). The Apollo 16 astronauts also conducted performance tests with the lunar rover, at one time getting up to a top speed of 11 miles per hour (18 kilometers per hour), which still stands as the record speed for any wheeled vehicle on the Moon (listed as such in the Guinness Book of Records).

Relics

The command module is currently at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, in Huntsville, Alabama. The lunar module ascent stage separated 24 April 1972 but a loss of attitude control rendered it out of control. It orbited the Moon for about a year. Its impact site on the Moon is unknown.

Media

Reference

- [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]
- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol3/table2.44.htm Apollo 16 Characteristics - SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK]

External links

- [http://www.astronautix.com/flights/apollo16.htm Apollo 16 entry in Encyclopedia Astronautica]
- [http://www.spacecamp.com/museum/ U.S. Space & Rocket Center Museum] (location of Apollo 16 command module) Category:Lunar spacecraft Category:Human spaceflights Category:Apollo program

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

Gemini 3

Gemini 3 was a 1965 manned space flight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the first manned Gemini flight, the ninth manned American flight and the 17th manned spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 kilometres).

Crew

- Virgil I. Grissom (flew on Mercury 4, Gemini 3, & Apollo 1), Command Pilot
- John W. Young (flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, & STS-9), Pilot

Backup crew

- Walter M. Schirra, Command Pilot
- Thomas P. Stafford, Pilot

Mission parameters

- Mass: 3,236.9 kg
- Perigee: 161.2 km
- Apogee: 224.2 km
- Inclination: 32.6 degrees
- Period: 88.3 minutes
- First orbital maneuver by manned spacecraft On March 23, 1965 at 15:57:00 UTC, at the end of the first orbit, over Corpus Christi, Texas, a 1 minute 14 second burn of the Orbit attitude and maneuvering system (OAMS) engines gave a delta-V of 15.5 meters per second. The orbit was changed from 161.2 km x 224.2 km, period 88.3 minutes to an orbit of 158 km x 169 km, period 87.8 minutes.

Objectives

This first manned flight of the Gemini spacecraft was very much a test flight. In a playful reference to the Broadway hit The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Grissom nicknamed the Gemini 3 spacecraft "Molly Brown," hoping that it would not duplicate his experience with Liberty Bell 7. (It was the last Gemini to be named by an astronaut. All subsequent flights in the program were designated by a Roman numeral.) The mission's primary goal was to test the new, maneuverable Gemini spacecraft. In space, the crew fired thrusters to change the shape of their orbit, shift their orbital plane slightly, and drop to a lower altitude. Other firsts were achieved on Gemini 3: two people flew aboard an American spacecraft; the first manned re-entry where the spacecraft was able to produce lift to change its touchdown point.

Flight

The only major incident during the orbital phase involved a contraband corned beef sandwich that Young had snuck on board. The crew each took a few bites before the sandwich had to be restowed. The crumbs it released could have wreaked havoc with the craft's electronics, so the crew were reprimanded when they returned to Earth. Other crews were warned not to pull the same type of stunt again. corned beefTwo small failures occurred in-orbit. The first was an experiment testing the Synergistic Effect of Zero Gravity on Sea Urchin Eggs. A lever essential to the experiment broke off when pulled. The second involved the photographic coverage objective. It was only partially successful due to an improper lens setting on the 16mm camera. The crew made their first orbit change an hour and a half into the flight. The burn lasted 75 seconds and moved them from a 122 by 175 kilometer orbit to a nearly circular one with a drop in speed of 15 metres per second. The second burn was 45 minutes later when the orbital inclination was changed by 0.02 degrees. The last burn came during the third orbit when the perigee was lowered to 72 kilometres. This meant that even if retrorockets had failed, they would still have reentered. When reentry finally occurred, crew commented that even the colours matched ground simulations. On descent, the capsule shifted from a vertical to horizontal attitude under its parachutes. The change was so sudden that Grissom cracked his faceplate on the control panel in front of him. The craft landed eventually 84 kilometers short of its intended splashdown point. Wind tunnel testing incorrectly predicted the craft's ability to compensate for course deviation. When the crew discovered the error, they decided to stay in the capsule, not wanting to open the hatch before the arrival of the recovery ship. The crew spent an uncomfortable half an hour in a spacecraft never designed to be a boat. The Gemini 3 mission was supported by the following United States Department of Defense resources: 10,185 personnel, 126 aircraft and 27 ships.

Insignia

The mission insignia was not worn by the flight crew as a patch, like those from Gemini 5 onwards. The Gemini 3 Molly Brown logo was designed and minted on gold plated, sterling silver, 1-inch (25-mm) medallions. The crew carried a number of these medallions into space to give to their families and friends. The same design was imprinted on the cover of Gus Grissom's book, GEMINI, and John Young was seen wearing the Molly Brown logo as a patch on his flightsuit as late as 1981. The name "Molly Brown" was chosen by Grissom as a reference to the sinking of Liberty Bell 7; NASA officials found the slightly sarcastic reference embarrassing, and astronauts were not allowed to name their spacecraft again until Apollo 9 when for the first time, two spacecraft would be operating independently as part of the same mission.

Capsule location

The capsule is on display at the Grissom Memorial, Spring Mill State Park, Mitchell, Indiana.

External links

- 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
- Astronaut John W. Young website: http://www.johnwyoung.com
- Gemini 3 page on A Field Guide To American Spacecraft: http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/fieldguide/pages/gemini/gt-3.html Gemini 03 Gemini 03

Gemini 10

Gemini 10 (officially Gemini X) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the 8th manned Gemini flight, the 16th manned American flight and the 24th spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 km).

Crew

- John W. Young (flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, & STS-9), Command Pilot
- Michael Collins (flew on Gemini 10 & Apollo 11), Pilot

Backup crew

- Alan L. Bean, Command Pilot
- Clifton C. Williams, Jr., Pilot

Mission parameters

- Mass: 3,762.6 kg
- Perigee: 159.9 km
- Apogee: 268.9 km
- Inclination: 28.87°
- Period: 88.79 min

Docking

- Docked: July 19, 1966 - 04:15:00 UTC
- Undocked: July 20, 1966 - 19:00:00 UTC

Space walk

- Collins - EVA 1 (stand up)
- Start: July 19, 1966, 21:44:00 UTC
- End: July 19, 1966, 22:33:00 UTC
- Duration: 0 hours, 49 minutes
- Collins - EVA 2
- Start: July 20, 1966, 23:01:00 UTC
- End: July 20, 1966, 23:40:00 UTC
- Duration: 0 hours, 39 minutes

Objectives

Gemini established that radiation at high attitude was not a problem. After docking with their Agena booster in low orbit, Young and Collins used it to climb another 763.8 kilometers to meet with the dead, drifting Agena left over from the aborted Gemini VIII flight-thus executing the program's first double rendezvous. With no electricity on board the second Agena the rendezvous was accomplished with eyes only-no radar. After the rendezvous, Collins space-walked over to the dormant Agena at the end of a 15.24 meter tether, making Collins the first person to meet another spacecraft in orbit. He retrieved a cosmic dustcollecting panel from the side of the Agena, but returned no pictures of his close encounter — in the complicated business of keeping his tether clear of the Gemini and Agena, Collins' Hasselblad camera worked itself free and drifted off into orbit. Gemini 10 was designed to achieve the objectives planned for the last two missions — rendezvous, docking and EVA. As well as this it was also hoped to dock with the Agena Target Vehicle from the Gemini 8 mission. This Agena's battery power had failed many months earlier and this would demonstrate the ability to rendezvous with a dormant object. It would be also the first mission to fire the Agena's own rocket, allowing them to reach higher orbits.

Flight

The Agena launched perfectly for the second time, after problems had occurred with the targets for Gemini 6 and 9. Gemini 10 followed 100 minutes later and entered into a 159.9 x 268.9 km orbit. They were 1800 km behind the Agena.
Agena Target Vehicle

Rendezvous number 1

Collins discovered that he was unable to use the sextant for navigation as it did not seem to work as expected. At first he mistook airglow as the real horizon when trying to make some fixes on stars. Then the image didn't seem right. He tried another instrument that they had on board but this was not practical to use at it had a very small field of view. They fortunately had a backup in the form of the computers on the ground. They made their first burn to put them into a 265 by 272 kilometres orbit. However Young didn't realise that during the next burn he had the spacecraft turned slightly which meant that they introduced an out of plane error. This meant two extra burns using 60% of the fuel on board by the time they docked with the Agena. It was decided to keep the Gemini docked to the Agena as long as possible as this would mean that they could use the fuel on board the Target Vehicle for attitude control. They made the first burn of the Agena engine was 80 seconds long and put them in a 294 by 763 kilometres orbit. This was the highest a person had ever been (until the next mission when Gemini 11 went to over 1000 km). This burn was quite a ride for the crew. Because the Gemini and Agena docked nose to nose, the forces experienced were eyeballs out as opposed to eyeballs in for a launch from Earth. The crew took a couple of pictures when they reached apogee but were more interested in what was going on in the spacecraft — checking the systems and watching the radiation dosage meter. After this they had their sleep period which lasted for eight hours and then they were ready for another busy day. First order of business was to make a second burn with the Agena engine to put them into the same orbit as the Gemini 8 Agena. This was at 20:58 UTC on 19 July and lasted 78 seconds and took 105 metres per second of their speed, putting them into a 294 by 382 km orbit. They made one more burn of the Agena to circularise their orbit to 377.6 km.

EVA number 1

It was now time for the first of two EVAs on Gemini 10. This was to be just a standup EVA, where Collins would 'stand' in the open hatch and take some photographs of stars as part of experiment S-13. They used a 70 mm general purpose camera to image the Southern Milky Way in ultraviolet. After orbit sunrise, Collins then photographed a colour plate on the side of the spacecraft (MSC-8) to see whether film reproduced colours accurately in space. They reentered the spacecraft six minutes early when they both found their eyes were irritated. After repressurising they ran the oxygen at high rates and flushed the environment system. Young and Collins were both tired after the exercise of the EVA and slept well on their second 'night' in space. The next 'morning' they started preparing for the second rendezvous and another EVA.

Rendezvous number 2

After undocking from their Agena they thought they sighted the Gemini 8 Agena. It however turned out to be their own Agena 5.5 km away, while their target was 176 km away. It wasn't until just over 30 km away that they saw it as a faint star. After a couple more correction burns they were station keeping 3 metres away. They found the Agena to be very stable and in good condition.

EVA number 2

48 hours and 41 minutes into the mission, the second EVA began. Collins first task was to retrieve a Micrometeorite Collector (S-12) from the side of the spacecraft. This he accomplished with some difficulty (like those experienced by Cernan on Gemini IX-A). However it floated out of the cabin some time during the rest of the EVA and was lost. He next travelled over to the Agena. He tried to grab onto the docking cone but found this impossible as it was smooth and had no grip. He used the gas gun to move himself towards the Gemini and then back to the Agena. This time he was able to grab hold of some wire bundles and retrieved the Micrometeorite Collector (S-10) from the Agena. He decided against replacing it as he could lose the one he had just retrieved. He last task on this EVA was to test out the gas gun. However this stopped working and meant they finished the EVA after only 25 minutes. It took the crew eight minutes to close the hatch as they had some difficulty with the 15 metres of umbilical cord. It was jettisoned along with the chestpack used by Collins an hour later when they opened the hatch for the third and final time.

Experiments

There were 10 other experiments that the crew performed during the mission. Three were interested in radiation. MSC-3 was the Tri-Axis Magnetometer which measured levels in the South Atlantic Anomaly. There was also MSC-6, a beta spectrometer, measured potential radiation doses for Apollo missions, and MSC-7, a bremsstrahlung spectrometer which detected radiation flux as a function of energy when the spacecraft passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly. S-26 was interested in the ion and electron wake of the spacecraft. This provided limited results due to the lack of fuel for attitude control, but found that electron and ion temperatures higher than expected and it registered shock effects during docking and undocking. Once again S-5 and S-6 were performed. These were Synoptic Terrain and Synoptic Weather photography respectively. Both had good results though were affected by the windows on the spacecraft being dirty. There was also S-1 which was intended to image the Zodiacal light. These were of little use as the film used was only half as sensitive as Gemini IX-A and the dirty windows lowered the transmission of light by a factor of six. They also tried to do D-5, a navigation experiment. They were only able to track 5 stars, with six needed for accurate measurements. The last experiment was D-10 to investigate an Ion-sensing Attitude Control system. This was to see if it was possible to find the attitude of the spacecraft from the flow of ions and electrons around the spacecraft in orbit. This system was found to be accurate and responsive.

Reentry

Zodiacal light The last day of the mission was short and retrofire came at 70 hours and 10 minutes into the mission. They landed only 5.6 km away from the intended landing site and were recovered by the USS Guadalcanal. The Gemini 10 mission was supported by the following U.S. Department of Defense resources; 9,067 personnel, 78 aircraft and 13 ships.

Insignia

The patch is simple in design but highly symbolic. The main feature in a large X with two stars orbiting around it. This represents the Agenas but could also show Castor and Pollux in Gemini or the two crew members.

Capsule location

The capsule is on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson, Kansas. When the restoration of the Gemini 6A capsule is completed, then Gemini 10 will be restored in full view of the public. At the end of this restoration it will be put back on full display at the Cosmosphere. One of the hatches is displayed at Virginia Air and Space Center, Hampton, Virginia.

External links

- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750067644_1975067644.pdf Gemini 10 Mission Report (PDF) August 1966]
- 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
- http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1966-066A
- U.S. Space Objects Registry http://usspaceobjectsregistry.state.gov/search/index.cfm Category:Human spaceflights Category:Gemini program

Apollo 10

Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program, and the first (and only manned Saturn V) mission to launch from pad 39B. The mission included the second crew to orbit the Moon, and the test of the lunar module in lunar orbit. The module came to within 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) of the lunar surface during practice maneuvers. According to the 2001 Guinness World Records Apollo 10 has the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle: 39,897 km/h (11.08 km/s or 24,791 mph). The speed record was set during the return from the Moon on the 26 May, 1969.

Crew

- Thomas Stafford (flew on Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, & Apollo-Soyuz), commander
- John W. Young (flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, & STS-9), command module pilot
- Eugene Cernan (flew on Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, & Apollo 17), lunar module pilot

Backup Crew

- Gordon Cooper(flew on Mercury 9, Gemini 5), commander
- Donn Eisele(flew on Apollo 7), command module pilot
- Edgar Mitchell(flew on Apollo 14, lunar module pilot

Support Crew

- Charles Duke(flew on Apollo 16)
- Joe Engle(flew on STS-2, STS-51I)
- James Irwin(flew on Apollo 15 )
- Jack Lousma(flew on Skylab 3, STS-3)

Mission Parameters

- Mass: CSM 28,834 kg; LM 13,941 kg
- Perigee: 184.5 km
- Apogee: 190 km
- Inclination: 32.5°
- Period: 88.1 min
- Perilune: 111.1 km
- Apolune: 316.7 km
- Inclination: 1.2°
- Period: 2.15 hours

LM - CSM Docking

- Undocked: May 22, 1969 - 19:00:57 UTC
- Redocked: May 23, 1969 - 03:11:02 UTC

LM closest approach to lunar surface

- May 22, 1969, 21:29:43 UTC On May 22 1969 at 20:35:02 UTC, a 27.4 second LM descent propulsion system burn inserted the LM into a descent orbit of 112.8 km by 15.7 km so that the resulting lowest point in the orbit occurred about 15° from lunar landing site 2 (the Apollo 11 landing site). The lowest measured point in the trajectory was 15.6 km above the lunar surface at 21:29:43 UTC.

Mission Highlights

This dress rehearsal for a Moon landing brought Stafford and Cernan's lunar module, nicknamed "Snoopy", to 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) from the lunar surface. Except for that final stretch, the mission went exactly as a landing would have gone, both in space and on the ground, where Apollo's extensive tracking and control network was put through a dry run. Shortly after leaving low Earth orbit, the command/service module separated from the S-IVB stage, turned around, and docked its nose to the top of the lunar module still nestled in the S-IVB. The CSM/LM stack then separated from the S-IVB for the trip to the moon. Upon reaching lunar orbit, Young remained alone in his command module "Charlie Brown," while Stafford and Cernan flew separately in the LM. They checked out the LM's radar and ascent engine, rode out a momentary gyration in the lunar lander's motion (due to a faulty switch setting), and surveyed the Apollo 11 landing site in the Sea of Tranquillity. This test article of the lunar module was not equipped to land, however. Apollo 10 also added another first-broadcasting live color TV from space. On May 22 1969 Apollo 10's lunar module flew within 15.6 km of the Moon's surface. :Launched: May 18, 1969 from Pad 39B :Returned: May 26, 1969 :Crew members: Tom Stafford, commander; John Young, command module pilot; Gene Cernan, lunar module pilot :Command module: Charlie Brown :Lunar module: Snoopy The command module is displayed at the Science Museum in London. The lunar module is in heliocentric orbit, thus making it the only intact lunar module ascent stage out of all of the lunar modules sent into space (Apollos 5, 9, 13 LM ascent stages burned up in Earth's atmosphere, Apollo 11 LM ascent stage left in lunar orbit - eventually crashed on moon, Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 LM ascent stages deliberately crashed into moon) . Image:Ap10-KSC-68C-7912.jpg|The S-IC first stage in the VAB Image:Ap10-KSC-69PC-110.jpg|Apollo 10 during rollout (NASA) Image:As10-27-3881.jpg|CSM "Charlie Brown" (NASA) Image:As10-345117.jpg|LM "Snoopy" (NASA) Image:Apollo_10_earthrise.jpg|Apollo 10 view of Earth rise. (NASA)

Reference

- [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://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol3/table2.38.htm Apollo 10 Characteristics - SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK]

External link

- [http://www.astronautix.com/flights/apollo10.htm Apollo 10 entry in Encyclopedia Astronautica]
- [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]
- [http://vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/Ap10.html Mission Report: Apollo 10] Category:Lunar spacecraft Category:Human spaceflights Category:Apollo program

STS-1

: STS-1 is also an abbreviation for Synchronous Transport Signal (level)-1 in the SONET hierarchy.

Mission insignia

image:STS-1 flight insignia.png
Mission statistics
Mission:	STS-1
Shuttle:	Columbia
Launch pad:	39A
Launch:	April 12, 1981 6:00:03 a.m. CST (12:00:03 UTC)
Landing:	April 14, 1981 12:20:57 p.m. CST (18:20:57 UTC) Edwards AFB, Runway 23
Duration:	2 days, 6 hours, 20 minutes, 53 seconds
Orbit altitude:	166 nautical miles (307 km)
Orbit inclination:	40.3 degrees
Orbits:	36
Distance traveled:	1,074,000 miles (1,728,000 km)
Crew photo
image:STS-1 crew.jpg Crew members John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen pose in ejection escape suits (EES) with small model of space shuttle.

The first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, launched April 12, 1981, returned April 14. Space Shuttle Columbia orbited the earth 36 times in this 54.5 hour mission.

Crew

- Commander: John W. Young (flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, & STS-9)
- Pilot: Robert Crippen (flew on STS-1, STS-7, STS-41-C, & STS-41-G) The crew of STS-2 served as backup for this mission.
- Backup Commander: Joe Engle
- Backup Pilot: Richard Truly

Mission parameters

- Mass:
- Orbiter Liftoff: 99,453 kg
- Orbiter Landing: 88,662 kg
- DFI payload: 4,909 kg
- Perigee: 240 km
- Apogee: 251 km
- Inclination: 40.3°
- Period: 89.4 min

Mission highlights

The first launch of the Space Shuttle occurred on April 12, 1981, when the orbiter Columbia, with two crew members, astronauts John W. Young, commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, lifted off from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, at the Kennedy Space Center -- the first of 24 launches from Pad A. It was exactly 7 a.m. EST. A launch attempt, 2 days before, was scrubbed because of a timing problem in one of the Columbia's general purpose computers. Not only was this the first launch of the Space Shuttle, but it marked the first time that solid fuel rockets were used for a U.S. manned launch. The STS-1 orbiter, Columbia, also holds the record for the amount of time spent in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) before launch -- 610 days, time needed for replacement of many of its heat shield tiles. Primary mission objectives of the maiden flight were to check out the overall Shuttle system, accomplish a safe ascent into orbit and to return to Earth for a safe landing. All of these objectives were met successfully and the Shuttle's worthiness as a space vehicle was verified. The only payload carried on the mission was a Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) package which contained sensors and measuring devices to record orbiter performance and the stresses that occurred during launch, ascent, orbital flight, descent and landing. The 36-orbit, 933,757-mile-long flight lasted 2 days, 6 hours, 20 minutes and 32 seconds. Landing took place on Runway 23 at Edwards AFB, Calif., on April 14, 1981, at 10:21 a.m. PST. Post-flight inspection of the Columbia revealed that an overpressure wave which occurred when the SRB ignited resulted in the loss of 16 heat shield tiles and damage to 148 others. In all other respects, however, Columbia came through the flight with flying colors, and it was to fly the next four Shuttle missions. Columbia was returned to Kennedy Space Center from California on April 28 atop its 747 carrier aircraft.

Mission insignia

The art work for the official mission insignia was done by artist Robert McCall.

Anniversary

Yuri's Night is an international celebration held on April 12 every year to commemorate the first human in space and the first Space Shuttle launch.

Media

Image:Columba.sts-1.training.triddle.jpg| Image:Space shuttle.sts-1.crawler.triddle.jpg| Image:Columba.sts-1.launch_pad_arival.triddle.jpg Image:Columbia.sts-1.pad at night.triddle.jpg| Image:Shuttle.jpg| Image:Sts1-liftoff-columbia.triddle.jpg| Image:Columbia landing on Rogers dry lake.triddle.jpg| Image:Columbia.sts-1.egress.triddle.jpg|

External links

- [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-1.htm NASA PAO page about STS-1]

Previous mission:
None

Space Shuttle program

Next mission:
STS-2

STS-001 STS-001 ja:STS-1

STS-9

Mission insignia

image:Sts9 flight insignia.jpg
Mission statistics
Mission:	STS-9
Shuttle:	Columbia
Launch pad:	39A
Launch:	November 28, 1983 16:00:00 UTC
Landing:	December 8, 1983 23:47:23 UTC Edwards AFB, California, Runway 17
Duration:	10 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes, 24 seconds
Orbit altitude:	155 nautical miles (287 km)
Orbit inclination:	57.0 degrees
Orbits:	167
Distance traveled:	4,295,853 miles (6,913,505 km)
Crew photo
Edwards AFB, California L-R: Garriott, Lichtenberg, Shaw, Young, Merbold, Parker

STS-9 (Spacelab 1) was a United States Space Shuttle mission, the 6th mission of the Columbia orbiter.

Crew

- Commander: John W. Young (flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, & STS-9)
- Pilot: Brewster H. Shaw (flew on STS-9, STS-61-B & STS-28)
- Mission Specialist 1: Owen Garriott (flew on Skylab 3 & STS-9)
- Mission Specialist 2: Robert A. Parker (flew on STS-9 & STS-35)
- Payload Specialist 1: Ulf Merbold (flew on STS-9, STS-42 & Euromir 94)
- Payload Specialist 2: Byron K. Lichtenberg (flew on STS-9 & STS-45)

Backup payload specialists

- Alternate Payload Specialist: Wubbo Ockels
- Alternate Payload Specialist: Michael Lampton

Mission parameters

- Mass:
- Orbiter liftoff: 112,318 kg
- Orbiter landing: 99,800 kg
- Payload: 15,088 kg
- Perigee: 241 km
- Apogee: 254 km
- Inclination: 57°
- Period: 89.5 min

Mission objective

For the STS-9 mission Columbia was once again back in orbit. The launch occurred at 11 a.m. EST, Nov. 28, 1983, after a 2-month delay because of a nozzle problem with one of the SRBs. This necessitated moving the vehicle back to the Vehicle Assembly Building where the nozzle was replaced. The 6-member crew—a manned space flight record at the time—included John W. Young, commander, on his second Shuttle flight; Brewster H. Shaw, pilot; Owen Garriott and Robert A. Parker, both mission specialists; and Byron K. Lichtenberg and Ulf Merbold payload specialists—the first two non-astronauts to fly on the Shuttle. Merbold, a citizen of West Germany, also was the first foreign citizen to participate in a Shuttle flight. Lichtenberg was a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The mission was devoted entirely to Spacelab l, a joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) program designed to demonstrate the ability to conduct advanced scientific research in space, with astronauts and payload specialists working in the Spacelab module and coordinating their efforts with scientists at the Marshall Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) then located at the Johnson Space Center. Funding for Spacelab l was provided by ESA. The crew was divided into two teams, each working 12-hour shifts for the duration of the mission. Young, Parker and Merbold formed the Red Team, while Shaw, Garriott and Lichtenberg made up the Blue Team. Usually, the commander and the pilot team members were assigned to the flight deck, while the mission and payload specialists worked inside the Spacelab. Seventy-two scientific experiments were carried out in the fields of atmospheric and plasma physics, astronomy, solar physics, material sciences, technology, life sciences and Earth observations. The effort went so well that the mission was extended an additional day to 10 days, making it the longest duration Shuttle flight to that date. The Spacelab l mission was highly successful, having proved the feasibility of the concept of carrying out complex experiments in space using non-NASA persons trained as payload specialists in collaboration with a POCC. Moreover, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, now fully operational, was able to relay vasts amounts of data through its ground terminal to the POCC.

Computer Problems

During orbiter orientation, four hours before re-entry, one of the GPC guidance computers crashed when the RCS thrusters were fired. A few minutes later, a second crashed in a similar fashion, but was successfully rebooted. Young delayed the landing, letting the orbiter drift. He later testified: `Had we then activated the Backup Flight Software, loss of vehicle and crew would have resulted.' Post-flight analysis revealed the GPCs failed when the RCS thruster motion knocked a piece of solder loose and shorted out the CPU board. Columbia landed on Runway 17 at Edwards AFB, on Dec. 8, 1983, at 3:47 p.m. PST, completing 166 orbits and traveling 4.3 million miles. Columbia was ferried back to KSC on Dec. 15.

Mission insignia

The major Spacelab 1 is depicted in the cargo bay of the Columbia. The nine stars and the path of the orbiter tell the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

External links

- [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-9.htm NASA PAO page about STS-9]
- [http://members.aol.com/WSNTWOYOU/STS9MR.HTM STS-9 Mission Report]
- [http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/8.13.html#subj3 Risks Digest 8.13 on computer problems on early Shuttle flights]

Previous mission:
STS-8

Space Shuttle program

Next mission:
STS-41-B

STS-009 STS-009

STS-4

Mission insignia

250px
Mission statistics
Mission:	STS-4
Shuttle:	Columbia
Launch pad:	39-A
Launch:	June 27, 1982 11:00:00 a.m. EDT
Landing:	July 4, 1982 9:09:31 a.m. PDT
Duration:	7 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes, 31 seconds.
Orbit altitude:	197 nautical miles (365 km)
Orbit inclination:	28.5 degrees
Distance traveled:	2,900,000 miles (4,700,000 km)
Crew photo
1982

STS-4 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle Columbia, launched June 27, 1982. This was the fourth space shuttle mission, and was also the fourth mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Crew

- Commander: Thomas K. Mattingly (flew on Apollo 16, STS-4, & STS-51-C)
- Pilot: Henry W. Hartsfield (flew on STS-4, STS-41-D, & STS-61-A)

Backup Crew

From STS-4 onwards, NASA halted the appointment and training of complete backup flight crews. Instead, individual flight crew members may have designated backups who could take their place within the prime crew. The decision on whether to appoint a reserve crew member is made on a per-flight basis by flight management teams at Johnson Space Center. Consequently, the last NASA flight crew to have a full-time backup crew was STS-3.

Mission parameters

- Mass:
- Orbiter Liftoff: 109,616 kg
- Orbiter Landing: 94,774 kg
- Payload: 11,109 kg
- Perigee: 295 km
- Apogee: 302 km
- Inclination: 28.5°
- Period: 90.3 min

Mission highlights

This mission marked the first time the Space Shuttle was launched precisely at its scheduled launch time. It also was the last research and development flight in the program. Liftoff took place on June 27, 1982, at 11:00 a.m. EST, with Thomas K. Mattingly as commander, and Henry W. Hartsfield as pilot. Its cargo consisted of the first Getaway Special payloads which included nine scientific experiments provided by students from Utah State University, and a classified Air Force payload. In the middeck, a Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor were flown for the second time. The crew conducted a lightning survey with handheld cameras, and performed medical experiments on themselves for two student projects. They also operated the RMS with an instrument called the Induced Environment Contamination Monitor mounted on its end designed to obtain information on gases or particles being released by the orbiter in flight. STS-4 was a planned 7-day mission and landing occurred on July 4, 1982, at 9:10 a.m. PDT, on the 15,000 ft (4.6 km) concrete Runway 22 at Edwards AFB -- the first Shuttle landing on a concrete runway. The flight lasted 7 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes, 40 seconds. Distance traveled was 2.9 million miles (4.7 million km) in 112 complete orbits. All mission objectives were achieved, although the two SRBs were lost when their main parachutes failed causing the empty casings to hit the water at high speeds and sink. The Columbia was returned to KSC on July 15.

External links

- [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/shuttle/missions/sts-4/mission-sts-4.html STS-4 Shuttle Mission]
- [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-4.htm STS-4 Mission Chronology]

Previous mission:
STS-3

Space Shuttle program

Next mission:
STS-5

STS-004 STS-004

Charles Moss Duke, Jr.

lunar module pilot Charles Moss Duke, Jr.]] Charles Moss Duke, Jr. (born 3 October 1935), (Brigadier General, USAF, Retired) was a United States astronaut for NASA. He is one of only twelve men who have walked on the moon. Duke is married to the former Dorothy Meade Claiborne, and has two sons, Charles III born in 1965 and Thomas born in 1967, and five grandchildren. He and his wife reside in New Braunfels, Texas.

Personal Data

Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 3, 1935. Married to the former Dorothy Meade Clairborne of Atlanta, Georgia. They have two grown sons. Recreational interests include hunting, fishing, reading, and playing golf.

Education

Attended Lancaster High School in Lancaster, South Carolina, and graduated valedictorian from the Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1953. Duke received a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Sciences from the United States Naval Academy in 1957 and a Master's degree in Aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. In 1973 he was presented an honorary doctorate of Philosophy from the University of South Carolina. Duke received an honorary doctorate of Humanities from Francis Marion University in 1990.

Special Honors

- NASA Distinguished Service Medal
- JSC Certificate of Commendation in 1970
- Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with Oak leaf cluster
- Air Force Legion of Merit
- Air Force Command Pilot Astronaut Wings
- Society of Experimental Test Pilots' Iven C. Kincheloe Award of 1972
- American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award for 1972
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Haley Astronautics Award for 1973
- Fédération Aéronautique Internationale V.M. Komarov Diploma in 1973
- named South Carolina Man of the Year in 1973
- inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 1973
- presented the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1975.
- Texas Science Hall of Fame in 2000

Organizations

- NASA Advisory Council, At Large Member 1998-2000
- Air Force Association
- Society of Experimental Test Pilots
- Reserve Officer Association
- USNA Alumni Association
- Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship
- Christian Businessmen's Committee
- International Fellowship of Christian Businessmen
- Explorers Club
- National Space Society
- Young Astronaut Council, Former Director

Experience

Duke was commissioned upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1957. Entering the Air Force, he went to Spence Air Base in Georgia for primary flight training, then to Webb Air Force Base in Texas for basic flying training, where he graduated with distinction in 1958. Duke completed advanced training on the F-86 Sabre aircraft at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, where he is a distinguished graduate. After completion of this training, Duke served three years as a fighter interceptor pilot with the 526th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. He has logged 4,147 hours flying time, which includes 3,632 hours in jet aircraft. Germany

NASA Experience

After graduating from the Aerospace Research Pilot School in September 1965, Duke stayed on as an instructor teaching control systems and flying in the F-101 Voodoo, F-104 Starfighter, and T-33 Shooting Star aircraft. In April 1966 he was one of the 19 selected for NASA's fifth group of astronauts. In 1969 Duke was a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 10. He then served as capcom for Apollo 11, the first landing on the Moon, where his distinctive southern drawl became familiar to viewers around the world. Duke was backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 13, however shortly before the mission he caught German measles from a friend's child and inadvertently exposed the prime crew to the disease. As Ken Mattingly had no natural immunity to the disease, Mattingly was then replaced as command module pilot by Jack Swigert. Duke served as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972 where he and John W. Young landed at the Descartes Highlands and conducted three EVAs, making Duke the tenth man to walk upon the surface of the Moon. He also served as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 17. He logged 265 hours in space, plus 21 hours and 28 minutes of extra vehicular activity.

Space Flight Experience

Apollo 16 (April 16 - 27 1972) was launched from John F. Kennedy Space Center and was the fifth manned lunar landing mission. The crew consisted of John W. Young as spacecraft commander, Ken Mattingly as command module pilot, and Duke as lunar module pilot. Apollo 16 was the first scientific expedition to inspect, survey, and sample materials and surface features in the Descartes region of the rugged lunar highlands. Duke commenced the record setting lunar surface stay of 71 hours and 14 minutes by maneuvering the lunar module Orion to a landing on the rough Cayley Plains. In three subsequent excursions onto the lunar surface, he logged 20 hours and 15 minutes in extravehicular activities involving the emplacement and activation of scientific equipment and experiments, the collection of nearly 213 lbs (96 kg) of rock and soil samples, and the evaluation and use of Rover-2 over the roughest and blockiest surface yet encountered on the moon. Other Apollo 16 achievements included the largest payload placed in lunar orbit (76,109 lbs or 34,595 kg); first cosmic ray detector deployed on the lunar surface; first lunar observatory with the far UV camera; and longest in-flight EVA from a command module during transearth coast (1 hour and 13 minutes). The Apollo 16 mission was concluded with a Pacific Ocean splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS Ticonderoga.

Post NASA

Duke retired from NASA in December 1975 to enter private business in San Antonio, Texas. That same year he entered the Air Force Reserves where he worked in recruiting. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1979 and in June 1986 retired from the military. Currently he is the president of Charlie Duke Enterprises and owner of Duke Investments. Having become a Christian lay witness, he is also the head of the Duke Ministry For Christ. Duke is an active motivational and inspirational speaker, bringing 40 years of experience as an entrepreneur, business executive, military officer, and astronaut to the speaker's platform.

Sources and external links

- [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/duke-cm.html Official NASA biography 12/1994]
- Moonwalker by Charlie & Dotty Duke, published by Thomas Nelson Inc, April 1990, ISBN 0840791062
- [http://www.charlieduke.net/ Official website of Charlie Duke] Duke, Charles Moss Jr. Duke, Charles Moss Jr. Duke, Charles Moss Jr. Duke, Charles Moss Jr.

Fred Haise

Fred Wallace Haise, Jr. (pronounced "hayes")(born November 14 1933 in Biloxi, Mississippi) was a NASA astronaut. He graduated with honors in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1959. He completed post graduate courses in the USAF Aerospace Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1964 and the Harvard Business School PMD Program in 1972. He completed United States Navy flight training in 1954 and served as a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot. His NASA career began as an Aeronautical Research Pilot at Lewis Research Center in 1959. Further assignments were held as a Research Pilot at the NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in 1963 and as an astronaut at the Johnson Space Center in 1966. Haise was the first of the 1966 group to be assigned to Apollo duties - ahead of some group 3 members. He served as back-up crew for the Apollo 8, Apollo 11, and Apollo 16 moon missions. He also flew as the Lunar Module Pilot on the aborted Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970. He was also scheduled as crewmember for the cancelled Apollo 19 mission. He later flew five flights as the Commander of the space shuttle Enterprise in 1977 for the Approach and Landing Test Program at Edwards Air Force Base and was in-line to fly in space again as a Shuttle Commander. In 1995, Haise was portrayed by Bill Paxton in the movie Apollo 13. He was portrayed by Adam Baldwin in the miniseries From The Earth To The Moon. Haise, Fred Wallace Haise, Fred Wallace Haise, Fred Wallace Haise, Fred Wallace Haise, Fred Wallace Haise, Fred

Edgar Mitchell

Edgar D. Mitchell (born September 17, 1930) was the sixth man to walk on the moon. He did this with Alan Shepard as part of the Apollo 14 mission on February 9 1971. The mission was NASA's third manned moon landing. Mitchell obtained a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. He also has two Bachelor of Science degrees, one from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and one from Carnegie Mellon University. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the New Mexico State University, the University of Akron, Carnegie Mellon University and Embry-Riddle University. He began training at NASA in 1966 and served in the US Navy between 1953 and 1972. Mitchell's academic interests include consciousness and paranormal phenomena. In early 1973, he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences. The aim of the nonprofit Institute is to conduct and sponsor research into areas that mainstream science has ignored, including psychic events. As well as writing academic journals, Mitchell has written two books; Psychic Exploration (ISBN 0399113428) and The Way of the Explorer (ISBN 157270

Apollo 16

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See also

Reference

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Project Apollo

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Gemini 3

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Gemini 10

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See also

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External link

STS-1

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