Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
Apollo 4

Apollo 4

Apollo 4 was the first unmanned flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle. It was also the first flight of the S-IC and S-II stages of the rocket.

Objectives

S-II]]This was the first flight of the Saturn V, the largest launch vehicle ever constructed. It was also the first launch from Launch complex 39 specifically built for the Saturn V. As well as being the first launch of the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage, it would also be the first time that the S-IVB third stage had been restarted in Earth orbit and the first time that the Apollo spacecraft had reentered the Earth's atmosphere at speeds approaching those of a lunar return trajectory. Because of all these firsts there were 4,098 measuring instruments on board the rocket and spacecraft. This would be the first test of the all-up doctrine. It had been decided in 1963 that instead of testing each component of the rocket separately like had been done by Wernher von Braun in Germany during World War II, the rocket would be tested all at once. This cut down on cost, but meant that everything had to work properly the first time. There were two main payloads on board. CSM-017 was a production model of the spacecraft that would take the astronauts to the moon. It was a Block I spacecraft meant for testing the systems, and not the Block II spacecraft that would be actually manned. However it did feature some Block II items such as an improved heatshield and a new hatch. The other payload was LTA-10R which was a model of the Lunar Module carried as ballast but with the same mass distribution as the real thing.

The pieces arrive

World War II]The first piece of the Apollo 4 to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center was the third stage. This was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and was small enough to be transported by plane, though it was no ordinary plane, being an Aero Spacelines, Inc. Pregnant Guppy. The other stages were much larger and had to travel by barge, with the first stage arriving next from Boeing Company at Michoud, Louisiana along the Banana River. The second stage was late in arriving but the rocket was still erected in the Vertical Assembly Building, using a huge barbell shaped spool in the place of the second stage. The Command and Service Module (CSM) arrived at the Cape on Christmas Eve 1966. And the second stage arrived 12 January 1967. Only 2 weeks later the fire in the Apollo 1 spacecraft occurred pushing all the schedules back. An inspection of wiring in the CSM found 1,407 problems. The stacking of the S-II took place on 23 February. This was a precision process; supposedly the crane operators could conceivably "lower the crane hook on top of an egg without breaking the shell". The piece had to be unstacked after hairline cracks were found in another S-II. Inspection found nothing wrong with the Apollo 4 stage. The CSM was finally ready as well and on 20 June it was mated to the rocket and the whole launch vehicle rolled out of the VAB on 26 August - six months after the originally scheduled launch date. 26 August

Flight

After a testing regime that lasted two months the rocket was finally ready for launch. The propellant started being loaded on 6 November. In total there was 89 trailer-truck loads of LOX (liquid oxygen), 28 trailer loads of LH2 (liquid hydrogen), and 27 rail cars of RP-1 (refined kerosene). Although it had been known that the launch would be a sight, what happened was unexpected. The ceiling tiles in CBS newsroom that had been constructed at the Cape for the launch started to fall around Walter Cronkite. The launch was absolutely perfect and placed the S-IVB and CSM into a 185 kilometres orbit. Then after two orbits of the Earth, the S-IVB reignited for the first time in Earth orbit to put the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of more than 17,000 kilometres. The CSM then fired its own engine to send it out to 18,000 kilometres. Once it had passed the farthest point from Earth, the Service Module engine fired once again to increase the speed of the spacecraft to 40,000 kilometres per hour when it reentered the atmosphere. It landed 16 km from the target landing site but its descent was visible from the deck of the USS Bennington, the prime recovery vessel.

Cameras

Often during documentaries, footage is needed of a Saturn V launch. One of the most used pieces shows the interstage between the first and second stages falling away. Often this is attributed to the Apollo 11 mission, when in fact it was filmed on the flights of Apollo 4 and Apollo 6. Footage from Apollo 4 is even seen in the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth." The cameras filmed at high speeds causing the slow motion look of the sequence when seen in a documentary. The camera capsules were jettisoned soon after the first stage separation and though at about 200,000 feet in altitude, were still below orbital velocity. They then reentered the atmosphere and parachuted to the ocean where they floated waiting for recovery. Both S-II cameras from Apollo 4 were recovered so that there is footage from both sides of the vehicle.

Capsule location

The Command Module is on display at the NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

External links


- [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1967-113A Apollo 4 flight listing NASA NSSDC catalog]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/cover.html Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations]
- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/cover.html Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft]
- [http://www.ssc.nasa.gov/ John C. Stennis Space Center] Apollo 04

Unmanned space mission

Unmanned space missions are those using remote-controlled spacecraft. Many space missions are more suitable for unmanned missions rather than manned space missions, due to lower cost and lower risk factors. The first such mission was Sputnik I, launched October 4, 1957. Since the early 1970s, most unmanned space missions have been based on space probes with built-in mission computers, and as such may be classified as embedded systems. Some people prefer to use gender-neutral terms such as unpiloted or uncrewed space missions, although the terms are less popular than "unmanned" (as of 2005). Unmanned space missions have been flown by many countries. Most American unmanned missions have been coordinated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and European missions by the European Space Operations Centre, part of ESA (the European Space Agency). The ESA has conducted relatively few space exploration missions (one example is the Giotto mission, which encountered comet Halley). ESA has, however, launched various spacecraft to carry out astronomy, and is a collaborator with NASA on the Hubble Space Telescope. There has been a large number of very successful Russian space missions. There have also been a few Japanese,Chinese and Indian missions. Unmanned space missions may be divided into two classes: artificial satellites, which orbit the Earth, and space probes, which leave Earth's orbit to explore other worlds. See the relevant articles for more information.

See also


- geosynchronous satellite
- List of unmanned spacecraft by program
- manned space mission
- satellite
- space exploration
- space observatory
- Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
- Timeline of planetary exploration
- List of planetary probes
- Landings on other planets
- Unmanned aerial vehicle

External links


- [http://sci.esa.int/home/ourmissions/index.cfm ESA Unmanned Space Missions]
- [http://www.jpl.nasa.gov NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
- [http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com Unmanned spaceflight discussion forum] Category:Space exploration Category:Embedded systems Category:Unmanned vehicles

Saturn V

The Saturn V (popularly known as the Moon Rocket) was a multistage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs. It was the largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets, although NASA contemplated larger models (such as the Nova rocket). The rocket was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun at the Marshall Space Flight Center, with the lead contractors being The Boeing Company, North American Aviation, Douglas Aircraft Company, and IBM. On all but one of its flights, the Saturn V consisted of three stages — the S-IC first stage, S-II second stage and the S-IVB third stage. All three stages used liquid oxygen (LOX) as an oxidizer. The first stage used RP-1 for fuel, while the second and third stages used liquid hydrogen (LH2). An average mission used the rocket for a total of about 20 minutes. NASA launched thirteen Saturn V rockets from 1967 to 1973, with no loss of payload. (Although Apollo 6 and Apollo 13 did experience engine failures, the onboard computers were able to compensate with extra thrust from the remaining engines.) The main payloads of the rocket were the Apollo spacecraft which carried the NASA astronauts to the Moon. It also launched the Skylab space station, and was supposed to be the prime launch vehicle for the cancelled Voyager program Mars probes, a project later carried out by the Viking program in 1976.

Background

In the early 1960s, the Soviet Union had developed a considerable lead in the Space Race against the United States. In 1957, the Soviets had launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. And on April 12 1961, Yuri Gagarin had become the first human to travel into space. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy announced that America would try to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. At that time, the only experience the United States had with manned spaceflight was the 15 minute suborbital Freedom 7 flight of Alan Shepard. No rocket in the world could launch a spacecraft to the Moon in one piece. The Saturn I was in development, but had not yet flown, and due to its small size, it would require several launches to place in orbit all the components of a lunar spacecraft. Early in the planning process, NASA considered three leading ideas for the moon mission: Earth Orbit Rendezvous, Direct Ascent, and Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR). Although NASA at first dismissed LOR (considering that rendezvous had yet to be performed in Earth orbit, let alone in lunar orbit) in the end NASA decided that this would be the quickest and easiest method for achieving Kennedy's goal. See Choosing a mission mode for more information. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in 1960 through 1962 designed rockets that could be used for various missions, starting with the C-1, which they would later develop into the Saturn I. The C-2 rocket never got very far in the design process before MSFC dropped it in favour of the C-3, using 2 F-1 engines on its first stage, 4 J-2 engines for its second stage, and an S-IV stage, using six RL-10 engines. NASA planned to use this rocket as part of the Earth Orbit Rendezvous concept with at least four or five launches needed for a single mission. However, MSFC was planning an even bigger rocket, the C-4. This would use the S-IVB, a stage with a single J-2 engine. The first stage of the C-4 would also use four F-1 engines. The second stage would be an enlarged version of the second stage of the C-3. This rocket would need only two launches to carry out an Earth Orbit Rendezvous mission. On January 10, 1962, NASA announced plans to build the C-5. This would have five F-1 engines on its first stage, five J-2 engines on its second stage and an S-IVB third stage. The first four flights would be tests, successively testing the three stages, with the last test flight an unmanned circumlunar mission. The first manned flight would not be until 1969 (though, in the end, the first manned flight occurred in December 1968). In the middle of 1962, NASA decided to use an all-up testing scheme, with all three stages tested at once on the very first launch. This would shorten the testing and development timeline, but mean that all the stages would have to work perfectly. It would also reduce the required number of rockets from 25 to 15. In 1963, the C-5 was renamed Saturn V. Also in 1963, Rocketdyne produced the first engines. In 1966, the F-1 passed NASA's first article configuration inspection with complete qualification for manned missions coming on September 6. After intensive design and testing of several years, the rocket was first launched on November 9, 1967 with the Apollo 4 unmanned spacecraft on board.

Technology

The Saturn V is arguably one of the most impressive machines in human history. Over 110 m high and 10 m in diameter, with a total mass of three thousand metric tons and a payload capacity of 118,000 kg to LEO, the Saturn V dwarfed and overpowered all other previous rockets which had successfully flown. It gives a good idea of the scale of Saturn V to note that, at 364 feet, it is just one foot shorter than St Paul's Cathedral in London. Saturn V was designed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It used the new powerful F-1 and J-2 rocket engines for propulsion. Designers decided early on to attempt to use as much technology from the Saturn I program as possible. As such, the S-IVB third stage of the Saturn V was based on the S-IV second stage of the Saturn I. The instrument unit that controlled the Saturn V shared characteristics with that carried by the Saturn I.

Stages

S-IV Saturn V consisted of three separate stages and the instrument unit, which were developed by various contractors of NASA. Interestingly all three stage contractors are now owned by Boeing through mergers and takeovers. All three stages also used small solid-fuelled ullage motors that helped to separate the stages during the launch, and to ensure that the liquid propellants were in a proper position to be drawn into the pumps. In the event of an abort requiring the destruction of the rocket, the range safety officer would send the signal for shaped explosive charges attached to the outer surfaces of the rocket to detonate. These would make cuts in fuel and oxidizer tanks to disperse the fuel quickly and to minimise mixing. After the Launch Escape Tower had been jettisoned the charges were made safe.

S-IC first stage

Launch Escape Tower on February 1, 1968]] The S-IC was built by The Boeing Company at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, where the Space Shuttle External Tanks are now constructed. As with almost every rocket stage, most of its mass of over two thousand metric tonnes at launch was fuel, in this case RP-1 rocket fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. It was 42 meters tall and 10 meters in diameter, and provided 33.4 MN of thrust to get the rocket through the first 61 kilometers of ascent. The five F-1 engines were arranged in a cross pattern. The center engine was fixed, while the four on the outer ring could be hydraulically turned to control the rocket.

S-II second stage

The S-II was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California. Using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, it had five J-2 engines in a similar arrangement to the S-IC. The second stage accelerated the Saturn V through the upper atmosphere with 5 MN of thrust. When loaded with propellant, 97% of the weight of the stage was propellant. Instead of having an intertank structure to separate the two fuel tanks as was done in the S-IC, the S-II used a common bulkhead that was constructed from both the top of the LOX tank and bottom of the LH2 tank. It consisted of two aluminium sheets separated by a honeycomb structure made of phenol. This had to insulate against the 70 °C temperature difference between the two tanks. The use of a common bulkhead saved 3.6 tonnes in weight. phenol

S-IVB third stage

The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. It had one J-2 engine and used the same fuel as the S-II. This stage was used twice during the mission: first for the orbit insertion after second stage cutoff, and later for the trans lunar injection (TLI) burn. The S-IVB also used a common bulkhead to insulate the two tanks. The S-IVB was the only rocket stage of the Saturn V small enough to be transported by plane, in this case the Super Guppy. Apart from the interstage adapter, this stage is nearly identical to the second stage of the Saturn IB rocket.

Instrument unit

The Saturn V Instrument Unit was built by IBM and rode atop the third stage. It was constructed at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville. This computer controlled the operations of the rocket from just before liftoff until the S-IVB was discarded. It included guidance and telemetry systems for the rocket. By measuring the acceleration and vehicle attitude, it could calculate the position and velocity of the rocket and correct for any deviations.

Comparisons

telemetry.]] The Soviet counterpart of the Saturn V was the N1 rocket. It was even bigger than the Saturn V, but never even made it to first stage separation successfully. The decision to use five very powerful engines for the first stage of Saturn V resulted in a much more reliable configuration than the 30 smaller engines of the N-1. During two launches, Apollo 6 and Apollo 13, the Saturn V was even able to recover from the loss of engines. The three-stage Saturn V had a peak thrust of 33.4 MN and a lift capacity of 118,000 kg to LEO. A few newer rockets have been able to challenge the records set by Saturn V:
- The Soviet Energia was even more powerful than the Saturn V, delivering 46 MN of thrust and able to deliver up to 175 metric tonnes to LEO in the "Vulkan" configuration. It never flew at this capacity, and it was only launched twice (both times successfully).
- The Space Shuttle generates a peak thrust of 34.8 MN, although payload capacity to LEO (excl. Shuttle Orbiter itself) is only 28,800 kg. The European Ariane 5 with the newest versions Ariane 5 ECA delivers up to 12,000 kg to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The US Delta 4 Heavy, which launched a dummy satellite on December 21, 2004, has a capacity of 13,100 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Atlas V rocket (using engines based on a Russian design) delivers up to 25,000 kg to LEO and 13,605 kg to GTO.

Assembly

Atlas V rocketAfter the construction of a stage was completed, it was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center. The first two stages were so large that the only way to transport them was by barge. The S-IC constructed in New Orleans was transported down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. After rounding Florida, it was then transported up the Banana River to the Vertical Assembly Building (now called the Vehicle Assembly Building). The S-II was constructed in California and so travelled via the Panama Canal. The third stage and Instrument Unit could be carried by the Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy and Super Guppy. On arrival at Vertical Assembly Building, each stage was checked out in a horizontal position before being moved to a vertical position. NASA also constructed large spool shaped structures that could be used in place of stages if a particular stage was late. These spools had the same height and mass and contained the same electrical connections as the actual stages. NASA decided to use a mobile launch tower, or "crawler", built by Marion Power Shovel of Ohio. This meant that the rocket was constructed on the launch pad in the VAB and then the whole structure was moved out to the launch site by the crawler, which is still used today by the Space Shuttle program. It runs on four double tracked treads, with each 'shoe' weighing 900 kg. This transporter had to keep the rocket level as it travelled the 3 miles (5 km) to the launch site.

Lunar mission launch sequence

The Saturn V carried the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. All Saturn V missions launched from Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center. After the rocket cleared the launch tower, mission control transferred to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

S-IC sequence

The first stage burned for 2.5 minutes, lifting the rocket to an altitude of 61 kilometers and a speed of 8600 km/h and burning 2,000,000 kg of propellant. Houston, Texas Saturn V encountered Maximum Dynamic Pressure (Max Q) at about 1 minute 20 seconds into the flight (altitude 12.5 km, 4 km downrange, velocity 1,600 km/h).]] At 8.9 seconds before launch, the first stage ignition sequence started. The center engine ignited first, followed by opposing outboard pairs at 300-millisecond stagger times to reduce the structural loads on the rocket. The moment that full thrust had been confirmed by the onboard computers, the rocket was 'soft-released' in two stages: first, the hold-down arms released the rocket, and second, as the rocket began to accelerate upwards, it was held back somewhat by tapered metal pins being pulled through holes. The latter lasted for half a second. Once the rocket had lifted off, it could not safely settle back down onto the pad if the engines failed. It took about 6 seconds for the rocket to clear the tower. As it moved past the tower, the rocket yawed away to ensure adequate clearance, in case of adverse winds or engine failures. At an altitude of 130 meters (430 feet) the rocket began to roll and then pitch to the correct azimuth. From launch until 38 seconds after second stage ignition, the Saturn V would fly a preprogrammed pitch program biased for the prevailing winds during the launch month. The four outboard engines also tilted away from the center, so that if one engine had shut down early, the thrust of the remaining engines would have been towards the rocket's center of gravity. The Saturn V quickly accelerated, reaching 500 m/s at 2 km in altitude. Much of the early portion of the flight was spent gaining altitude, with the required velocity coming later. At about 80 seconds, the rocket reached the point of the flight with the maximum dynamic pressure ("Max Q"). The dynamic pressure on a rocket is proportional to the air pressure around the rocket and the square of the speed. Although the speed is increasing, the air pressure is decreasing as the rocket gets higher. At 135.5 seconds, the center engine shut down to reduce the acceleration loads on the rocket, since it became lighter as fuel was used. The F-1 engine was not throttlable so this was the easiest method. The crew also experienced their greatest acceleration, 4 g (39 m/s²), just before first stage cut off. The other engines continued to burn until either the oxidizer or fuel was depleted as measured by sensors in the suction assemblies. 600 milliseconds after the engine cutoff, the first stage separated with the help of the eight solid-retrorockets. This occurred at an altitude of about 62 km. The first stage continued to an altitude of 110 km, then fell in the Atlantic Ocean about 560 km from the launch pad.

S-II sequence

Atlantic Ocean After the S-IC sequence, the S-II second stage burned for 6 minutes and propelled the craft to 185 km and 24,600 km/h, bringing it close to orbital velocity. The second stage had a two-part ignition process. In the first part, eight solid-fuel ullage motors ignited for four seconds to give positive acceleration, followed by the five J-2 engines. In the second part, about 30 seconds after the first stage separated, the aft interstage separated from the second stage. This was a precisely controlled maneuver as the interstage could not be allowed to touch the engines and had a clearance of only one meter. At the same time as the interstage separated, the Launch Escape System was jettisoned. See Apollo abort modes for more information about the various abort modes that could have been used during a launch. About 38 seconds after the second stage ignition, the control guidance of the Saturn V switched from a preprogrammed pitch routine to Iterative Guidance Mode, controlled by the Instrument Unit, based on accelerometers and altitude sensors. If the Instrument Unit took the rocket outside allowed limits the crew could either abort or take control of the rocket using one of the rotational hand controllers in the capsule. About 90 seconds before the second stage cutoff, the center engine shut down to reduce longitudinal pogo oscillations. A pogo suppressor, first flown on Apollo 14, stopped this pogo motion but the center engine was still shutdown early. At around this time, the LOX flow rate decreased, changing the mix ratio of the two propellants, ensuring that there would be as little propellant as possible left in the tanks at the end of second stage flight. This was done at a predetermined delta-v. There were five sensors in the bottom of each tank of the S-II. When two of these were uncovered, the Instrument Unit would initiate the staging sequence. One second after the second stage cut off it separated and a tenth of a second later the third stage ignited. The S-II impacted about 4200 km from the launch site.

S-IVB sequence

The third stage burned for a further 2.5 minutes, about 12 minutes after launch. The third stage remained attached while the spacecraft orbited the Earth two and a half times in a 'parking orbit' while astronauts examined the spacecraft and rocket to make sure everything functioned nominally. Unlike with the previous separation, there was no two-stage separation. The interstage between the second and third stages remained attached to the second stage (although it was constructed as part of the third stage). By 10 minutes 30 seconds into the launch, the Saturn V was 164 km in altitude and 1700 km downrange from the launch site. After about 5 more minutes of burning, the rocket cut off. The spacecraft was now in an orbit of about 1800 km by 165 km. This is quite low by Earth orbit standards and would not have remained stable for very long due to interaction between the spacecraft and the Earth's atmosphere. For the two Earth orbit missions of the Saturn V, Apollo 9 and Skylab, the orbit would have been higher. The next two and a half orbits were spent checking out the systems of the spacecraft and preparing the spacecraft for Trans Lunar Injection (TLI). Trans Lunar Injection TLI came about 2 and a half hours after launch, when the third stage reignited to propel the spacecraft to the Moon. The S-IVB burned for almost 6 minutes so that the total spacecraft velocity at cutoff was over 10 km/s, escape velocity. A couple of hours after TLI the Apollo Command Service Module (CSM) separated from the third stage, turned 180 degrees, and docked with the Lunar Module (LM) which rode below the CSM during launch. The CSM and LM then separated from the third stage. If it were to remain on the same trajectory as the spacecraft, the booster could have presented a hazard later in the mission, so the remaining propellant in its tanks was vented out of the engine, changing its trajectory. For third stages from Apollo 13 onwards, controllers directed it to impact the Moon. Seismometers left behind by previous missions detected the impacts, and the information helped map the inside of the Moon. Before that, the stages (except Apollo 9 and Apollo 12) were directed towards a flyby of the Moon that sent them into a solar orbit. Apollo 9s S-IVB was put directly into a solar orbit. Apollo 12s S-IVB stage, on the other hand, had a different fate. On September 3, 2002, Bill Yeung discovered a suspected asteroid which he gave the temporary designation J002E3. It appeared to be in orbit around the Earth, and was soon discovered from spectral analysis to be covered in white titanium dioxide paint, the same paint used for the Saturn V. Although the third stages from Apollo 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 all went into solar orbits, it was decided that the most plausible explanation was that it was the S-IVB stage from Apollo 12. Mission controllers had planned to send it into orbit around the Sun after a flyby of the Moon but the burn after separating from the Apollo spacecraft lasted too long putting it into a barely-stable orbit around the Earth and Moon. In 1971 through a series of gravitational perturbations it is thought to have entered in a solar orbit and then returned to orbit the Earth 31 years later. It left Earth orbit in June 2003.

Later use of Saturn V systems

2003 in place of the third stage.]] The only launch of the Saturn V not related to the Apollo program was the launch of the Skylab space station. In 1968, the Apollo Applications Program was created to look into science missions that could be performed with the surplus Apollo hardware. Much of the planning centered on the idea of a space station. Originally it was planned to use the 'wet workshop' concept where a rocket stage was launched into orbit and then outfitted in space. This idea was abandoned for the 'dry workshop' concept where a S-IVB stage was converted into a space station on the ground and launched on a Saturn V. In this case of Skylab itself, this S-IVB came from a Saturn IB, with a backup constructed from a Saturn V third stage. This backup is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum. Three crews lived aboard Skylab from May 25, 1973 to February 8, 1974, with Skylab lasting in orbit until May 1979. It was hoped that Skylab would stay in orbit long enough to be visited by the Space Shuttle during its first few flights. This could have raised the orbit and been used as a base for future space stations. However the Shuttle didn't fly until 1981 and it is now realised that Skylab would have been of little use as it was not designed to be refurbished and replenished with supplies. The Space Shuttle was initially conceived of as a cargo transport to be used in concert with the Saturn V. The Shuttle would handle space station logistics, while Saturn V would launch components. Lack of funding for a second Saturn V production run killed this plan and has left the United States without a heavy-lift booster. Some in the U.S. space community have come to lament this situation, as continued production would have allowed the International Space Station to have been lifted with just a handful of launches. Wernher von Braun and others also had plans for a rocket that would have featured eight F-1 engines in its first stage allowing it to launch a manned spacecraft on a direct ascent flight to the Moon. Other plans for the Saturn V called for using a Centaur as an upper stage or adding strap-on boosters. These enhancements would have increased its ability to send large unmanned spacecraft to the outer planets or manned spacecraft to Mars. The second production run of Saturn Vs (had it happened) would very likely have used the F-1A engine in its first stage, providing a substantial performance boost over the first run. Other likely changes would have been the removal of the fins, since they turned out to provide little benefit when compared to their weight; a stretched S-IC first stage to support the more powerful F-1As; and uprated J-2s for the upper stages. Saturn V was also to be the launch vehicle for the nuclear rocket stage RIFT test program and the later NERVA. U.S. proposals for a rocket larger than the Saturn V from the late 1950s through the early 1980s were generally called Nova. Over thirty different large rocket proposals carried the Nova name. As of 2005, NASA has plans to build a heavy-lift, Saturn V-class Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle using two five-segment versions of the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster (SRB) clustered togeter with either five Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) or three RS-68 rocket engines currently in use on the Delta IV rocket. This will use current technology, as the SSME engines are more efficient than the F-1 or J-2 engines, and allow NASA to return to the Moon by 2020. The only Saturn-derived engine, the J-2, will be used on the new vehicle as the J-2S, which may be used on the manned Crew Exploration Vehicle launcher in place of a single SSME, and on the upper stage (known as the "Earth Escape Stage") on the SDLV Heavy Boooster.

Cost

From 1964 until 1973, a total of $US6.5 billion was appropriated for the Saturn V, with the maximum being in 1966 with $US1.2 billion. [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_18-16_Apollo_Program_Budget_Appropriations.htm] One of the main reasons for the cancellation of the Apollo program was the cost. In 1966, NASA received its highest budget of $US4.5 billion, about 0.5% of the GDP of the United States at that time. In the same year, the Department of Defense received $63.5 billion. [http://www.house.gov/hasc/about/DODDbudgetauth.html]

Saturn V vehicles and launches

Department of Defense Currently there are three Saturn Vs on display, all displayed horizontally:
- At the Johnson Space Center made up of first stage of SA-514, the second stage from SA-515 and the third stage from SA-513.
- At the Kennedy Space Center made up of S-IC-T (test stage) and the second and third stages from SA-514.
- At the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama made up of S-IC-D, S-II-F/D and S-IVB-D (all test stages not meant for actual flight). Of these three, only the one at the Johnson Space Center consists only of stages that were meant to be launched. The US Space & Rocket Center also has on display an erect full scale model of the Saturn V. The first stage from SA-515 resides at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana and the third stage was converted for use as backup Skylab and is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum. A popular, [http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/saturn_five_000313.html untrue] urban legend, started in 1996, states that NASA has lost or destroyed the blueprints or other plans for the Saturn V. In fact, the plans still exist on microfilm at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Media

External links

NASA sites


- [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ Apollo Lunar Surface Journal]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19710065502_1971065502.pdf Saturn launch vehicles (PDF)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19700076250_1970076250.pdf Launch complex 39 facility description (PDF)]

Non-NASA sites


- [http://www.apollosaturn.com Apollo Saturn Reference Page]
- [http://www.apolloarchive.com Project Apollo Archive]
- [http://www.geocities.com/launchreport/satstg5.html Space Vehicle History]

Simulators


- [http://www.SaturnVExplorer.com 3D Saturn V Explorer and Launch Simulation Program]
- [http://sourceforge.net/projects/nassp/ Saturn V/Saturn IB simulation for Orbiter spaceflight sim]

References


- Bilstein, Roger E. (1980). Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. NASA SP-4206. ISBN 0-16-048909-1.
  - Available for reading on-line: [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/sp4206.htm HTML] or [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19970009949_1997011911.pdf PDF]
  - and in softcover through the U.S. Government Printing Office: http://history.nasa.gov/gpo/order.html (also published by University Press of Florida, 2003 ISBN 0813026911)
- Saturn illustrated chronology: Saturn's first eleven years, April 1957 - April 1968. [http://history.nasa.gov/MHR-5/contents.htm HTML] or [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740004382_1974004382.pdf PDF]
- Moonport: A history of Apollo launch facilities and operations. [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/cover.html HTML] or [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790003956_1979003956.pdf PDF] (published by University Press of Florida in two volumes: Gateway to the Moon: Building the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex, 2001, ISBN 0813020913 and Moon Launch!: A History of the Saturn-Apollo Launch Operations, 2001 ISBN 0813020948
- Apollo By The Numbers: A Statistical Reference. [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_00_Welcome.htm HTML] or [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20010008244_2001006037.pdf PDF] (published by Government Reprints Press, 2001, ISBN 1931641005)
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19900066482_1990066482.pdf Saturn 5 launch vehicle flight evaluation report: AS-501 Apollo 4 mission (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19900066486_1990066486.pdf Saturn 5 launch vehicle flight evaluation report: AS-508 Apollo 13 mission (PDF format)]
- [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19750063889_1975063889.pdf Saturn V Flight Manual - SA-503 (PDF format)]
- [http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/saturnv_press_kit.html Saturn V Press Kit]
- [http://myweb.accessus.net/~090/as13.html Excerpts from the Apollo 13 Transcript]
- Lawrie, Alan, Saturn, Collectors Guide Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1894959191
- DVDs The Mighty Saturns: Saturn V and The Mighty Saturns: The Saturn I and IB produced by Spacecraft Films [http://www.spacecraftfilms.com/index.html] Category:Space launch vehicles Category:Apollo program

S-IC

The S-IC was the first stage of the Saturn V rocket. The S-IC first stage was built by The Boeing Company. Like the first stages of most rockets, most of its mass of over two thousand metric tonnes at launch was fuel, in this case RP-1 rocket fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. It was 42 meters tall and 10 meters in diameter, and provided 33,000 kN of thrust to get the rocket through the first 61 kilometers of ascent. Of the five F-1 engines, one was fixed in the center, while the four on the outer ring could be hydraulically turned to control the rocket.

Manufacturing

The Boeing Company was awarded the contract to manufacture the S-IC on December 15, 1961. By this time the general design of the stage had been decided on by the engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The main place of manufacture was the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. Wind tunnel testing took place in Seattle and the machining of the tools needed to build the stages at Wichita, Kansas. MSFC built the first three test stages (S-IC-T, the S-IC-S, and the S-IC-F) and the first two flight models (S-IC-1 and -2). They were built using tools produced in Wichita. It took roughly 7 to 9 months to built the tanks and 14 months to complete a stage. The first stage built by Boeing was S-IC-D, a test model.

Components

KansasThe largest and heavist portion of the S-IC was the thrust structure, weighing 21 metric tons. It was designed to support the thrust of the five engines and redistribute it evenly across the base of the rocket. There were four anchors which held down the rocket as it built thrust. These were among the largest aluminum forgings produced in the U.S. at the time 4.3 meters long and 816 kilograms in weight. The four stabilising fins withstood a temperature of 1100 °C. Kansas Next upwards was the fuel tank. This contained the 770,000 liters of the RP-1 fuel. The tank itself had a mass of 11 metric tons dry and could release 7300 liters per second. In order to stop the fuel settling nitrogen was bubbled through the tank to stir the fuel. During flight the fuel was pressurized using helium, that was stored in tanks in the liquid oxygen tank above. Between the fuel and liquid oxygen tanks was the intertank. The liquid oxygen tank held 204,000 liters of LOX. It raised special issues for the designer. The lines through which the LOX ran to the engine had to be straight and therefore had to pass through the fuel tank. This meant insulating these lines inside a tunnel to stop fuel freezing to the outside and also meant five extra holes in the top of the fuel tank.

Stages Built

References


- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/sp4206.htm Stages to Saturn]
- [http://www.apollosaturn.com/ Apollo Saturn Reference Page] Category:Apollo program

S-II

The S-II was the second stage of the Saturn V rocket. It was built by North American Aviation. Using liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) it had five J-2 engines in a cross pattern. The second stage accelerated the Saturn V through the upper atmosphere with 5 MN of thrust.

History

liquid hydrogenThe beginning of the S-II came in December of 1959 when a committee recommended the design and construction of a high-thrust, liquid hydrogen fueled engine. The contract for this engine was given to Rocketdyne and it would be later called the J-2. At the same time the S-II stage design began to take shape. Initially it was to have four J-2 engines and be 22.5 meters in length and 6.5 meters in diameter. In 1961 the Marshall Space Flight Center began the process to find the contractor to build the stage. Out of the 30 aerospace companies invited to a conference where the initial requirements were laid out, only 7 submitted proposals a month later. Three of these were eliminated after their proposals had been investigated. However it was then decided that the initial specifications for the entire rocket were too small and so it was decided to increase the size of the stages used. This raised difficulties for the four remaining companies as NASA had still not yet decided on various aspects of the stage including size, and the upper stages that would be placed on top. In the end on 11 September 1961 the contract was awarded to North American Aviation (who were also awarded the contract for the Apollo Command/Service Module), with the manufacturing plant built by the government at Seal Beach, California.

Configuration

CaliforniaWhen fully loaded with fuel, the S-II had a mass of about 500,000 kg. The rocket stage itself made up only 3% of this, with the rest being the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. At the bottom of the stage was the thrust structure that supported the five J-2 engines. The center engine was fixed, while the other four were gimballed. Instead of using a intertank structure like the S-IC, the S-II used a common bulkhead that included both the top of the LOX tank and bottom of the LH2 tank. It consisted of two aluminium sheets separated by a honeycomb structure made of phenol. This had to insulate against the 70 °C (125 °F) temperature difference between the two tanks. The use of a common bulkhead saved 3.6 tonnes in weight. The LOX tank was an ellipsoidal container 10 meter diameter and 6.7 meter height. It was formed by welding 12 gores, large triangular sections, together along with two circular pieces at the top and bottom. The gores were formed using a method of underwater explosions. The gore was positioned in a 211,000 liter tank of water and this specially placed explosions would shape the metal. Three sets of explosions were required per gore. The LH2 tank was a made of six cylinders, five of which were 2.4 meters high and the sixth only 0.69 meter high. The main issue that was found in designing and contructing the LH2 tank was the insulation. As liquid hydrogen in only a about 20 °C above absolute zero it was necessary for the insulation to work extremely well. The initial ideas did not work well with bonding issues and air pockets forming between the tank and the insulation. In the end it was decided to simply spray the insulation on by hand and then cut of the excess. The S-II was constructed vertically in Seal Beach as this made the welding easier and insured that the large circular sections remained in the correct shape.

Stages Built

References


- [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/sp4206.htm Stages to Saturn]
- [http://www.apollosaturn.com/ Apollo Saturn Reference Page] Category:Apollo program

Launch complex 39

Launch Complex 39 actually refers to LC39A and LC39B at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA, which are currently launch pads for the space shuttle.

History

Prior to the construction of the complex, State Road A1A ran east of the complex. Along this rural ocean road was the Chester Shoals Coast Guard Station. The initial design of the launch complex contained 5 pads that were evenly space 8700 feet apart to avoid damage in the event of a pad explosion. 3 were scheduled for construction (shown), 2 reserved for future use (1 shown). The numbering of the pads at the time was from north to south, with the northern most being LC39A, and the southern being LC39C. LC39A was never built, and LC39C became LC39A in 1963. With today's numbering, LC39C would be north of LC39B. LC39D (visible as an outline on the photograph to the right) would have been due west of LC39C. LC39E (not shown) would due north of the mid-distance between LC39C and LC39D, with LC39E forming the top of a triangle, and equidistant from LC39C and LC39D. Today, crawler way stubs are visible that would lead to these pads. The stubs are located 1 mile west of LC39A, and 1.5 south of LC39B. [http://www.terraserverusa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=13&Z=17&X=335&Y=1977&W=1&qs=%7claunch+complex+39%7cFlorida%7c TerraServer Image] The accompanying map also shows the unbuilt Nuclear Assembly Building (NAB). The pads were previously used for launches of the Saturn V rocket for the Project Apollo moon missions. The original structure of the pads were remodeled for the needs of the shuttle, first starting with LC39A after the last Saturn V launch, which carried Skylab, in 1973, and in 1977 for LC39B after the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. LC39 during the Apollo era were just launchpads - the umblical/service towers were attached to the launch platform--the only modification made was the so-called "milkstool" which allowed the Saturn IB rocket to use the Saturn V launch tower. For the shuttle, the pad has a fixed tower (leftover from the Apollo-Saturn era) and a rotating service platform, used to protect the Shuttle Orbiter and to install vertically-handled payloads into the payload bay. The first use of LC39 came in 1967 with the first Saturn V launch, carrying the unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft. LC39B was used for the unmanned Apollo 6 mission, with LC39A being used for Apollo 8, the first manned lunar flight. With the exception of Apollo 10, which used LC39B (due to NASA's all-up program, resulting in a two-month turnaround between missions), all Apollo launches, commencing with Apollo 8 in December 1968 to Apollo 17 in December 1972, were launched from LC39A. LC39A was decommissioned as an Apollo-Saturn pad in 1974 and was reconfigured for Space Shuttle operations, being used for the first Columbia launch (STS-1) in 1981. LC39B underwent a similar Apollo-Saturn decommission in 1977. However, due to necessary modifications, along with budgetary restraints, it was not ready until 1986, and the first Shuttle launch to use it was the ill-fated STS 51-L flight - the Challenger Disaster.

Space shuttle usage

In order for the shuttle to reach orbit, it must have enough thrust to leave the pull of gravity from the earth. The thrust is provided by a combination of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) and the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME's). The SRBs are full of solid hypergolic fuel, hence their name. The SSME's use a combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) from the External Tank (ET), as the shuttle does not have fuel tanks for the SSME's. Months before launch, the 3 main components of the "stack" are brought together in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). All of the components are placed on a Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). The SRB's arrive in segments via rail car from their manufacturing facility, the ET arrives from its manufacturing facility in Louisiana by barge and the space shuttle waits in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). The SRB's are first stacked and then the ET is mounted between them. Then using a massive crane, the Shuttle is lowered and connected to the ET. When entire stack integration is complete it is moved by the Crawler-Transporter 3-4 miles to the pad over eight hours. At the pad, the MLP is lowered onto several pedestals, and the Crawler-Transporter moves off the pad to a staging area a safe distance away. Each pad contains a two-piece access tower system, the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The FSS permits access to the shuttle via a retractable arm and a "beanie cap" to capture vented LOX from a filled ET. The RSS contains a clean room, offers access to the orbiter's payload bay, protection from the elements and can protect the shuttle in winds up to 60 knots. Also at each pad are large cryogenic tanks that store the fuel liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) fuel for the SSME's. The highly explosive nature of these chemicals results in numerous safety measures at the Launch Complex. NASA has calculated that the minimum safe distance in the event of a fully fueled space shuttle stack is three miles for personnel, and 8700 feet between pads. Before tanking operations begin and all the way through lift off, non-essential personnel are cleared out of this hazard area. The Launch Control facilities and VAB are almost exactly three miles away.

Future usage

After the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010 both pads will be extensively modified to accommodate the future Heavy Lift Cargo launcher, derived from the Space Shuttle, which will be used for the return to the Moon. The only difference with Apollo is that the crew will not be launched from these launch pads. Two launches a year are expected, starting in 2018. Because of this, NASA will have to construct a LC-39C and LC-39D, or launch the Manned Crew Launch from the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station using either the former Titan III launch pad or Saturn IB launchpad. ---- Some information taken from a pamphlet handed out at Kennedy Space Center. Rest from memory of tour. Category:NASA facilities Category:Brevard County, Florida

S-IVB

The S-IVB (sometimes S4b) was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company and served as the third stage on the Saturn V and second stage on the Saturn IB. It had one J-2 engine. For lunar mission it was used twice: first for the orbit insertion after second stage cutoff, and then for the trans lunar injection (TLI).

History

The S-IVB evolved from the upper stage of the Saturn I rocket, the S-IV, and was the first stage of the Saturn V to be designed. The S-IV used a cluster of six engines but used the same fuels as the S-IVB - Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen. It was also originally meant to be the fourth stage of a planned rocket called the C-4, hence the name S-IV. Eleven companies submitted proposals for being the lead contractor on the stage by the deadline of 29 February, 1960. NASA administrator T. Keith Glennan decided on 19 April that Douglas Aircraft Company would be awarded the contract. Convair had come a close second but Glennan did not want to monopolise the liquid hydrogen fuelled rocket market as Convair was already building the Centaur rocket stage. In the end the Marshall Space Flight Center decided to use the C-5 rocket (later called the Saturn V), which had three stages and would be topped with an uprated S-IV called the S-IVB which instead of using a cluster of engines would have a single J-2 engine. Douglas was awarded the contract for the S-IVB because of the similarities between it and the S-IV. At the same time it was decided to create the C-IB rocket (Saturn IB) that would also use the S-IVB as its second stage and could be used for testing the Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit. Douglas built two distinct versions of the S-IVB, the 200 series and the 500 series. The 200 series was used by the Saturn IB and differed from the 500 in the fact that it did not have a flared interstage and had less helium pressurisation onboard as it would not be restarted. Marshall Space Flight Center The S-IVB carried 72,700 liters (20,000 U.S. gallons) of LOX and 229,000 liters (63,000 U.S. gallons) of LH2. An un-used S-IVB provided the hull for Skylab, the United States' first space station. During Apollo 13, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17, the S-IVB was crashed into the Moon in order to perform seismic measurement used for characterizing the lunar core.
The three versions of the SIV
Three versions of the SIV/SIVB
Category:Apollo program

Stages Built

(
- See List of artificial objects on the Moon for location.)

Wernher von Braun

in May 1964, with models of rockets developed and in progress.]] Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23 1912 – June 16 1977) was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States. Originally a German scientist leading Nazi Germany's rocket program before and during the Second World War, he entered the United States at the end of the war through the then-secret Operation Paperclip. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen and worked on the American ICBM program before joining NASA. Still a controversial figure, thanks to his involvement in the Nazi war effort, he is generally regarded as the father of the United States space program.

Early life

United States space program Wernher von Braun was born in Wirsitz, Prussia (now Wyrzysk, Poland). Upon his Lutheran confirmation his mother gave him a telescope and he discovered a passion for astronomy and the realm of space. When, as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, Wirsitz became part of Poland in 1920, his family, like many other German families, moved. They settled in Berlin where at first von Braun did not do well in physics and mathematics until he acquired a copy of the book Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space) by rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. From then on he applied himself at school in order to understand physics and mathematics. One anecdote from this period is the time the 16 year old von Braun caused a major disruption by firing off a toy wagon to which he had attached a number of firecrackers. The young von Braun was taken into custody by the local police until his father came to collect him. In 1930 von Braun attended the Berlin Institute of Technology where he joined the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR, the "Spaceflight Society") and assisted Hermann Oberth in liquid-fuelled rocket motor tests. After receiving his degree he commenced postgraduate studies at Berlin University, earning a doctorate in physics in 1934.

German career

Rocket science and politics

Whilst von Braun was working on his doctorate, a young artillery captain, Walter Dornberger, arranged an Ordnance Department research grant for him and von Braun then worked next to Dornberger's existing solid-fuel rocket test site at Kummersdorf. He received his doctorate two years later and by the end of 1934 his group had successfully launched two rockets that rose to heights of 2.2 and 3.5 kilometres. At that time, however, there was no German rocket society as the VfR had collapsed and civilian rocket tests had been forbidden by the new Nazi régime. Only military development was possible and to this end a larger facility was erected at the village of Peenemünde in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea. This location was chosen partly on the recommendation of von Braun's mother, who recalled her father's duck-hunting expeditions there. Dornberger became military commander at Peenemünde and von Braun was technical director. In collaboration with the Luftwaffe, the Peenemünde group developed liquid-fuel rocket engines for aircraft and jet-assisted takeoffs. They also developed the long-range A-4 ballistic missile (later renamed the V-2) and the supersonic Wasserfall anti-aircraft missile. In November 1937 von Braun joined the Nazi party, the NSDAP. An OMGUS (Office of the Military Governor, United States) document dated April 23, 1947 states that von Braun joined the SS (Schutzstaffel) horseback riding school in fall 1933, then the Nazi party on May 1, 1937 and became an officer in the SS from May 1940 to the end of the war. Amongst his comments about his Nazi membership von Braun has said:
"I was officially demanded to join the National Socialist Party. At this time (1937) I was already technical director of the Army Rocket Center at Peenemünde ... My refusal to join the party would have meant that I would have to abandon the work of my life. Therefore, I decided to join. My membership in the party did not involve any political activities ... in Spring 1940, one SS-Standartenführer (SS Colonel) Müller ... looked me up in my office at Peenemünde and told me that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler had sent him with the order to urge me to join the SS. I called immediately on my military superior ... Major-General W. Dornberger. He informed me that ... if I wanted to continue our mutual work, I had no alternative but to join."
After the war, von Braun claimed he was asked to join the party and pressured to join the SS. In May 1940 he was personally awarded an honorary SS rank by Himmler only after conferring with colleagues who agreed that to turn it down would infuriate Himmler and incur his wrath. He began as an Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) and was promoted three times by Himmler, the last time in June 1943 to SS-Sturmbannführer (SS Major). In November 1942 Adolf Hitler approved the production of the A-4 as a "vengeance weapon" and the group found themselves developing the A-4 to rain explosives on London. Twenty-two months after Hitler ordered it into production, the first combat A-4 — now renamed the V-2 ("Vergeltungswaffe 2", "Retaliation/Vengeance Weapon 2") — was launched toward England, on September 7 1944. SS General Hans Kammler, who as an engineer had constructed several concentration camps including Auschwitz, had a reputation for brutality and had originated the idea of using concentration camp prisoners as slave labourers in the rocket program. Arthur Rudolph, chief engineer of the V-2 rocket factory at Peenemünde, endorsed this idea in April 1943 when a labour shortage developed. More people died building the V-2 rockets than were killed by it as a weapon. To increase his power-base within the Nazi régime, Heinrich Himmler conspired to use Kammler to wrest control of all German armament programs, including the V-2 program at Peenemünde. Kammler, highly dedicated to Himmler, was also instrumental in von Braun's arrest by the Gestapo after they learned in March 1944 that von Braun had expressed a defeatist attitude toward Germany's chances of victory and a desire to design a rocket for space rather than for weapons use. Combined with Himmler's false charges that von Braun was a Communist sympathizer and had attempted to sabotage the V-2 program, he was imprisoned for two weeks at a Gestapo cell in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland). Dornberger and Albert Speer, Reichsminister for Munitions and War Production, convinced Hitler to release von Braun so that the V-2 program could continue. It is otherwise likely that von Braun would have been executed.

Arrest by the Nazi regime

There are three different versions of von Braun's arrest. André Sellier, a French historian and survivor of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, offers as good an explanation as any. Himmler called von Braun, an SS officer, to come to his Hochwald HQ in East Prussia sometime in February 1944. He recommended that von Braun work more closely with Krammer to solve the problems of the V-2, but von Braun claimed to have replied that the problems were merely technical and he was confident that they would be solved with Dornberger's assistance. Apparently von Braun had been under SD surveillance since October 1943 and a report on him and his colleagues Riedel and Grotrupp was being prepared. In it von Braun and his colleagues were said to have expressed regret at an engineer's house one evening that they were not working on a spaceship and that they felt the war was not going well. A young female dentist later denounced them for their comments. The unsuspecting von Braun was arrested and on February 22 was taken to Stettin, where he was imprisoned for two weeks without knowing the charges levelled against him. It was only through the Abwehr in Berlin that Dornberger was able to obtain von Braun's conditional release and Speer apparently intervened on his behalf as well.

Surrender to the Americans

The Soviet army was about 160 km from Peenemünde in the spring of 1945 when von Braun assembled his planning staff and asked them to decide how and to whom they should surrender. Afraid of the rumoured Soviet cruelty to prisoners of war, von Braun and his staff decided to try to surrender to the Americans. After using forged papers to steal a train, von Braun led 500 people through war-torn Germany toward the American lines. The SS had meanwhile been issued with orders to kill the German engineers and destroy their records. The engineers, however, had hidden these in a mineshaft and continued to evade their own army. After they had finally managed to surrender to an American private, the American command realized the importance of the engineers and immediately went to Peenemünde and Nordhausen to capture the remaining V-2s and their parts before destroying both sites with explosives. Over 300 train-car loads of spare V-2 parts ultimately found their way to America. Much of von Braun's production team, however, was captured by the Russians. The V-2 rocket plans that had been hidden near Bad Sachs in Germany were later recovered by members of the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment.

American career

US Army career

On June 20 1945 US Secretary of State Cordell Hull approved the transfer of von Braun and his specialists to America. Since the paperwork of those Germans selected for transfer to the United States was indicated by paperclips, von Braun and his colleagues became part of the mission known as Operation Paperclip. Operation Paperclip The first seven technicians arrived in the United States at New Castle Army Air Base, just south of Wilmington, Delaware, on September 20, 1945. They were then flown to Boston, Massachusetts, and taken by boat to the Army Intelligence Service post at Fort Strong in Boston Harbor. Later, with the exception of von Braun, the men were transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to sort out the Peenemünde documents. These would be the documents that would enable the scientists to continue their rocketry experiments. Finally, von Braun and his remaining Peenemünde staff were transferred to their new home at Fort Bliss, Texas, a large Army installation just north of El Paso. Whilst there they trained military, industrial and university personnel in the intricacies of rockets and guided missiles and helped to refurbish, assemble and launch a number of V-2s that had been shipped from Germany to the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. They also continued to study the future potential of rockets for military and research applications. Since they were not permitted to leave Fort Bliss without military escort, von Braun and his colleagues began to refer to themselves only half-jokingly as "PoPs", "Prisoners of Peace". During his stay at Fort Bliss von Braun mailed a marriage proposal to his first cousin, 18-year-old Maria von Quistorp and on March 1, 1947. Having received permission to go back to Germany, marry and return with his bride, he married her in a Lutheran church in Landshut, Germany. In December 1948, the von Brauns' first daughter, Iris, was born at Fort Bliss Army Hospital. In total, the von Brauns had three children: Iris, Magrit and Peter. In 1950, von Braun and his team were transferred to Huntsville, Alabama, his home for the next twenty years. Between 1950 and 1956, von Braun led the Army's rocket development team at Redstone Arsenal, resulting in the Redstone rocket. In 1955 von Braun became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Still dreaming of a world in which rockets would be used for space exploration and for US military domination over the Soviet Union, in 1952 von Braun published his concept of a space-station in a Collier's Weekly magazine series of articles entitled Man Will Conquer Space Soon. These articles were illustrated by the space artist Chesley Bonestell and were influential in spreading his ideas. The space-station would have a diameter of 250 feet (76 m), orbit at a height of 1075 miles (1730 km), spin to provide artificial gravity and provide a platform for lunar expeditions. In the hope that its involvement would bring about greater public interest in the future of the space program, von Braun also began working with the Disney studios as a technical director, initially for three television films about space exploration. technical director in 1963.]] As Director of the Development Operations Division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), von Braun's team then developed the Jupiter-C, a modified Redstone rocket. The Jupiter-C successfully launched the West's first satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958. This event signalled the birth of America's space program. Despite the work on the Redstone rocket, the twelve years from 1945 to 1957 were probably some of the most frustrating for von Braun and his colleagues. In the Soviet Union Sergei Korolev and his team ploughed ahead with several new rocket designs and the Sputnik program, whilst the American government were not very interested in von Braun's work and views and only embarked on a very modest rocket-building program. In the meantime the press tended to dwell on von Braun's past as a member of the SS and the slave labour needed to build his V-2 rockets. It was not until 1957 and the launch of Sputnik 1 that America realised how far it lagged behind the Soviet Union in the emerging Space Race. After the US Navy's attempt at building a rocket to lift satellites into orbit resulted in the grossly-unreliable Vanguard, American authorities recognised they needed von Braun and his team's experience, so quickly had them transferred to NASA.

NASA career

Vanguard first stage dwarf von Braun.]] NASA was established by law on July 29, 1958. One day later, the 50th Redstone rocket was successfully launched from Johnston Island in the south Pacific as part of Operation Hardtack. Two years later NASA opened the new Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and transferred von Braun and his development team there from the ABMA at Redstone Arsenal. Presiding from July 1960 to February 1970, von Braun became the Center's first Director. The Marshall Center's first major program was development of the Saturn rockets to carry heavy payloads into and beyond Earth orbit. Wernher von Braun's dream to help mankind set foot on the Moon became a reality on July 16, 1969 when a Marshall-developed Saturn V rocket launched the crew of Apollo 11 at the start of its historic eight-day mission. Over the course of the Apollo program Saturn V rockets enabled six teams of astronauts to reach Earth orbit and, ultimately, the surface of the Moon. At time of the first moon-landing von Braun publicly expressed his optimism that the Saturn rocket would continue to be developed, advocating manned missions to Mars in the 1980s based on the Saturn V. Mars In 1970, von Braun and his family relocated from Huntsville to Washington, DC when he was assigned the post of NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning at NASA Headquarters. However, with the truncation of the Apollo program, von Braun retired from NASA in June 1972 as it became evident that his and NASA's visions for future US spaceflight projects were different.

Career after NASA

After leaving NASA, von Braun became the vice-president of Fairchild Industries in Germantown, Maryland, where he helped establish and promote the National Space Institute, a precursor of the present-day National Space Society. In 1976 he became scientific consultant to Lutz Kayser; the CEO of OTRAG; and a member of the Daimler-Benz board of directors. In 1976 von Braun also learned he had cancer. The cancer progressed, despite surgery, forcing him to retire from Fairchild on December 31, 1976. On June 16, 1977, Wernher von Braun died in Alexandria, Virginia at the age of 65 and is interred there in the Ivy Hill Cemetery. The von Braun crater on the Moon was so named by the IAU in recognition of von Braun's contribution to space exploration and technology.

Cultural references

On film and television

Wernher von Braun has been featured in a number of movies and television shows or series about the Space Race:
- I Aim At The Stars (1960), also titled Wernher von Braun and Ich greife nach den Sternen ("I reach for the stars"): von Braun played by Curd Jürgens). Satirist Mort Sahl suggested the subtitle "(But Sometimes I Hit London)".
- The Right Stuff (1983): The Chief Scientist, played by Scott Beach, was clearly modelled on von Braun.
- From the Earth to the Moon (TV, 1998): von Braun played by Norbert Weisser.
- October Sky (1999): von Braun played by Joe Digaetano.
- Space Race (TV, BBC co-production with NDR (Germany), Channel One TV (Russia) and National Geographic TV (USA), 2005): von Braun played by Richard Dillane.
- Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965, directed by Jean-Luc Godard): Howard Vernon plays Professor Von Braun (aka Leonard Nosferatu), the inventor of the "Alpha 60" super-computer which rules Alphaville.

In music


- Wernher von Braun (1965): A song written and performed by Tom Lehrer for an episode of NBC's American version of the BBC TV show That Was The Week That Was; the song was later included in Lehrer's album That Was The Year That Was. It was a satire on what some saw as von Braun's cavalier attitude toward the consequences of his work: "'Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? / That's not my department', says Wernher von Braun".
- Progress vs. Pettiness (2005): A song about the Space Race written and performed by The Phenomenauts for their CD Re-Entry. The song begins: "In 1942 there was Wernher von Braun..."

In computer games


- In the 1999 PC game System Shock 2, the main starship – a faster-than-light vehicle, no less – is named the Von Braun.

Notes

# # Regarding V-2 slave labour, see, for example, [http://www.v2rocket.com/start/chapters/mittel.html Mittelbau Overview]

See also


- Sergei Korolev
- Space Race

References


- Dunar, Andrew J.; Waring, Stephen P. (1999). Power to Explore: a History of Marshall Space Flight Center, 1960–1990. The NASA History Series. Washington, D.C.: NASA History Office, Office of Policy and Plans (pp. x, 713) ISBN 0-16-058992-4.
- Lasby, Clarence G. (1971). Project Paperclip: German Scientists and the Cold War. New York, NY: Atheneum. 338 pp. ISBN B0006CKBHY.
- Neufeld, Michael J. The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemunde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. New York: Free Press, c1995. pp. 368. ISBN 0029228956
- André Sellier, Stephen Wright, Susan Taponier, Michael J. Neufeld. (2003). A History of the Dora Camp: The Untold Story of the Nazi Slave Labor Camp That Secretly Manufactured V-2 Rockets. Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, Inc. 576 pp. ISBN 156663511X.
- Ward, Bob. (2005) Dr. Space: The Life of Wernher von Braun. Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1591149266.

External links


- [http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun Marshall Space Flight Center History Office - Dr. Wernher von Braun]
- [http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/vonbraun/welcome.html Redstone Arsenal History Office - Dr. Wernher von Braun]
- [http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/special/disney.html Marshall Space Flight Center History Office - The Disney-Von Braun Collaboration and Its Influence on Space Exploration]
- [http://peaceinspace.com The Institute for Cooperation in Space]
- [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4323&pt=Werner%20Von%20Braun Photographs of Wernher von Braun's gravesite]
- [http://efour4ever.com/44thdivision/vonbrauncapture.html The capture of von Braun and his men, May 1945] – Flume Creek Company LLC website Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher Von Braun, Wernher ja:ヴェルナー・フォン・ブラウン

World War II

, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. From top going counterclockwise: Allied landing on D-Day 1944, the Nuremberg Rally 1936, the Nagasaki atom bomb 1945, the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin 1945 and the Gate of Auschwitz.]] World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th Century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest continuous war in human history. It was the first time that a number of newly developed technologies, including nuclear weapons, were used against either military or civilian targets. World War II resulted in the direct or indirect death of anywhere from 50 to 60 million or more people, over 3% of the world population at that time. It is estimated to have cost more money and resources than all other wars combined: about 1 trillion US dollars in 1945 (adjusted for inflation; roughly 10.5 trillion in 2005), not including subsequent reconstruction [http://www.historychannel.com/worldwartwo/?page=triumph5]. The outcomes of the war, including new technology and changes to the world's geopolitical, cultural and economic arrangement, were unprecedented. The conflict began by most Western accounts on September 1 1939 with the German invasion of Poland (the Pacific war is taken to have started on July 7 1937 with the Japanese attack on China) and lasted until mid-1945, involving many of the world's countries. Virtually all countries that participated in World War I were involved in World War II. Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939 and Canada followed on September 10, 1939. The United States entered the conflict in December of 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Summary

Attributed in varying degrees to the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, and the rise in nationalism, racism, fascism, National socialism, Japanese imperialism, and militarism, the causes of the war are a matter of debate. The war was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allies. The Axis initially consisted of an alliance between Germany and Italy, which later expanded to include Japan and Eastern European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria. Some of the nations that Germany conquered sent military forces, particularly to the Eastern front. Among the expeditionary forces that joined Germany were forces from Vichy France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain (though Spain was itself a neutral country) and armies of Russians and Ukrainians under the command of the general Andrey Vlasov. The Allies were initially the United Kingdom, including the Commonwealth, France and Poland, later joined by the USSR, the United States of America and China. Fighting occurred across the Atlantic Ocean, in Western and Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, the Middle East, in the Pacific and South East Asia, and it continued in China. In Europe, the war ended with the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945 (V-E and Victory Days), but continued in Asia until Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 (V-J Day). At least 50 million people died as a result of the war. This figure includes acts of genocide such as the Holocaust and General Ishii Shiro's Unit 731 experiments in Pingfan, incredibly bloody battles in Europe and the Pacific Ocean, and massive bombings of cities, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the firebombing of Dresden (and even worse but less known) of Pforzheim in Germany. Few areas of the world were unaffected; the war involved the "home front" and bombing of civilians to a new degree. Atomic weapons, jet aircraft, rockets and radar, the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war", the massive use of tanks, submarines, torpedo bombers and destroyer/tanker formations, are only a few of many wartime inventions and new tactics that changed the face of the conflict. Post–World War II Europe was partitioned into Western and Soviet spheres of influence, the former undergoing economic reconstruction under the Marshall Plan and the latter becoming satellite states of the Soviet Union. This partition was, however, informal; rather than coming to terms about the spheres of influence, the relationship between the victors steadily deteriorated, and the military lines of demarcation finally became the de facto country boundaries. Western Europe largely aligned as NATO, and Eastern Europe largely as the Warsaw pact countries, alliances which were fundamental to the ensuing Cold War. In Asia, the United States' military occupation of Japan led to Japan's democratisation. China's civil war continued through and after the war, resulting eventually in the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The war sparked a wave of independence for colonies of European powers, who were exhausted from fighting the war. There was a fundamental shift in power from Western Europe to the new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, though there were few actual boundary changes. __TOC__

Causes

People's Republic of China]] Main articles: Causes of World War II, Events preceding World War II in Europe, Events preceding World War II in Asia The causes of World War II are naturally a debated subject, but a common view, particularly among the allies in the early post-war years, ties them to the expansionism of Germany and Japan: Germany had lost wealth, power and status following the First World War and the expansion was to make Germany great again.
- In Germany there was a strong desire to escape the bonds of the World War I Treaty of Versailles, and eventually, Hitler and the Nazis assumed control of the country. They led Germany through a chain of events: rearmament, reoccupation of the Rhineland, a merger with Austria (Anschluss), incorporation of Czechoslovakia and finally the invasion of Poland.
- In Asia, Japan's efforts to become a world power and the rise of militarist leadership (in the 1930s the government in Japan was undermined as militarists rose to power and de facto gained totalitarian control) led to conflicts with first China and later the United States. Japan also sought to secure additional natural resources, such as oil and iron ore, due in part to the lack of natural resources on Japan's own home islands.

Participants

iron ore and Joseph Stalin, during the Yalta Conference in 1945]] Main article: Participants in World War II The belligerents of the Second World War are usually considered to belong to either of the two blocs: the Axis and the Allies. A number of smaller countries participated in the war, though often under occupation or as proxies of one of the large powers. The Axis Powers consisted primarily of Germany, Italy, and Japan, which split the Earth into three spheres of influence under the Tripartite Pact of 1940, and vowed to defend one another against aggression. This replaced the German-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 that Italy had joined in 1937. Spain's fascist government led by Francisco Franco was a great asset in trade to the Axis powers during the war. A number of smaller countries were counted among the Axis powers. Among these were Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, and arguably Finland. Among the Allied powers, the so-called Big Three were the Uni