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U.S. Space & Rocket Center

U.S. Space & Rocket Center

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is a museum designed to showcase the hardware of the U.S. space program. The idea was first proposed by Dr.Wernher von Braun, while serving as director of the Marshall Space Flight Center. It is located in Huntsville, Alabama. It opened in 1970 after the U.S. Army donated land on its Redstone Arsenal. It houses more than 1,500 pieces of rocket and space hardware. Exhibits include:
- Saturn V rocket
- Skylab simulator
- SR-71 Blackbird (referred to as an SR-71 in promotional literature, though it is actually an A-12 Oxcart)
- Pathfinder orbiter
- Centaur G-Prime upper stage
- Apollo 16 command module "Casper" The museum also features temporary rocketry- and space-related exhibits, interactive science exhibits, space-themed rides, and one of the original IMAX theatres, the "Spacedome". U.S. Space Camp is located on the grounds of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. For years, residents of Huntsville could point to the Saturn IB in the center of the Space and Rocket Center as a distant landmark (the museum is located a few miles from the city center). In recent years, a model of the Saturn V was erected beside the Saturn IB, extending the reach of this unique form of landmark (the moon rocket is nearly twice as tall). The museum also features a Saturn V, which consists of various test stage used during the Apollo program. This rocket lies on the ground, separated into its individual stages. A [http://www.spacecamp.com/saturnv/ fundraising campaign] is currently underway to repair this valuable space artifact, which has endured unforgiving southern weather for many years. The Center is also the final resting place of Able and Baker, monkeys who flew on test flights of the Jupiter rocket.

External links


- [http://www.spacecamp.com/museum/ Official site] Category:Museums in Alabama
- U.S. Space & Rocket Center Category:Aerospace museums

Museum

A museum is typically a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education, enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment." This definition is taken from the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Statutes, article 2, paragraph 1, and is regularly reviewed and modified at the triennial ICOM General Assemblies. The italicized tangible and intangible was substituted for the previous material at the last triennial General Assembly in Seoul in 2004, pending ratification at the next General Assembly in Vienna in 2007. (The new wording was introduced in the revised ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums, which is another of the museum profession's core normative instruments.) Museums are usually not run for the purpose of making a profit, unlike galleries which engage in the sale of objects. There are governmental museums, non-governmental or non-profit museums, and privately-owned or family museums. Modern museums concentrate on a particular subject, and most museums belong to one or more of the following categories: fine arts, applied arts, archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, history, cultural history, science, technology, natural history. Within these categories many museums specialize further, e.g. museums of modern art, local history, aviation history, agriculture or geology. A museum normally houses a core collection of important selected objects in its field. Objects are formally accessioned by being registered in the museum's collection with an artifact number and details recorded about their provenance. The persons in charge of the collection and of the exhibits are known as curators. Open-air museums collect and re-erect old buildings at large outdoor sites, usually in settings of re-created landscapes of the past. The first one was King Oscar II's collection near Oslo in Norway, opened in 1881. In 1891 Arthur Hazelius founded the famous Skansen in Stockholm, which became the model for subsequent open air museums in Northern and Eastern Europe, and eventually in other parts of the world. Most open air museums are located in regions where wooden architecture prevail, as wooden structures may be translocated without substantial loss of authenticity. A more recent but related idea is realized in the ecomuseums, which originated in France. Early museums began as princely collections of art and rare or curious natural objects and artifacts. These were often displayed in so-called wonder rooms or cabinets of curiosities. cabinets of curiosities] Museums are usually open to the general public, sometimes charging an admission fee. Some museums have free entrance, either permanently or on special days, e.g. once per week or year. The museum is usually run by a director, who has a curatorial staff that cares for the objects and arranges their display. Large museums often will have a research division or institute, which are frequently involved with studies related to the museum's items, as well as an education department, in charge of providing interpretation of the materials to the general public. Objects come to the collection through a variety of means. Either the museum itself or an associated institute may organize expeditions to acquire more items or documentation for the museum. More typically, however, museums will purchase or trade for artifacts or receive them as donations or bequests. For instance, a museum featuring Impressionist art may receive a donation of a Cubist work which simply cannot be fit into the museum's exhibits, but it can be used to help acquire a painting more central to the museum's focus. Larger museums may have an "Acquisitions Department" whose staff is engaged fulltime in this kind of activity. Museums often cooperate to sponsor joint, often traveling, exhibits on particular subjects when one museum may not by itself have a collection sufficiently large or important. These exhibits have limited engagements and often depend upon an additional entry fee from the public to cover costs. The word "museum" comes from the Latin museum, plural musea, which is in turn derived from the Greek mouseion, which refers to a place or temple dedicated to the Muses, the patron divinities in Greek mythology of the arts. It is said that there are more museums per person in Finland than in any other country in the world. A recent development with the expansion of the web, is the establishment of virtual museums, typically with no counterpart in the real world.

Further reading


- Tony Bennett, The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics, Routledge 1995

Museum designers

Notable international museum designers include Ralph Appelbaum and Edwin Schlossberg.

See also


- List of museums
- List of notable museums and galleries
- List of transport museums
- Art museum
- Maritime museum
- Science museum
- Open air museum
- Virtual museum
- Wax museum

External links


- [http://www.globalmuseum.org Global Museum]
- [http://www.museumnews.net/ Museum News]
- [http://vlmp.museophile.com/ Virtual Library museums pages] (VLmp)
- [http://icom.museum/ International Council of Museums] (ICOM)
- [http://about.museum/ The .museum top-level domain] (Dot-museum)
- [http://www.molli.org.uk/ MOLLI] (Museum On-Line Learning Initiatives)
- [http://www.insecula.com/ Great Museums in the World]
- [http://www.greece-museums.com/ Museums in Greece]
- [http://www.chinamuseums.com/ Museums in China]
- [http://www.censusfinder.com/guide_to_historical_museums.htm US Historical Museums Guide]
- [http://schulmuseum.net/ Schulmuseen in Europa]
- [http://www.aam-us.org/index.cfm/ American Association of Museums]
- A Category:Buildings and structures ms:Muzium ja:博物館 th:พิพิธภัณฑ์

Marshall Space Flight Center

The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is a lead NASA center for propulsion, Space Shuttle propulsion, external fuel tank, crew training and payloads, International Space Station (ISS) design and construction, for computers, networks, and information management. The center also contains one of the Shuttle mission operation centers known as the HOSC where some mission and pre-missions operations are controlled. The Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) is a facility which supports Space Shuttle launch activities at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The HOSC also monitors rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station when a Marshall Center payload is on board. MSFC arose from the U.S. Army's Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA, later the AOMC) centered at Redstone Arsenal. The transition from military to Civilian space exploration came when President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced on site the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) on July 1, 1960. At this time Marshall also received its name and a bronze bust of the General from the President. The center became the civilian base for Dr. Wernher von Braun, his team of German rocket scientists and a large host of military and civilian contractors.German Historical projects include the Hermes, an early U.S. adaptation of the German V-2, the Jupiter-C, used to launch the Explorer I satellite, the Redstone rocket, the ABMA/AOMC to NASA transition vehicle used in the ballistic missile program and the Mercury space program, the Juno, the Atlas, with the US Air Force used in the ballistic missile program and the Mercury and Gemini space program, the Titan, also used for Gemini, the Saturn series (I-V), used in the Apollo and Skylab programs. Modern boosters include the Space Shuttle liquid and solid propellant engines and the Delta series, used in satellite and Mars mission launches. Many vestiges of the early programs are still visible around the center, including engine test stands, several of which are shown in the photo to the right. Located on the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, in Madison County, Alabama, the center was named in honor of General George Marshall.

External links


- [http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html Official site]
- [http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/book/bookcover.html Power to Explore: A History of Marshall Space Flight Center, 1960-1990 (NASA SP-4313, 1999)] Marshall Space Flight Center

1970

1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. 1970 is the Unix epoch time.

Events

January-February


- January 1 - Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona.
- January 1 - Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC.
- January 12 - Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
- January 15 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under General Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon.
- January 15 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
- January 16 - Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
- February 11 - Launch of Japan's first satellite Osumi with a Lamba-4 Rocket.
- February 17 - MacDonald family massacre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina - Jeffrey MacDonald kills his wife and children and tries to claim that "hippies" did it

March


- March 1 - Rhodesia severs its last tie with the British crown and declares itself a racially segregated republic.
- March 4 - Nigerian Francis Okechukwu Ohanyido, Poet/Philosopher born in Jos.
- March 5 - A nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
- March 11 - Henry "Dickie" Marrow is murdered in a violent hate crime in Oxford, N.C..
- March 16 - The Expo '70 world's fair opens in Suita, Osaka, Japan.
- March 16 - Publication of complete New English Bible.
- March 16 - Birth of Stephen Martin.
- March 17 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
- March 18 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- March 18 - Post Office strike in USA - 210,000 out of 750,000 US postal employees walk out. President Nixon assigns military units to New York City post offices. Strike lasts two weeks.
- March 21 The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
- March 25 - The Concorde makes its 1st supersonic flight (700 mph /1,127 km/h).
- March 31 - Explorer I spacefract re-enters atmosphere, after twelve years in orbit.

April


- April 1 - President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States starting on January 1, 1971.
- April 1 - American Motors introduces the Gremlin.
- April 10 - Paul McCartney announces that the Beatles have disbanded.
- April 11 - US spaceflight Apollo 13 launches for the moon, carrying James Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. On April 13, an oxygen tank in the spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission. The crew returns to earth safely on April 17
- April 22 - First Earth Day celebrated.
- April 29 - U.S. invades Cambodia to hunt out Viet Cong. Massive protests against the war continue in the U.S.

May-June

Viet Cong
- May 4 - The Kent State shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed and 9 wounded by National Guardsmen at a demonstration protesting against the incursion into Cambodia.
- May 5 - Earthquake in Yungay, Peru below Hauscaran Mountain buries the city
- May 6 - Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government due to accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use in Northern Ireland.
- May 9 - 100,000 people demonstrate in Washington DC against the Vietnam War.
- May 14 - Ulrike Meinhof helps Andreas Baader escape.
- May 17 - Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
- May 26 - The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
- May 27 - British expedition climbs south face of Annapurna I.
- May 31 - The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
- June 2 - Norway announces that it has rich oil deposits off its North Sea coast.
- June 4 - Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- June 10 - President Nixon signed a measure lowering the voting age to 18.
- June 11 - The United States gets its first female Generals: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington.
- June 18 - Edward Heath is elected Prime Minister of United Kingdom.
- June 21 - Brazil defeats Italy 4-1 to win the Football World Cup 1970
- June 24 - The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
- June 28 - US ground troops withdraw from Cambodia.

July-August


- July 4 - Chartered Dan-Air Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona - at least 112 dead.
- July 11 - The first tunnel under the Pyrenees links the Basque towns of Aranoutes and Biesma.
- July 21 - Aswan High Dam in Egypt completed.
- July 30 - Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims,
- August 7 - Harold Haley, Marin County Superior Court Judge taken hostage and murdered in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
- August 17-18 - US sinks 418 containers of nerve gas into the Gulf Stream near the Bahamas
- August 17 - Venera program: Venera 7 is launched. It will later becomes the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from another planet.
- August 26- The Women's Strike For Equality takes place down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
- August 26- August 30- The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 takes place on East Afton Farm off the coast of England. 600,000 people attend the largest rock festival of all time. Artists include Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull.

September


- September 1 - Assassination attempt against king Hussein of Jordan
- September 3-6 - Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.
- September 5 - Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn begins - The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (operation ends in October 1971).
- September 7 - An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
- September 7 - Fighting between Arabic guerillas and government forces in Amman, Jordan
- September 8-10 - Jordanian government and Palestinian guerillas make truces that keep breaking.
- September 9 – Guinea recognizes East Germany.
- September 10 – Cambodian government forces break the blockage around Kompong Tho after a 3-month siege.
- September 11 - The Ford Pinto is introduced.
- September 13 - First running of the New York City Marathon.
- September 15 - King Hussein of Jordan forms a military government with Muhammad Daoud as the prime minister.
- September 18 - Jimi Hendrix dies of barbiturate overdose in London
- September 20 - End of term for Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III as the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 20 - Syrian armored forces cross Jordanian border.
- September 20-21 - Luna 16 lands on the Moon and lifts off the day later with samples. Lands on Earth September 24.
- September 21 - Palestinian armored forces reinforce Palestinian guerillas in Irbidi, Jordan.
- September 21 - Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, Sultan of Kedah becomes the 5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 26 - Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).
- September 27 - Richard Nixon begins a tour in Europe and visits Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, United Kingdom and Ireland.
- September 28 - Gamal Abdal Nasser dies - vice president Anwar Sadat is named temporary president of Egypt.
- September 29 - US Congress gives president Richard Nixon authority to sell arms to Israel.
- September 29 - In Berlin, Baader-Meinhof Gang members rob three banks, loot totaling over DM200.000.

October


- October 2 - Wichita State University loses most of its football team in a plane crash.
- October 3 - In Lebanon, government of the prime minister Rashid Karami resigns.
- October 4 - In Bolivia, army commander general Rogelio Miranda and group of officers rebel and demand resignation of the president Alfredo Ovando Candía – president fires him.
- October 4 - Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose inside her hotel room in Los Angeles, California
- October 5 - Nixon's European tour ends.
- October 5 - The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnap James Cross in Montreal and demands release of all its imprisoned members. The next day the Canadian government announces it won't accept the demand - first stirrings of Quebec's October Crisis.
- October 6 - Bolivian president Alfredo Ovando Candía resigns – general Rogelio Miranda takes over but resigns soon after.
- October 6 - French president Georges Pompidou visits Soviet Union.
- October 7 - General Juan José Torres becomes the new president of Bolivia.
- October 7 - Anwar Sadat accepted as Egyptian president.
- October 8 - US foreign office announces that it renews its arms sales to Pakistan.
- October 8 - Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn is awarded Nobel Prize for Literature.
- October 8 - Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion."
- October 9 - The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.
- October 9 - Divorce law in Italy.
- October 10 - Fiji becomes independent.
- October 10 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
- October 11 - 11 French soldiers are killed in a shootout with rebels in Chad.
- October 12 - Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas.
- October 13 - Canada and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations.
- October 13 - Saeb Salam's government forms in Lebanon.
- October 14 - Chinese nuclear test in Lop Nor.
- October 15 - In Egypt, referendum supports Anwar Sadat 90.04%.
- October 15 - 35 construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below.
- October 16 - Canadian government declares state of emergency and outlaws Quebec Liberation Front.
- October 17 - Pierre Laporte is found killed in south of Montreal.
- October 17 - Cholera epidemic in Istanbul.
- October 17 - Anwar Sadat becomes officially president of Egypt.
- October 20 - Soviet Union launches Zond 8 lunar probe.
- October 20 - Algerian ex-minister Krim Belkacem is found strangled in his hotel room in Frankfurt.
- October 20 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat names Mahmoud Fawzi as his prime minister.
- October 21 - US Air Force plane makes an emergency landing near Leninakan, Soviet Union. Soviets release the American officers, including two generals, November 10.
- October 22 - Chilean army commander Rene Schneider is shot in Santiago – government declares state of emergency. Schneider dies October 25.
- October 24 - Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile.
- October 26 - US and Soviet space researchers meet in Moscow.
- October 26 - Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury, debuts in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States.
- October 28 - In Jordan, government of Ahmed Toukan resigns – next prime minister is Wasfi Al-Tal.
- October 28 - Cholera outbreak in eastern Slovakia – Hungary closes its border with Czechoslovakia.
- October 28 - Gary Gabelich drives the rocket-powered Blue Flame to an official world land speed record of 622.287 mph (1,001.452863 km/h) on the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The record, the first above 1,000 km/h, stands for nearly 13 years.
- October 30 - In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.

November


- November 1 - Fire destroys Le Cinq Sept dance hall in St. Laurent Du Pont, France – 144 dead.
- November 4 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States turns control of the air base in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam. Genie "the Wild Child" discovered in her house at the age of 13 after being in complete isolation for 10 years with no language skills.
- November 4 - Social authorities in California, USA, take custody of Genie, a girl who had been kept in solitary confinement since her birth
- November 5 - Vietnam War: United States Military Assistance Command in Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in five years (24 soldiers died that week, which was the fifth consecutive week the death toll was below 50; 431 were reported wounded that week, however).
- November 8 - Egypt, Sudan and Libya announce their intentions to form a federation.
- November 9 - Charles de Gaulle dies – he is buried November 13.
- November 9 - Soviet Union launches Luna 17.
- November 9 - Vietnam War: The Supreme Court of the United States votes 6 to 3 to not hear a case by the state of Massachusetts asking to allow the state the ability to enforce its law granting Massachusetts residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.
- November 10 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - For the first time in five years, an entire week ended with no reports of American combat fatalities in Southeast Asia.
- November 12 - Soviet author Andrei Amalrik sentenced for three years for anti-Soviet writings.
- November 12 - The Oregon Highway Division (now known as the Oregon Department of Transportation) is given the task of removing a rotting beached Grey whale, leading to the now infamous exploding whale incident.
- November 13 - Military coup in Syria – Hafez al-Assad takes the power.
- November 13 - 1970 Bhola cyclone: A 120-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people (this is regarded as the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster).
- November 14 - fatal airplane accident in Wayne County, West Virginia, claims the lives of the entire Marshall University football team.
- November 17 - Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
- November 17 - Luna program: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and was released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
- November 18 - US President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for US$155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government (US$85 million was for military assistance in order to help prevent the overthrow of the government of Premier Lon Nol by the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam).
- November 18 - United Nations Security Council demands that no government should recognize Rhodesia.
- November 19 - EEC prime minister meeting in Munich.
- November 21 - Syrian Prime Minister Hafez al-Assad forms a new government but retains the post of defense minister.
- November 21 - in Ethiopia, Eritrea Liberation Front kills an Ethiopian general.
- November 21 - Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast - A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American POWs thought to be held there (there were zero Americans killed, but the prisoners had already moved to another camp; All US POWs were moved to a handful of central prison complexes as a result of this raid).
- November 22 - Guinean president Sekou Toure accuses Portugal of an attack when hundreds of mercenaries land near capital Conakry. Guinean army repels the landing attempts in November 23-24. November 25-29 UN delegation arrives to investigate the situation. In December 4 UN announces that Portuguese navy and army units are responsible.
- November 25 - In Japan, world-famous author and Tatenokai militia leader Yukio Mishima and his followers take over Inchigaya HQ of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and take general Kanetoshi Mashita hostage. When Mishima's speech fails to sway public opinion towards his right-wing political beliefs, he commits seppuku.
- November 26 - East Pakistan leader sheik Mujibur Rahman accuses central government of negligence in catastrophe relief.
- November 26 - Pope Paul VI begins an Asian tour.
- November 27 - Bolivian artist Benjamin Mendoza tries to assassinate Paul VI during pope's visit in Manila.

December


- December 1 - Italian House of Representatives accepts the divorce law.
- December 1 - Ethiopia recognizes People's Republic of China.
- December 1 - Basque ETA kidnaps West German Eugen Beihl in San Sebastian.
- December 1 - Luis Echeverría Álvarez becomes president of Mexico.
- December 2 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
- December 3 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Government of Canada grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.
- December 3 - Burgos Trial - In Burgos, Spain, begins a trial against 16 Basques accused of terrorism.
- December 4 - Spanish government declares a three-month martial law in Basque county of Guipuzco due to strikes and demonstrations.
- December 5 - Asian and Australian tour of Paul VI ends.
- December 7 - Giovanni Enrico Bucher, Swiss ambassador to Brazil, is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro; kidnappers demand release of 70 political prisoners.
- December 7 - UN general assembly supports the isolation of South Africa due to its apartheid policies.
- December 7 - During his visit to the Polish capital, German chancellor Willy Brandt goes down on his knees in front of a monument for the victims in the ghetto of Warsaw.
- December 12 - Landslide in western Colombia – over 200 dead.
- December 13 - Government of Poland announces increases in the prize of food. Riots and looting erupt until a bloody confrontation between the rioters against army and the police in December 15. Martial law December 17-22. December 23 the government will freeze the food prizes for two years.
- December 15 - The USSR's Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus and transmit data back to earth
- December 16 - Ethiopian government declares state of emergency in the county of Eritrea due to activities of Eritrea Liberation Front.
- December 20 - General secretary of the communist part of Poland, Wladyslaw Gomulka, resigns – Edward Gierek takes his place.
- December 20 - Egyptian delegation leaves for Moscow to ask for economic and military aid.
- December 21 - Elvis Presley pays an unscheduled call on Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, volunteering to help with law enforcement problems.
- December 22 - Libyan revolutionary council declares that it will nationalize all foreign banks in the country.
- December 22 - Franz Stangl, the ex-commander of Treblinka is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- December 23 - Bolivian government releases Regis Debray.
- December 25 - ETA releases Eugen Beihl.
- December 27 - Indian president declares new elections.
- December 28 - Burgos Trial – three Basques are sentenced to death (three twice), others sentenced for 12-62 years and one released. December 30 Franco commutes the death sentences to 30 years in prison.
- December 28 - Suspects of killing Pierre Laporte, Jacques & Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.
- December 30 - In Viscaya Basque county 15.000 goes to strike to protest Burgos trial death sentences.

Unknown date


- The first Regional Technical Colleges open in Ireland.
- Disappearance of Sada Abe, Japanese former prostitute and later actress.
- Discovery in England of the Sweet Track, the World's oldest engineered roadway.

Births

January-March


- January 6 - Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player and model
- January 13 - Keith Coogan, American actor
- January 13 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
- January 15 - Shane McMahon, American Wrestler
- January 17 - Jeremy Roenick, American hockey player
- January 17 - Genndy Tartakovsky Russian animator
- January 22 - Alex Ross, American comic artist
- January 29 - Heather Graham, American actress
- January 29 - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian shooter
- January 31 - Minnie Driver, English actress
- February 24 - Jeff Garcia, American football player
- March 8 - Jason Elam, American football player
- March 18 - Queen Latifah, American rapper, record producer, and actress
- March 22 - Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
- March 24 - Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
- March 24 - Sharon Corr, Irish musician (The Corrs)
- March 27 - Mariah Carey, American singer
- March 27 - Leila Pahlavi, Iranian princess (d. 2001)
- March 28 - Vince Vaughn, American actor, writer, and producer

April-May


- April 4 - Barry Pepper, Canadian actor
- April 12 - Nick Hexum, American singer and guitarist
- April 13 - Rick Schroeder, American actor
- April 18 - Greg Eklund, American drummer (Everclear)
- April 21 - Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedienne, and writer
- April 22 - Regine Velasquez, Filipina singer, actress, model, record producer, and entrepreneur
- April 25 - Jason Lee, American skateboarder and actor
- April 27 - Kylie Travis, English-born actress and model
- April 29 - Andre Agassi, American tennis player
- April 29 - Uma Thurman, American actress
- May 12 - Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
- May 15 - Rod Smith, American football player
- May 16 - Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- May 18 - Tina Fey, American writer, comedienne, and actress
- May 22 - Naomi Campbell, English model and actress
- May 24 - Jeff Zgonina, American football player
- May 25 - Jamie Kennedy, American actor and comedian
- May 26 - Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese cartoonist
- May 27 - Joseph Fiennes, English actor

June-July


- June 6 - Anthony Norris, American professional wrestler
- June 8 - Kelli Williams, American actress
- June 13 - Mikael Ljungberg, Swedish wrestler (d. 2004)
- June 16 - Phil Mickelson, American golfer
- June 19 - Quincy Watts, American athlete
- June 20 - Russell Garcia, British field hockey player
- June 20 - Moulay Rachid, Prince of Morocco
- June 25 - Lucy Benjamin, British actress
- June 26 - Patrick Norton, American writer and television host
- June 26 - Chris O'Donnell, American actor
- June 27 - Jim Edmonds, baseball player
- June 27 - Vitamin C, American singer
- July 3 - Teemu Selanne, Finnish hockey player
- July 3 - Shawnee Smith, American actress
- July 3 - Yona Kosashvili, chess player
- July 5 - Mac Dre, American rapper (d. 2004)
- July 8 - Beck, American singer
- July 11 - Saj Karim, British politician
- July 23 - Charisma Carpenter, American actress
- July 23 - Thea Dorn, German writer

August-September


- August 2 - Tony Amonte, American hockey player
- August 6 - M. Night Shyamalan, Indian film director, writer, producer, and actor
- August 13 - Alan Shearer, English footballer
- August 17 - Jim Courier, American tennis player
- August 18 - Malcolm-Jamal Warner, American actor
- August 20 - John Carmack, American computer game programmer
- August 21 - Erik Dekker, Dutch professional cyclist
- August 23 - Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian
- August 25 - Claudia Schiffer, German model
- August 27 - Jim Thome, baseball player
- August 29 - Jacco Eltingh, Dutch tennis player
- August 31 - Deborah Gibson, American singer
- September 4 - Daisy Dee, Dutch singer and actress
- September 8 - Latrell Sprewell, American basketball player
- September 9 - Macy Gray, American singer
- September 10 - Phaswane Mpe, South African writer (d. 2004)
- September 14 - Craig Montoya, American musician (Everclear)
- September 18 - Darren Gough, English cricketer
- September 19 - Takanori Nishikawa, Japanese singer
- September 22 - Mike Matheny, baseball player
- September 23 - Ani DiFranco, American mus

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

SR-71 Blackbird

The Lockheed SR-71 Type A, unofficially known as the Blackbird, is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed YF-12A and A-12 aircraft by Lockheed's Skunk Works (also responsible for the U-2 and many other advanced aircraft). The legendary "Kelly" Johnson, in particular, was the man behind many of the design's advanced concepts. The SR-71 was one of the first aircraft to be shaped to have an extremely low radar signature. The aircraft flew so fast and so high that if the pilot detected a surface-to-air missile had been launched, the standard evasive action was to simply accelerate. No SR-71 has ever been shot down. It is believed to have been replaced by the hypothetical Aurora aircraft.

History

The first flight of an SR-71 took place on December 22, 1964, and the first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force