NASA MANNED SPACE FLIGHT QUARTERLY REPORT, 19

late in the year 1967 we witnessed the beginning of the second decade of the Space Age [Music] it is difficult to realize that only ten years ago at the end of December 1957 the United States had scarcely begun the exploration of space we had yet to launch our first satellite into Earth orbit for now in early 1968 we have acquired a vast amount of new information from a multitude of unmanned satellites and from two completed programs of manned space missions [Music] we have our sights trained on land exploration of the moon and on land scientific investigation in space laboratories [Music] there is still much to be done before we accomplish even our immediate objectives in space but events in the last three months of 1967 have greatly increased confidence that our technology is sound and strengthened belief that we will succeed during the last three months of 1967 the spotlight turned to the major phases of work that must still be accomplished before Apollo will be ready for man flights first in Earth orbit then to the moon in the development of the spacecraft the lunar module was the focal point of attention the lunar module built by Grumman aircraft is of course the part of the spacecraft that will land astronauts on the moon surface an important series of lunar module tests was about to get underway in a large chamber at the manned spacecraft Center in Houston Texas in the chamber the lunar module manned by astronauts will be subjected to a simulated space environment that is a near vacuum and extreme temperatures these are among the many conditions under which the lunar module and its systems are being proven before it will be sent into space on a manned flight another important series of lunar module tests was being readied at the manned spacecraft Center to assure that the cabin is safe in the event of fire to help assure safety there have been over the past months many design and material improvements many individual investigations to test innovations in the cabin fires have been deliberately started at a variety of potential sources in a variety of conditions and the flame behavior studied in the forthcoming series of tests it must be proven that cabin fires will tend to localize and die out rather than spread dangerously this will remove a critical restraint on land Apollo flights one of the most trying series of lunar module tests was in progress at NASA's white sands test facility in New Mexico here for months engineers and technicians have been confronted with technical problems in getting the lunar module ascent engine to burn with consistent stability the ascent engine must launch the module and flight crew from the lunar surface into orbit about the moon instability problems are among the most difficult in the aerospace industry for the lunar module ascent engine a variety of modifications have been tried and test results late in 1967 indicated that a solution was at hand it was anticipated that final qualification testing would begin early in 1968 meanwhile the manufacturing of lunar modules continued at Grumman aircraft the second lunar module equipped for flight was in final factory checkout and was scheduled to be ready for delivery in early 1968 the first lunar module planned for a manned flight was also in factory check-out scheduled for shipment to the Kennedy Space Center Florida in the spring of 1968 as with the lunar module there is still much to be done to get the command and service modules ready for man flights built by North American Rockwell the command module contains working in living quarters for a three-man flight crew the service module contains a propulsion system and other flight equipment here too hardware was being prepared for tests with men well in a simulated space environment where it must be proven reliable before it is committed to man missions and as with a lunar module an important series of tests was being ready to assure that the command module cabin is safe in the event of fire the series will culminate a period of intensive work to increase the safety of designs and materials the command and lunar module cabins have been considerably improved more over much has been learned that will be of benefit in the development of future manned spacecraft as well as commercial applications there were also in progress tests to prove the command modules earth landing system the landing system has been modified slightly because the weight of its burden the command module had been somewhat increased by design and material changes inside the cabin this meant that the tests had to be extended beyond original plans to assure complete confidence in the landing system while the test activities we have covered as well as many others were in progress North American Rockwell continued its manufacturing work the company was conducting final checkout for the command and service modules scheduled for the first manned Apollo flight which will be launched by an uprated Saturn one the company was also conducting final checkout for the modules scheduled for the first man flight aboard the far larger Saturn 5 while everything possible is done during ground testing and manufacturing to assure reliability the success of these efforts cannot be truly measured except by flight and at the end of 1967 major attention focused on the Kennedy Space Center's complex 37:4 it is from here that an operational lunar module will be fired into space for the first time unmanned on an uprated Saturn one the only major piece of Apollo equipment which has yet to fly with operating systems the lunar module will be put through a rigorous test in Earth orbit its structures both its engines its onboard systems will be tested in the most critical phase of the mission the lunar module will be put through an abort maneuver which would be required should an emergency develop just before touchdown on the lunar surface months were spent getting the lunar module ready for flight finally in November 1967 it was installed inside its adapter assembly and transported to the pad for final launch preparations in the huge Vehicle Assembly Building at complex 39 meanwhile the second Apollo Saturn 5 was being prepared for an unmanned launch according to plans the second flight will be almost a repeat of the first the primary objective being to solidify confidence in the vehicle which will eventually carry American astronauts to the moon the astronauts in the meantime were themselves hard at work one of the many skills they must perfect is that of joining two Apollo vehicles in space as we proceed in Apollo two-man lunar flights there is no scientific objective more important than the study of the moon for there in our long sought answers to many questions about the solar system and our own earth study of the moon from space has thus far been carried out in unmanned missions such as the flight of the sixth surveyor spacecraft which successfully sat down in the very center of the face of the moon in early November 1967 the unmanned investigations so far have been primarily directed at mapping the moon and studying its surface for example the bearing strength the chemical content the soil consistency in Apollo when man visits the moon firsthand many of the studies will revolve around data received from an array of instruments known as a lunar surface experiment package these instruments will along in their development at Bendix at the end of 1967 will gather and transmit information to earth long after departure of the flight crew science will learn for example much about the geologic structure of the moon about the nature of the moon's very core about storms of radioactive particles which originate with our violent Sun science will also learn much from samples which astronauts bring back from the lunar surface it is at a recently completed manned spacecraft Center laboratory that the samples will be isolated from earth contamination and prepared and distributed to scientists in this country and abroad the history of the moon's formation can be studied the magnetic characteristics the chemical constituents possible signs of life at the end of 1967 most of the laboratory equipment had been installed and was being checked out and the techniques for handling the samples were being developed and perfected scientific investigations in space the advancement of technology extended studies of man's physiology will assume even greater prominence in Apollo applications the program to capitalize on our aerospace capabilities late in 1967 Apollo applications equipment was taking shape and facilities across the country part of the equipment is an uprated Saturn one second stage which has been modified so astronauts may convert it in space from a rocket to living and working quarters by the end of 1967 McDonnell Douglas had completed modification of a full scale model of the special stage called the orbital workshop to reflect latest design concepts for instance the company installed two new floors in effect dividing the workshop into two sections so that better advantage could be taken of working space at the Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville Alabama engineers worked with a partial model of the workshop underwater where the weightless conditions of space may be fairly well simulated to evaluate designs and to study equipment installation procedures concurrently at Marshall a full-scale model of a telescope mount was modified to reflect latest design concepts connected with the orbital workshop this equipment will serve as a place to mount a battery of telescopes for astronomical observations Engineers work with a partial model of the mount underwater to help evaluate designs of equipment requiring work outside the telescope mount beyond models hardware was in the early stage of fabrication for example assembly was in progress for solar panels and solar cells a part of the telescope mount the solar panels will draw on the energy of the Rays of the Sun for electric power the accomplishment of what our nation wants to do in apollo and apollo applications is an imposing and difficult task few events have been more imposing and difficult and few have been more rewarding than the flight of Apollo 4 while the flight of Apollo 4 was in its own right a major milestone for 1967 and the technological achievement of the first magnitude its primary significance for the program was that it proved we are on the right course that the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people have been well spent that we may now proceed with greater confidence in the future the unmanned earth orbital flight was the first for the saturn v launch vehicle for the lunar mission and the third for the apollo spacecraft the success of the mission proved much indeed in brief it proved that pre-flight check of procedures at factories and test facilities across the nation as well as at the launch site are valid it proved the capability of the launch team which spent many months assuring that Apollo 4 was flight worthy it proved that launch complex ground facilities were well designed it proved that Apollo Saturn 5 could be launched at a predetermined time as required for lunar missions in fact liftoff came within one second of the planned moment [Music] it soon became obvious that something else was being proven Apollo Saturn 5 by far the largest most complex space vehicle ever built by this nation would fly would fly superbly [Music] as the mission progressed the capability of the flight control team of proving the capability was proven for mission support facilities the mission control center a world encircling network of tracking stations tracking ships tracking aircraft it was proven that the launch vehicles hydrogen-fueled third stage would reignite in space as required for the lunar mission after the spacecraft climbed to the peak altitude of the flight more than 11,000 miles and began its descent to earth one final thing was going to be proven that the command module could withstand the heating of re-entering the atmosphere at a velocity even greater than that anticipated for lunar missions the standard sent by Apollo 4 will be hard to match in the months to come if we can live up to the standards however we may proceed into the second decade of the Space Age confident that our achievements will surpass those of the first decade we may feel confident that we can successfully accomplish what must yet be done to meet our present goals in space and confident that we will be able to meet our future goals as well [Music]