Saturn I SA-3

Saturn-Apollo 3 (SA-3) was the third flight of the Saturn I launch vehicle, the second flight of Project Highwater, and was part of the American Apollo program. The rocket was launched on November 16, 1962, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

History

The Saturn I launch vehicle components were delivered to Cape Canaveral by the barge Promise on September 19, 1962,^[1] but erection of the first stage booster onto its launch pedestal was delayed until September 21 due to a tropical depression that moved over the Florida peninsula.^[2] The dummy second and third stages (S-IV and S-V) and payload were assembled on the booster on September 24.^[1]Ballast water was loaded into the dummy stages on October 31, and the RP-1 fuel was loaded on November 14.^[1]

For this launch, Cape Canaveral director Kurt Debus asked Marshall Space Flight Center director Wernher von Braun, who was overseeing the Saturn project, that no outside visitors be allowed on NASA grounds due to the ongoing tensions of the Cuban Missile Crisis.^[2]

Flight

Saturn-Apollo 3 launched at 17:45:02 on November 16, 1962, from Launch Complex 34.^[3] The only hold in the countdown sequence was for 45 minutes due to a power failure in ground support equipment.^[4] This mission was the first time the Saturn I rocket was launched with a full load of propellant, carrying approximately 750,000 pounds (340,000 kg) of fuel.^[2][5][6]

The vehicle’s four inner H-1 engines shut down at 2 minutes 21.66 seconds after launch and an altitude of 38.19 miles (61.46 km), and its four outer engines shut down at 2 minutes 29.09 seconds and 44.19 miles (71.11 km); both sets burned slightly longer than was initially estimated, reaching a maximum velocity of 4,046 miles per hour (6,511 km/h).^[1] The vehicle continued to coast to an altitude of 103.91 miles (167.22 km) and range of 131.36 miles (211.41 km), at which point, 4 minutes 52 seconds after launch,^[1] officials sent a terminate command to the rocket, setting off several charges which caused the dummy stages of the vehicle to destruct.^[3][7] The first stage remained intact,^[1] though uncontrolled, until it impacted the Atlantic Ocean around 270 miles (430 km) from its launch site.^[6]

Objectives

The primary objectives of SA-3 were much the same as the previous two Saturn I flights in that it was primarily a test of the booster and its H-1 engines. According to NASA’s after-action report of the flight, SA-3 aimed to test four areas: the booster, the ground support equipment, the vehicle in flight, and Project Highwater.^[1]

The test of the booster involved the propulsion system, structural design, and control systems. The ground support test involved the facilities and equipment used in the launch, including propellant systems, automatic checkout equipment, launch platform, and support towers. The vehicle in flight test measured aeroballistics, which confirmed values of aerodynamic characteristics such as stability and performance; propulsion, which ensured the engines could provide enough thrust to propel the vehicle at the correct velocity and trajectory, as well as provide data on on the performance of all eight engines during flight; structural and mechanical, which provided measurements of the vehicle’s stress and vibration levels through all phases of flight; and guidance and control, which demonstrated that spacecraft systems could accurately provide orientation and velocity information.^[1]

The fourth objective, Project Highwater, was an experiment previously flown on SA-2. This involved the intentional release of ballast water from the second and third stages which allowed scientists to investigate the nature of Earth’s ionosphere, as well as noctilucent clouds and the behavior of ice in space.^[8]

For Project Highwater, tanks in SA-3’s dummy upper stages were filled with 192,528 pounds (87,329 kg) of water, approximately 22,900 US gallons (87,000 l; 19,100 imp gal), which was used to simulate the mass of future Saturn payloads.^[1] The water was divided roughly in half between the two dummy stages. When the terminate command was sent to the rocket, primacord charges split both stages longitudinally, instantly releasing its load of water.^[8] The experiment was tracked by cameras and other equipment on the ground and in aircraft.^[7] Observers at Cape Canaveral reported that the ice cloud was visible for about three seconds and was “several miles across”.^[6][7]

NASA declared all engineering goals of the flight as achieved,^[9] despite occasional issues with telemetry during flight and some measurement data being unusable or only partially usable.^[1] Project Highwater on SA-3 was also declared successful,^[1] though again, telemetry issues produced questionable results.^[9]

Saturn I SA-2

Saturn-Apollo 2 (SA-2) was the second flight of the Saturn I launch vehicle, the first flight of Project Highwater, and was part of the American Apollo program. The rocket was launched on April 25, 1962, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

History

Launch preparation for the mission began at Cape Canaveral on February 27, 1962, with the arrival of the second Saturn I launch vehicle. The only significant change made to the vehicle from the previous SA-1 flight was the addition of extra baffles in the propellant tanks to prevent fuel sloshing. While no serious delays were encountered, there were several minor problems reported.^[1]

A leak was detected between the liquid oxygen dome and injector for the #4 H-1 rocket engine; while attempts were made to fix the problem, it was eventually decided to launch without replacing the engine. Minor problems were found in the guidance subsystem and service structure operations, damaged strain gauges were found in a liquid oxygen stud and truss member, and a manhole cover on the dummy Centaur (S-V-D) third stage had to be replaced. Problems arose with two of the fueling computers, but each was repaired. Three hydraulic systems were also listed as potential problems.^[1]

Despite the issues encountered during flight preparation, none required the target launch date of April 25 to be pushed back.^[1]

Flight

Saturn-Apollo 2 launched at 14:00:34 UTC on April 25, 1962, from Launch Complex 34.^[2] The only hold in the countdown sequence was for 30 minutes due to a vessel which entered the flight safety zone 60 miles (96 km) down range.^[3][1] The rocket carried 620,000 pounds (281,000 kg) of propellant, about 83% of its maximum capacity.^[1]

The H-1 engines shut down at an altitude of 35 miles (56 km) after firing for 1 minute 55 seconds and reaching a maximum velocity of 3,750 miles per hour (6,040 km/h).^[4][5] The vehicle continued to coast to an altitude of 65.4 miles (105.3 km),^[6] at which point, 2 minutes 40 seconds after launch,^[4] officials sent a terminate command to the rocket, setting off several charges which caused the vehicle to destruct.^[1]

Objectives

The objectives of SA-2 were much the same as those of SA-1 in that it was primarily a test of the Saturn I rocket and the new H-1 engines. Specifically, its goals were to prove propulsion performance and mission adequacy, vehicle structural design and aerodynamic characteristics, guidance and control systems, and launch facility and ground support equipment. NASA declared all objectives as successful. Additionally, the fuel sloshing issue from SA-1 was minimized.^[3]

A second objective of both this mission and SA-3 was Project Highwater, the intentional release of ballast water from the second and third stages which allowed scientists to investigate the nature of Earth’s ionosphere, as well as noctilucent clouds and the behavior of ice in space.^[6]

SA-2’s dummy upper stages contained approximately 190,000 pounds (86,000 kg) of water,^[6] or 22,900 US gallons (86,685 l),^[3] used to simulate the mass of future payloads. Stage two contained 97,000 pounds (44,000 kg) of water, and stage three contained 93,000 pounds (42,000 kg).^[6] When the terminate command was sent to the rocket, dynamite charges^[4] split the second stage longitudinally, instantly releasing its water load.^[6]Primacord charges created several 1-foot (0.30 m) holes in the third stage, releasing its water over a period of several seconds.^[6]

Cameras on the ground immediately recorded the water cloud, and personnel at a ground station began to observe it about four to five seconds after release.^[2][6] Those personnel reported that the cloud dispersed from vision within an average of five seconds,^[6] while more sensitive instruments tracked the cloud to a maximum altitude of 100 miles (161 km).^[1] The cloud produced lightning-like effects, which Dr. Wernher von Braun described as “probably the first synthetic thunderstorm ever generated in space.”^[7] Project Highwater on this flight was also declared a success.^[5]

Saturn I SA-1

SA-1 was the first Saturn I space launch vehicle, the first in the Saturn family, and was part of the American Apollo program. The rocket was launched on October 27, 1961 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Objectives

The Saturn I booster was a huge increase in size and power over anything previously launched. It was three times taller, required six times more fuel and produced ten times more thrust than the Jupiter-C rocket that had launched the first American satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit in 1958.

At the time, NASA had decided to not use all-up testing, when an entire system is tested at once. The agency planned to test each rocket stage in separate launches, so for SA-1 the only live stage was the S-I first stage.

This first flight was designed to test the structure of the launch vehicle during a suborbital flight using the nose cone from a Jupiter rocket.

Preparation

As this was the first Saturn flight, the systems were still being developed. It was the first time that a stage had been delivered to Cape Canaveral by barge and it demonstrated this could be done for the larger stages of future Saturn rockets. The first stage and the two dummy upper stages arrived on August 15, 1961 on the barge Compromise. It had encountered some problems on the voyage, running aground four times due to poor nautical charts. On the return trip, the barge hit a bridge, causing some minor damage.

The booster was erected at Pad 34 five days later with little trouble. Testing proceeded, albeit a little behind schedule. At this time, testing was not automated and amounted to flicking switches in the control center and observing how the rocket responded.

Flight

At 12:30 p.m. EST on October 26, 1961, the RP-1 propellant started to flow into the rocket. One hundred three percent of the fuel required was put into the rocket, as it was possible to easily drain fuel. Just before launch, surplus fuel was removed from the tanks.

Liquid oxygen began flowing into its tanks at 3:00 a.m. the next day. It followed the same procedure as the RP-1 with the tanks being filled to 10 percent to check for leaks, then fast filled to 97 percent, then slowly topped off.

Despite a couple of delays due to bad weather, the rocket was launched only one hour behind schedule. The engineers had given the rocket only a 75 percent chance of lifting off and only a 30 percent chance of completing a nominal flight. Even with a nominal flight some damage was thought possible. At the Redstone Arsenal, ground testing had shattered windows 12 km away.

The sound of the launch was a disappointment for some witnesses, being described as like an Atlas rocket launch, when observers stood 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away instead of three miles (5 km) for a Saturn launch. It was later determined that the cause of the difference between the Cape and the Redstone Arsenal was atmospheric conditions damping the sound.

The flight itself was nearly perfect. The rocket reached a height of 136.5 km and impacted 345.7 km down range from the launch site in the Atlantic Ocean. The only real problem was the rocket cut off 1.6 seconds ahead of schedule. This was traced to the fact that there was 400 kg too much liquid oxygen and 410 kg too little RP-1. For the test flight, SA-1 only carried a propellant load that was 83 percent full.

Retirement

On 10 April 2003, Air France and British Airways simultaneously announced that they would retire Concorde later that year.^[139] They cited low passenger numbers following the 25 July 2000 crash, the slump in air travel following 11 September 2001, and rising maintenance costs. Although Concorde was technologically advanced when introduced in the 1970s, 30 years later its analogue cockpit was dated. There had been little commercial pressure to upgrade Concorde due to a lack of competing aircraft, unlike other airliners of the same era such as the Boeing 747.^[140] By its retirement, it was the last aircraft in British Airways’ fleet that had a flight engineer; other aircraft, such as the modernised 747-400, had eliminated the role.^[141]

On the same day, Sir Richard Branson offered to buy British Airways’ Concorde fleet at their “original price of £1” for service with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Branson claimed this to be the same token price that British Airways had paid the British government; however, BA denied this and refused the offer.^[142] Branson wrote in The Economist (23 October 2003) that his final offer was “over £5 million” and that he had intended to operate the fleet “for many years to come”.^[143] The chances for keeping Concorde in service were stifled by Airbus’s lack of support for continued maintenance.^{[144][145][N 2]}

It has been suggested that Concorde was not withdrawn for the reasons usually given but that it became apparent during the grounding of Concorde that the airlines could make more revenue carrying first class passengers subsonically.^[146] Rob Lewis suggested that the Air France retirement of its Concorde fleet was the result of a conspiracy between Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta and Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard, and stemmed as much from a fear of being found criminally liable under French law for future Concorde accidents as from simple economics.^[147] A lack of commitment to Concorde from Director of Engineering Alan MacDonald was cited as having undermined BA’s resolve to continue operating Concorde.^[148]

Droop nose

Concorde’s drooping nose, developed by Marshall Aerospace,^[88] enabled the aircraft to switch between being streamlined to reduce drag and achieve optimum aerodynamic efficiency, and not obstructing the pilot’s view during taxi, takeoff, and landing operations. Due to the high angle of attack the long pointed nose obstructed the view and necessitated the capability to droop. The droop nose was accompanied by a moving visor that retracted into the nose prior to being lowered. When the nose was raised to horizontal, the visor would raise in front of the cockpit windscreen for aerodynamic streamlining.^[88]

A controller in the cockpit allowed the visor to be retracted and the nose to be lowered to 5° below the standard horizontal position for taxiing and takeoff. Following takeoff and after clearing the airport, the nose and visor were raised. Prior to landing, the visor was again retracted and the nose lowered to 12.5° below horizontal for maximum visibility. Upon landing the nose was raised to the five-degree position to avoid the possibility of damage.^[88]

The Federal Aviation Administration had objected to the restrictive visibility of the visor used on the first two prototype Concordes and thus requiring alteration before the FAA would permit Concorde to serve US airports; this led to the redesigned visor used on the production and the four pre-production aircraft (101, 102, 201, and 202).^[89] The nose window and visor glass needed to endure temperatures in excess of 100°C at supersonic flight were developed by Triplex.^[90]