AS-202
Encyclopedia
Apollo Command/Service Module
The Command/Service Module was one of two spacecraft, along with the Lunar Module, used for the United States Apollo program which landed astronauts on the Moon. It was built for NASA by North American Aviation...
launched with the Saturn IB
Saturn IB
The Saturn IB was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for use in the Apollo program...
launch vehicle. It launched August 25, 1966 and was the first flight which included the spacecraft Guidance and Navigation Control system and fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
s. The success of this flight enabled the Apollo program to judge the Block I spacecraft and Saturn IB ready to carry men into orbit.
Objectives
AS-202 was the third test flight of the Saturn IB, because a delay in the readiness of the Apollo spacecraft 011 pushed its launch past the July 1966 launch of AS-203AS-203
AS-203 was an unmanned flight of the Saturn IB rocket on July 5, 1966. It carried no Apollo Command/Service Module spacecraft, as its purpose was to verify the design of the S-IVB rocket stage restart capability that would later be used in the Apollo program to boost astronauts from Earth orbit to...
. It was designed to test the rocket more than had been done on AS-201
AS-201
AS-201 , flown February 26, 1966, was the first unmanned test flight of an entire production Block I Apollo Command/Service Module and the Saturn IB launch vehicle. The spacecraft consisted of the second Block I command module and the first Block I service module...
by launching the rocket higher and having the flight lasting twice as long. It would also test the Command and Service Module (CSM-011) by having the engine firing four times during the flight.
The flight was also designed to test out the heat shield by subjecting it to 260 megajoules per square metre. Over the course of the reentry it generated equivalent energy needed to power Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
for over one minute in 1966.
CSM-011 was basically a production model capable of carrying a crew. However it lacked the crew couches and some displays that would be included on later missions for the astronauts. This was the first flight of the guidance and navigation system as well as the fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
electrical system.
Flight
AS-202 was launched 25 August 1966 from Pad 34. The launch phase was perfectly nominal with the first stage burning for just under two and a half minutes lifting the rocket to 56 km in altitude and 56 km downrange from the launch pad. The second stage burned for a further seven and half minutes putting the spacecraft into a ballistic trajectory with a maximum altitude of 216 km.The CSM was preprogrammed to make four burns of its Service Propulsion System (SPS). The first occurred a couple of seconds after separation from the S-IVB
S-IVB
The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company and served as the third stage on the Saturn V and second stage on the Saturn IB. It had one J-2 engine...
second stage. It burned for 3 minutes, 35 seconds lifting the spacecraft apogee to 1,128.6 km.
The second burn was 25 minutes later lasting one minute 28 seconds. Two more burns each of three seconds were done ten seconds later to test the rapid restart capabilities of the engine.
As well as testing the SPS, these burns accelerated the spacecraft for an 8900 meters per second reentry. The reentry was a roller coaster like ride, with the spacecraft first dipping down from 122,000 m to 66,000 m. It then lifted back up to 81,000 m. By this time it had shed 1,300 meter/second in speed. It then dipped down for the last time. The main parachutes deployed at 7250 meters in altitude. It splashed down
Splashdown (spacecraft landing)
Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water. It was used by American manned spacecraft prior to the Space Shuttle program. It is also possible for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft to land in water, though this is only a contingency...
370 km from the target landing site and it took the USS Hornet
USS Hornet (CV-12)
USS Hornet is a United States Navy aircraft carrier of the Essex class. Construction started in August 1942; she was originally named , but was renamed in honor of the , which was lost in October 1942, becoming the eighth ship to bear the name.Hornet was commissioned in November 1943, and after...
8 hours and 30 minutes to reach the capsule. The Apollo AS-202 command module landed at 16.12° N - 168.9° E.
Capsule location
The capsule is currently on display on the HornetUSS Hornet (CV-12)
USS Hornet is a United States Navy aircraft carrier of the Essex class. Construction started in August 1942; she was originally named , but was renamed in honor of the , which was lost in October 1942, becoming the eighth ship to bear the name.Hornet was commissioned in November 1943, and after...
. The ship is open to the public as a museum in Alameda, California
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
.
External links
- Postlaunch report for mission AS-202 (Apollo spacecraft 011) - Oct 1966 NASA (PDF format)
- http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=APST202
- Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/cover.html
- Chariots for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/cover.html
- AS-202 Press Kit: http://www.apollosaturn.com/as202/as202con.htm