50 Years Ago: Apollo 1 Fire

Astronauts Gus Grissom (L), Ed White (C), and Roger Chaffee (R). Picture taken at Launch Complex 34, with the gantry tower in the background.

Hard to believe it was fifty years ago. On January 27, 1967, we lost three astronauts during a test of the newly-designed Apollo command module  at the eventual launch site. It's a famous event, most of us remember reading about it. Mostly I remember having seen something on TV and having adults tell me what happened. Over the years I learned more and more of the mistakes that were made leading up to the moment of terror when an electrical arc from an exposed wire ignited the 100% oxygen in the test environment. The fire was quick and the intensity so hot and at such incredible pressure that it cracked the hull of the capsule and prevented immediate attempts to rescue the crew. But it was too late - the crew died firstly from the toxic fumes. Today I don't want to remember the scenes of the aftermath, there are plenty of sites on the Internet and a plethora of books describing it all. I like to picture them as they were before the fire, as shown above.

Above is an aerial view of LC-34. It was taken in 1963 during preparations for SA-4, a test launch of Saturn 1. You can see the twin gantry towers, which is the red tower complex seen in the first photo. A test Saturn rocket sits on the concrete pad base attached to the launch tower. The circular building is the launchpad protective firing room. It's obvious how close the pad was to the shoreline. Today it is all gone, except for the roads, concrete pads, the rocket launch base, and the firing room bunker. 

The photo above is from my last trip to the Cape. This is the approach road to the complex on the western side. The concrete pads are out of sight to the right, while in the distance you can see launch towers from LC-37 ( still active launch site) on the left. You can visit the site if you take the Cape Canaveral AFB tour from the Kennedy Space Center visitors Center. This tour is only available during days when no rocket launches are planned, and I think only one tour a day is allowed. 

The tour bus lets you off within walking distance of the launch pad base. The tower itself was scrapped years later, as were most of the facilities on old launch pads. It's actually quite a wide concrete base. There is a great feeling of quiet there except for the wind that blows towards the Atlantic just a short distance away.

This picture gives a greater sense of the size of the base related to human height. As you can see, weather and age are having its toll on the structure. There is some talk of tearing it down, but I would rather see some funds put into an effort to restore it. I would love to see NASA build a small building here to protect it from the elements and display in miniature how the pad looked and operated. To me, the pads are just as important as the rockets.

Next you can see the gigantic opening made for the flame exhaust from the mighty Saturn 1 engines. I believe the tubular ring is part of the fire suppression system to lesson the ground shock of the engine power. There is something symbolic in being able to look upwards towards space through this open portal. 

These are the blast deflectors which would be placed under the rocket to deflect the fire and exhaust to a horizontal direction, avoiding a wave of pressure and flame from rebounding off the ground and damaging the engine section. These were not scrapped yet when I visited, and are stored at the edge of the giant pad. In the old picture of the pad, click it to enlarge it, and look behind the left side of the towers about midway up, and you can see on of these deflectors. That's where they still are.

 From the launch tower base, you can look somewhat south and see the firing room bunker. In case of danger, the crew would be evacuated from the rocket, and taken up a long protected tunnel to the blast-resistant bunker. You can find it in the old complex photo very easily.

This is a view of the Firing room bunker as we drove past it in the bus. There was no stopping here, the bunker is off-limits to the tour. Our guide did not know if anything has been preserved inside the bunker. It was planned that the Saturn 1b rockets would launch from this pad complex, and the launch control room would have been in here. As it was, four Saturn 1 test launches were from here, and there were two Saturn 1B test launches from this pad before the Apollo 1 fire. Afterwards, the return of astronauts to space took place in the next manned launch, Apollo 7, from this complex. Operations then moved to the LC-39 complex.

When you walk under the launch base, you can feel history there. You sense the reverence and awe in the fellow visitors, and everyone whispers even though we are out in the open. This is part of our great space race past, and it is a place that deserves to be preserved and visited.

Falcon Explodes on Pad; Satellite Destroyed

Explosion begins just below the payload section on the Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX suffered a dramatic setback Thursday September 1st when its Falcon 9 rocket exploded on pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. The payload, a communications satellite for Israel designated AMOS-6, was vaporized in the blast.  The explosion occurred during a firing test, when an unexplained detonation occurred in the 2nd stage liquid-oxygen (LOX) tank. SpaceX engineers worked diligently to put out the fires and secure the facility. According to reports in NASASpaceflight.com, SpaceX claims the explosion happened while fuel was loading into the LOX 2nd stage tank, at about 7:07 am Mountain Time. This is the second lost mission for SpaceX in 2 years, and there are many questions being raised about what went wrong while investigators do their best to find out why this tragedy happened.

The AMOS-6 payload section before the LOX fuel loading. Credit: SpaceX.

 

AMOS-6 was a communications satellite built by the Israeli firm Israel Aerospace Industries. It was supposed to take the place of the worn-out AMOS-2 satellite, at an orbital height of 22,000 miles.

50 Years Ago: Aiming Toward the Space Shuttle

The M2-F2 carefully maneuvers for touchdown. All photos NASA. 

On July 12, 1966, NASA and Northrop successfully dropped the new M2-F2 lifting body from a specially prepared B-52 bomber over a dry lake bed at Edwards AFB. The craft was advanced from the original design first test by Northrop's M2-F1 which flew back in 1963.

M2-F2 attached to a pylon on the B-52 before the flight.

The B-52 was the same one used to drop X-15 aircraft, with a modified carry pylon that allowed it to carry lifting bodies as well as the X-15s. On this first flight, Milton Thompson guided the craft from a drop height of 13, 716 feet at a top speed of 727 km/hr, which is equivalent to a little over Mach .6. The flight lasted 3 and a 1/2 minutes.

Cockpit of the M2-F2.

The NASA lifting body tests were important precursors to helping engineers in the initial designs of a possible re-usable spacecraft which could glide from orbit back to the Earth. Eventually these designs would become the Space Shuttle.

M2-F1 sitting next to the retired M2-F1.

ISS Crew Completes BEAM Expansion

The expansion of the BEAM test module over time. Credit: NASATV.

It took a little longer than expected, but the BEAM expandable habitat module has been finally extended and inflated. The BEAM (Bigelow Expandale Activity Module) arrived on the SpaceX Dragon flight which docked with the station back on April 8th. A week later, astronauts used the CanadArm robotic arm to remove the module from the Dragon and attach it to the US Harmony module airlock. A month later, it was time to begin the process of expanding the module. There were doubts at first that everything would go right, because the module was late getting to the station and had sit on Earth in its compacted form for longer than expected.

Location of BEAM and other docked spacecraft on the ISS. Credit: NASA.

 

Last week astronaut Jeff Williams began to slowly bleed air into the bladders that are located in the expandable skin. It was feared by engineers that if they had used the air reservoirs inside the BEAM to inflate the structure, the procedure would go too fast and cause damage. Williams used air from the station itself to fill the bladders slowly. Trouble showed up when indicators failed to show that the straps holding the module in its compact form had failed to release. The expansion was temporarily halted to investigate the situation and determine that yes, the strap had actually released. Williams and the ground engineers took deliberate time-outs to evaluate the situation after several slow sessions of introducing air into the bladders. Slowly, over tow days, as the structure expanded they became more confident and allowed the module to expand much faster. 

Once the expansion was completed, Williams began to use the module air reserves to pressurize the interior of the module. When that is complete, there will be an 80-hour period of watching the sensors and indicators before the hatch is actually opened and astronauts will be allowed to enter.

You can read more about the operation on NASA Spaceflight: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/05/iss-inflatable-module-beam-expansion/

50 Years Ago: The Flight of AS-201

The Saturn 1b clears the tower.

 

On February 26, 1966, NASA launched the first test of a Saturn 1b rocket carrying the unmanned Block 1 Apollo command and service modules. Block 1 modules were not designed with the forward hatch necessary for docking with the newly-designed Lunar Excursion Module, so they would be relegated to Earth-orbit-only missions. The purpose of this mission was to test the Saturn 1b vehicle integrity, the connections to the CM and SM, rocket guidance and propulsion, and to test the CM on re-entry. This would also include a test of the vehicle recovery plans and ships.

Recovery divers ensure the safe retrieval of the command module.

 

On the 26th, there was an abort command at four seconds before launch when the fuel tanks in the S-IVb stage fell below expected levels. Quick checking by the engineers and a launch simulation showed that the flight could proceed with the lower pressures, so the countdown resumed and the rocket lifted off from Launch Complex LC-34 at Cape Kennedy. The launch went well, with the Command and Service module separation at 425 miles from the Earth. The SM then fired its engine twice to propel the modules back to the Earth. This proved that the Service module engines could be restarted in space. There were only a few problems with the engine and the control of the CM, mostly dealing with wiring problems and an unexpected leak of helium into the SM fuel.  The command module re-entered the atmosphere and safely made a water landing 37 minutes after launch. The recovery ship USS Boxer found the CM about 70 km from where it was supposed to be. Today the CM is on display to the public at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska.

USS Boxer (CV-21). USN photo.

 

Mission patch for flight AS-201.

 

50 Years Ago: Preparing for AS-201

Apollo AS-201 on the pad at Cape Kennedy.

Fifty years ago, in 1966, NASA was ready to begin an intensive testing program of the Saturn rocket with the Apollo spacecraft components. The first unmanned launch would be mission AS-201 scheduled for February 26. The launch vehicle was the Saturn 1, designed for getting Apollo into Earth orbit and testing command, service, and lunar module components before sending them to the Moon. There had been ten Saturn 1 test launches since 1961, using boiler-plate mock-up equipment in place of actual command and service module elements. In the latter half of 1965, the Saturn 1 rocket segments were brought to Cape Kennedy and stacked on the pad at Launch Complex 34.

Components of the Saturn 1 first stage.

Chrysler was the manufacturer of the first stage. Yes, the same company that manufactures cars. On this model, the stage featured eight J-2 engines that could produce thrust of 1,600,000 pounds of force. It arrived at the Cape in August 1965. It was set up directly on the pad.

Components of the Saturn 1 second stage.

 The second stage of the rocket is actually the Saturn IVb stage, built by Douglas Aircraft Company (now part of Boeing). It also worked as the third stage of the Saturn V rocket. It used one J-2 engine for propulsion. It was mated to the rocket, on the pad, in October 1965.

Command and Service modules being mated.

 

The Block 1 Command and Service modules joined the rocket in December 1965. They were built by North American Aviation. The Block 1 design was intended for all Earth-orbit testing and manned missions, before the Lunar Orbit rendezvous scheme was adopted by NASA, and the capsule did not include a docking hatch in its nose. Once the plan for landing in the LEM was included, the Block II was developed, and manned mission planning with Block I was shortened to only two missions. 

Finishing the Stack.

 

Testing of the rocket continued both night and day. In late 1965, the automation testing computer developed malfunctions which slowed down the rate of testing, but it was of course repaired and plans continued for the February 26 launch.

Rocket Soft-Landing Achieved!

Don't be fooled: This rocket is not taking off, it is LANDING! (Cr: Blue Origin)

It's been on the minds of rocketeers since the space movies of the 1950's. Back in the day, our sci-fi movies routinely had the space travelers land by pointing their rocket engines to the ground and descending until the rocketship landed on its sturdy fins or on special landing pads. From an operator's point of view, it would make the rocket reusable and lower costs of transportation. In search of that goal, NASA (and their Air Force-influenced engineers) designed the Space Shuttle System which allowed the winged vehicle to glide to a stop on a long runway. In the 90's, NASA sponsored new designs to replace the shuttle with further winged technology, All of it was deemed too expensive, so nothing came of it. The space shuttle was determined to be too dangerous and expensive, so the government terminated the program and left our astronauts dependent on Russian cheap (relatively, of course) throw away rockets and capsules. For a moment, things looked interesting with the DC-X project which was able to land on its legs after launching, but that was abandoned.

Slow and steady wins the day, just before touchdown. (Cr: Blue Origin)

Now we are in the final stretches of a new space race, between innovative companies who are creating commercial replacements for the NASA cash-guzzling behemoths. SpaceX gained attention with its repeated attempts to land its Falcon first stage on a landing barge in the Atlantic after launching the Dragon cargo spacecraft. To date, each attempt has ended in failure but has been better and better and will definitely soon see a success. Then suddenly, without fanfare, competing entrepreneurs of Blue Origin launched their New Shephard sub-orbital rocket last April.  Now they have done it again, recording the first successful landing of a rocket which has gone into space. The New Shepard rocket blasted off from Texas on Monday morning, hurling its test capsule into a sub-orbital hop up to 100 kilometers, which then safely returned to Earth and landed via parachute.  The main stage rocket though, reached a height of 330,000 feet and then returned to Earth - by landing on its legs.

As great as this achievement is, it is still a different matter to return the stage from launching a craft into orbit. The SpaceX Falcon stage will have placed the Dragon cargo ship into space to reach a speed of 17,500 mph, which is a much higher degree of difficulty than what was achieved by Blue Origin last week. Nevertheless, it's a great step, and points to exciting things to come.

Blue Origin engineers celebrate the landing of the New Shepard stage, in the background. Cr: Blue Origin.

50 Years Ago: SNAPSHOT Goes Nuclear in Space

Atlas-Agena-D lifts off with SNAPSHOT satellite.

Fifty years ago on April 3, 1965, NASA launched an Atlas rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California that lifted the SNAPSHOT nuclear reactor test satellite into orbit. The Agena booster carried the satellite into a polar orbit, where four hours later the reactor was remotely triggered to life. Within a half-day of starting, the reactor was producing almost 600 watts of electricity.

NASA illustration of the SNAPSHOT satellite still attached to the Agena booster stage.

It was planned to have the reactor generate electricity for one year, but in 43 days the voltage regulator failed, causing the need for ground engineers to shut down the experiment. Scientists expected that the radioactive elements in the reactor would decay to a safe level within 100 years, but the orbit of the craft was so solid that engineers calculated it would remain in orbit for 3000-4000 years!

SNAPSHOT during ground testing.

It is thought that in 1979, the craft may have collided with space debris in its orbit. Ground radars have tracked pieces of the satellite that would account for 50 pounds of the satellite's mass. It's not certain if any radioactive elements have been released, but certainly none of that would survive re-entry onto the ground.

50 Years Ago: Asset Lost at Sea and an Atlas Rocket Explodes

Back on February 23, 1965 the United States Air Force lost one of its Assets. Literally. As part of Project Asset, the US Air Force was testing the heat shield part of the cancelled DynaSoar X-20 program. Realizing that the data on glider re-entry would still be valuable, the ASSET program continued and the information would later be used to help design the Space Shuttle.

The Asset launches used pad 17B on Cape Canaveral, and were planned to arc out over the Atlantic and have the glider test craft recovered for analysis. ASV-1, launched on a Thor rocket, succeeded in re-entry and landing in the ocean, but it's recovery system malfunctioned and it sank and was lost. Remaining missions used a Thor-Delta rocket configuration using a second stage to propel the craft on a steeper re-entry path. The second launch was also a disaster, the second stage malfunctioned and the craft was self-destructed in flight. ASSET 3 was a success, and the craft recovered and is preserved in the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. The other flights were also lost at sea after successful flights but failures in recovery. ASV-6, occurring 50 years ago, was the end of the program.

Pictures by Ed Hengeveld.

Within a few weeks of the ASV-6 failure, there was another disaster at the Cape. Two seconds after ignition on Pad 36B, an Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying a dummy test Surveyor spacecraft, exploded into a fireball. A fuel valve shut off at ignition, causing 2 of 3 engines to fail. The rocket collapsed back onto the launchpad, having only risen three feet. It then tipped over and exploded onto the ground. No one was hurt and the damage was estimate at $5 million.

Atlas-Centaur 5 on Pad 36B.

Flames surround the rocket as it settles back onto the pad.

The explosion engulfs the tower as well.

More distant view of the explosion.

Wreckage at the site.

 

First 3D Object Printed in Space

Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore of NASA holds up the first object printed aboard the ISs by the new 3D printing machine.

"Butch" Wilmore, commander of the current Expedition 42 aboard the ISS, installed the 3D printer a couple of weeks ago on November 17th. In coordination with ground engineer teams, calibration tests were made on November 20. Finally ready on November 24, the controllers sent a command to the printer to create a copy of the faceplate of the casing of the printer. This act proves that the machine can, in fact, make some replacement parts for itself. Then the next day, Commander Wilmore removed the part and inspected it. It was discovered that the adhesion of the printed object to its production tray was very strong, more than anticipated. There is some speculation that the material's bonding may be slightly different due to the Zero-G situation. After each printed object is made, analysis will help the engineers fine-tune the device to prepare it for full operational status.

Picture of the 3D printer before launch and some of the objects that are planned to be printed in space.

The 3D printer on the ISS was designed and built by Made In Space, Inc. based in Moffat Field, California. All of the parts that will be printed will eventually be flown back to Earth for greater study. With the cancellation of the Space Shuttle, that would have been difficult due to the limitations on what can be carried down from orbit on the Soyuz return capsules. However, with the success of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spaceship, experiments and equipment can be safely returned to Earth for further studies.

50 Years Ago: Making Apollo Safe

Little Joe II in ascent.

Fifty years ago, engineers were doing their best to make sure astronauts could escape a fiery end to the Saturn rocket. On May 13, 1964, NASA launched a "Little JoeII" rocket which was designed to carry test versions of the Apollo Command and Service Module into a launch simulating the forces it would experience on later actual missions. In this case, the modules were a boiler-plate model, or a dimensionally-correct replica of the spacecraft which included weights and sensors for testing. The purpose of this test was not aimed at the capsule, but rather the structure perched on top of it - the escape tower. Blasting off from the White Sands missile range in California, rocket soared to 17,000 feet and then remotely exploded. In an instant, the rocket thrusters on the tower detected the failure and roared into action, separating the command module  away from the explosion and up further to 24,000 feet. At that point the tower was jettisoned and descent parachutes were deployed, returning the command module to the Earth. The entire test took only 7 1/2 minutes, and was passed successfully.

50 Years Ago: FIrst Lunar Test Vehicle Ready

LLRV in flight over Edwards AFB in 1965.

Back in 1964 on April 15, the NASA FLight Research Center received the first version of the LLRV (Lunar Landing Research Vehicle). Built by Bell Aerosystems Company, the cage-like vehicle operationally resembled the flight characteristics of the Apollo Lunar Excursion Module. On this machine, astronauts and test pilots would practice maneuvers that would be required to land the LEM on the Moon in future Apollo missions. The controls were adapted to function in Earth gravity, but feel to the pilot how engineers thought they would feel while simulating Lunar gravity. The vehicle was very unstable, and was considered one of the most dangerous craft a test pilot could ride. This was the first of two vehicles delivered.

A closer look at the LLRV. COl. Emil "Jack" Klueger was one of the test pilots who would learn to tame the beast.

50 Years Ago: Project Fire

Atlas D rocket lifting off with Project FIRE from Pad LC-12.

Fifty years ago, scientists designing the spacecraft for Project Apollo knew that the command module with three astronauts would be slamming into the Earth's atmosphere at over 25,000 mph. To understand the heat stresses on the craft's protective shield, they needed to actually plunge an object with sensors into the atmosphere at that speed and analyze the results. Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) studied these effects for the various NASA spacecraft.  On April 14, 1964, NASA launched an Atlas D rocket carrying a Project Fire test object from LC12 into a 500 mile arc into space. Never intending to reach orbit, the craft separated and plunged down at a steep angle replicating the speed the Apollo capsule would be travelling. Sensors on board the experiment could then measure and define the stresses encountered and the heat effects.

Wind tunnel model of the Project FIRE experiment.

To reach the incredible speed, as the object prepared to return to Earth, and Antares II motor ignited and pushed the experiment even faster. Lasting about 30 seconds, the eventual speed of about 26,000 mph was achieved. While cameras on the ground filmed the fiery descent the craft recorded heat on the exterior at about 20,000 degrees F. After 32 minutes from launch time, the craft impacted into the Atlantic Ocean.