Apollo 9 Press Kit - Ibiblio

157 Pages·1998·4.86 MB·English

NEWS NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION TELS. WO 2-4155
WASHINGTON,D.C. 20546 WO 3-6925
FOR RELEASE:
SUNDAY
February 23, 1969
RELEASE NO: 69-29
PROJECT:
APOLLO 9
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contents

GENERAL RELEASE (cid:9) 1-11
APOLLO 9 COUNTDOWN (cid:9) 12-1
S SEQUENCE OF EVENTS (cid:9) 14 16
MISSION OBJECTIVES (cid:9) 17
MISSION TRAJECTORY AND MANEUVER DESCRIPTION (cid:9) 18
S
Launch (cid:9) 18
Transposition and Docking (cid:9) 18
LM Ejection and Separation (cid:9) 18
S-IVB Restarts (cid:9) 18
Service Propulsion System (SPS) Burn No. 1 (cid:9) 19
Docked SPS Burn No. 2 19
Docked SPS Burn No. 3 19
Docked SPS Burn No. 4 19
LM Systems Checkout and Power up (cid:9) 19
K Docked LM Descent Engine Burn (cid:9) 19
Docked SPS Burn No. 5 (cid:9) 20
Extravehicular Activity (cid:9) 20
CSM RCS Separation Burn (cid:9) 20
LM Descent Engine Phasing Burn (cid:9) 20
LM Descent Engine Insertion Burn (cid:9) 21
CSM Backup Maneuvers (cid:9) 21
LM RCS Concentric Sequence Burn (CSI) (cid:9) 21
LM Ascent Engine Circularization Burn (CDH) (cid:9) 21
LM RCS Terminal Phase Initialization Burn (cid:9) 21
LM Ascent Engine Long-Duration Burn (cid:9) 22
SPS Burn No. 6 (cid:9) 22
SPS Burn No. 7 (cid:9) 22
SPS Burn No. 8 (cid:9) -22
Entry (cid:9) 22
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Contents Continued
APOLLO 9 MISSION EVENTS (cid:9) 23-2
FLIGHT PLAN SUMMARY (cid:9) 26-28
APOLLO 9 ALTERNATE MISSIONS (cid:9) 29-30
ABORT MODES (cid:9) 31
APOLLO 9 GO/NO-GO DECISION POINTS (cid:9) 32
RECOVERY OPERATIONS (cid:9) 33
PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT (cid:9) 34
APOLLO 9 EXPERIMENT (Multispectral Photography) (cid:9) 35-36
APOLLO 9 ONBOARD TELEVISION (cid:9) 37
COMMAND AND SERVICE MODULE STRUCTURE, SYSTEMS (cid:9) 38
CSM Systems (cid:9) 39-41
LUNAR MODULE STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS (cid:9) -42-43
LM-3 Spacecraft Systems (cid:9) -44-47
FACT SHEET, SA-504 (cid:9) 48
LAUNCH VEHICLE (cid:9) -49
Saturn V (cid:9) -49-53
Launch Vehicle Instrumentation and Communication (cid:9) 53
Vehicle Weights During Flight (cid:9) 54-55
S-IVB Restarts (cid:9) 55-56
Differences in Apollo 8 & Apollo 9 Launch Vehicles (cid:9) 57-58
Launch Vehicle Sequence of Events (cid:9) 58-60
Launch Vehicle Key Events (cid:9) 61
LAUNCH FACILITIES (cid:9) 62
Kennedy Space Center-Launch Complex (cid:9) 62-64
KSC Launch Complex 39 (cid:9) 65-66
The Vehicle ..ssembly Building (cid:9) 66-67
The Launch Control Center (cid:9) 67-68
Mobile Launcher (cid:9) 68-69
The Transporter (cid:9) 69-71
Mobile Service Structure (cid:9) 71
Water Deluge System (cid:9) 71-72
Flame Trench and Deflector (cid:9) 72
Pad Areas (cid:9) 72-73
MISSION CONTROL CENTER (cid:9) 74-75
MANNED SPACE FLIGHT NETWORK (cid:9) 76
Network Configuration for Apollo 9 (cid:9) 77
NASA Communications Network - Goddard (cid:9) 78-80
SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT NETWORK SUPPORT - Apollo 9 (cid:9) 81
Apollo Instrumentation Ships (AIS) (cid:9) 81
Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) (cid:9) 82
APOLLO 9 CREW (cid:9) 83
Crew Training (cid:9) 83-84
Crew Life Support Equipment (cid:9) 84-85
Apollo 9 Crew Meals (cid:9) 86-90
Personal Hygiene (cid:9) 91'
Survival Gear (cid:9) 91-92
Biomedical Inflight Monitoring (cid:9) 92
Crew Launch-Day Timeline (cid:9) 92-93
Rest-Work Cycles (cid:9) 93
Crew Biographies (cid:9) 94 98
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Contents Continued
APOLLO PROGRAM MANAGEMENT/CONTRACTORS (cid:9) 99
Apollo/Saturn Officials (cid:9) 99-101
Major Apollo/Saturn V Contractors (cid:9) 102-103
APOLLO 9 GLOSSARY (cid:9) 104-107
APOLLO 9 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS--- (cid:9) 108-109
CONVERSION FACTORS (cid:9) 110-111
-end-
NEWS NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION TELS. WO 2-4155
WASFIINGTON,D.C. 20546 WO 3-6925
FOR RELEASE:
SUNDAY
February 23, 1969
RELEASE NO: 69-29
APOLLO 9 CARRIES LUNAR MODULE
Apollo 9, scheduled for launch at 11 a.m. EST, Feb. 28,
from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, is the first manned
flight of the Apollo spacecraft lunar module (LM).
The Earth-orbital mission will include extensive perfor-
mance tests of the lunar module, a rendezvous of the lunar
module with the command and service modules, and two hours
of extravehicular activity by the lunar module pilot.
To the maximum extent possible, the rendezvous in Earth
orbit will resemble the type of rendezvous that will take place
in lunar orbit following a lunar landing. Rendezvous and dock-
ing of the lunar module with the command and service modules,
extensive testing of the lunar module engines and other systems,
and extravehicular activity are among the mission's objectives.
(cid:9)
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Apollo 9 crewmen are Spacecraft Commander James A.
McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David R. Scott and Lunar Module
Pilot Russell Schweickart. The mission will be the second
space flight for McDivitt (Gemini )4) and Scott (Gemini 8),
and the first for Schweickart.
Backup crew is comprised of Spacecraft Commander Charles
Conrad, Jr., Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon and Lunar
Module Pilot Alan L. Bean.
Mission events have been arranged in a work-day basis in
what is perhaps the most ambitious NASA manned space mission
to date. The first five days are packed with lunar module
engine tests and systems checkouts, burns of the service
module's 20,500-pound-thrust engine while the command/service
module and lunar module are docked, the lunar module pilot's
hand-over-hand transfer in space from the lunar module to the
command module and back again, and rendezvous. The remainder
of the 10-day, open-ended mission will be at a more leisurely
pace.
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The first day's mission activities revolve around dock-
ing the command module to the lunar module still attached to
the Saturn V launch vehicle S-IVB third stage, When docking
is complete and the tunnel joint between the two spacecraft
is rigid, the entire Apollo spacecraft will be spring-ejected
from the S-IVB. Maneuvering more than 2,000 feet away from
the S-IVB, the Apollo 9 crew will observe the first of two
restarts of the S-IVB's 3-2 engine -- the second of which
will boost the stage into an Earth-escape trajectory and into
solar orbit.
Otner first-day mission activities include a docked
service propulsion engine burn to improve orbital lifetime
and to test the command/service module (CSM) digital auto-
pilot (DAD) during service propulsion system (SPS) burns.
The digital autopilot will undergo additional stability
tests during the second work day when the SPS engine is ignited
three more times. Also, the three docked burns reduce CSM
weight to enhance possible contingency rescue of the lunar
module during rendezvous using the service module reaction
control thrusters.
A thorough checkout of lunar module systems takes up most
of the third work day when the spacecraft commander and lunar
module pilot transfer through the docking tunnel to the
LM and power it up.
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