Moonport : a history of Apollo launch facilities and operations

764 Pages·1943·10.96 MB·English

by  Charles D Benson

Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities
and Operations
By Charles D. Benson and William Barnaby Faherty.
Published as NASA Special Publication-4204 in the NASA History Series, 1978.
Table of Contents
Library of Congress Card Catalog
l
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1 - The First Steps
m
Genesis of the Saturn Program
n
A Saturn Launch Site
n
The Making of "the Cape"
n
Building a Launch Complex
n
Missions for Saturn
n
A Marriage of Convenience
n
Upper Stages
n
Chapter 2 - Launch Complex 34
m
The Director
n
Conversations with the Air Force
n
Writing the Criteria Book
n
Problems in Designs
n
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Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
A Service Structure for Saturn
n
A Money Transfusion
n
The Ground Support Equipment
n
Labor Difficulties
n
Chapter 3 - Launching the First Saturn I Booster
m
The Magnitude of the Task
n
The Leadership
n
The Test Catalog for SA-1
n
The Saturn Goes Sailing
n
Beginning the Checkout
n
The Launch of the SA-1
n
Chapter 4 - Origins of the Mobile Moonport
m
Ambitious Plans and Limited Space
n
Offshore Launch Facilities
n
Texas Tower vs. Landfill
n
The Mobile Launch Concept
n
The Mobile Concept - Initial Studies
n
NASA Plans for a Lunar Landing
n
The FLeming Committee
n
Debus-Davis Study
n
Debus-Davis Report - Launch Concept
n
Chapter 5 - Acquiring a Launch Site
m
Hazards Board Recommends Merritt Island
n
A New Home in Georgia?
n
Organizing for the Debus-Davis Study
n
Recommending a Launch Site
n
The Questions Begin
n
The Webb-Gilpatric Agreement
n
Merritt Island Purchase
n
The Titan III Problem
n
Congress Says NASA
n
A New Agreement
n
Land, Lots of Land - Much of It Marshy
n
Chapter 6 - LC-39 Plans Take Shape
m
Rapidly Evolving Hardware
n
The Mobile Launch Plan Comes Under Fire
n
A Trip by Barge or a Trip by Rail
n
The Crawler Makes Its Debut
n
Plans for a VAB
n
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Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
The Mobile Launch Concept - Debate and Approval
n
Chapter 7 - The Launch Directorate Becomes an Operational Center
m
Growing Responsibilities at the Cape
n
The Argument for Independent Status
n
New Captains at the Cape
n
Organizing the Launch Operations Center
n
"Grand Fenwick" Overtakes the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
n
Mid-1963: A Time of Reappraisal
n
Kennedy's Last Visit
n
Washington Redraws Management Lines
n
Data Management
n
Chapter 8 - Funding the Project
m
The Budgetary Process
n
Fiscal 1963
n
Subcommittee Hearings at the Cape
n
Progress in Washington
n
Updating LC-39 Requirements
n
The Fiscal 1964 Program
n
"What Is It Going to Cost?"
n
Chapter 9 - Apollo Integration
m
An Integration Role for General Electric?
n
Intercenter Panels
n
New Contractors with New Roles
n
Relations with Marshall Space Flight Center
n
Relations with Manned Spacecraft Center
n
Range Safety
n
Summary
n
Chapter 10 - Saturn I Launches (1962 - 1965)
m
Testing the Booster
n
A Second Saturn Launch Complex - LC-37
n
The Troubled Lauching of SA-5, January 1964
n
The Cracked Sleeves
n
All's Well That Ends Well
n
The Remaining Block II Launches, SA-6 - SA-10
n
Chapter 11 - Ground Plans for Outer Space Ventures
m
The Task
n
URSAM Makes Its Debut
n
URSAM and the Design Contract
n
Design Problems - VAB
n
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Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
Launch Control Center Design
n
Design of the Crawlerway
n
Flame Deflector and Launch Pads
n
Plans for the Industrial Area
n
Design of the Central Instrumentation Facility
n
Selection of MILA Support Contracts
n
Chapter 12 - From Designs to Structures
m
Making Big Sandpiles
n
NASA Declares War - On Mosquitoes
n
Contracting for the VAB and the LCC
n
Laying the Foundations
n
Structural Steel and General Construction
n
Cleo and Dora Visit the Cape
n
VAB Nears Completion
n
Construction in the Industrial Area
n
Ceremonies at Completion
n
Chapter 13 - New Devices for New Deeds
m
The Crawler-Transporter
n
Building a New King of the Road
n
The Swing-Arm Controversy
n
Hold-Down Arms and Tail Service Masts
n
Launch Pads
n
From Arming Tower to Mobile Service Structure
n
Lightning Protection for Apollo Launch Operations
n
Flame Deflectors
n
Chapter 14 - Socio-Economic Problems on the Space Coast
m
Labor Problems at the Missile Center
n
The Center's Labor Policy
n
A Spring and Summer of Strikes
n
The Spaceport's Impact on Local Communities
n
Familial and Personal Tensions
n
Chapter 15 - Putting It All Together: LC-39 Site Activation
m
The Site Activation Board
n
Site Activation Working Groups
n
Interface Control Documentation
n
500-F - A Dress Rehearsal
n
The Crawler-Transporters Begin to Crawl
n
For Want of a Bearing
n
"Negative Slack" in "Critical Paths"
n
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Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
500-F Up and Out
n
Lack of Oxygen Slows Apollo
n
Management by Embarrassment
n
Chapter 16 - Automating Launch Operations
m
Origins of Saturn Automated Checkout
n
Saturn I-IB Computer Complex
n
Saturn V Computer Complex
n
The Transition to Automation
n
Automating Telemetry Operation
n
Automatic Checkout for the Spacecraft
n
Spacecraft Checkout
n
Chapter 17 - Launching the Saturn 1B
m
Remodelling LC-34 for Bigger Things
n
LC-34 Wet Tests
n
The Apollo-Saturn 1B Space Vehicle
n
The Troubled checkout of AS-201
n
The 201 Launch
n
A Reorganization
n
More launches of the Saturn 1B
n
Chapter 18 - The Fire That Seared the Spaceport
m
Introduction
n
Predictions of Trouble
n
The Spacecraft Comes to KSC
n
The Hunches of Tom Baron
n
Disaster at Pad 34
n
The Review Board
n
Congress Investigates
n
Reaction at KSC
n
The Boeing-TIE Contract
n
Chapter 19 - The Trial Run
m
The Significance of AS-501
n
The Parts of AS-501
n
Delay after Delay after Delay
n
The Tests
n
More Delays for AS-501
n
The Launch of Apollo 4
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Press, VIPs, Tourists, Dependents
n
KSC Learns about Government Accounting
n
Chapter 20 - Man on Apollo
m
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Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
Two More Trial Flights - Apollo 5 and 6
n
Apollo 6 - A "Less Than Perfect" Mission
n
Two Engines Out but Still Running
n
Apollo Astronauts at KSC
n
Apollo 7 Operations
n
Apollo 8 Launch Operations - Early Uncertainties
n
Lunar Module Problems and Another Change of Mission
n
Launch Countdown for Men on Saturn V
n
Apollo 8 - A Christmas Gift
n
Chapter 21 - Success
m
The Launch Complex Becomes "Operational"
n
The Slowest Part of the Trip
n
The Launch of Apollo 9
n
The Contractors Receive Their Due
n
Changes in the Telemetry
n
At Long Last
n
"Eagle Has Landed"
n
Chapter 22 - A Slower Pace: Apollo 12 - 14
m
Introduction
n
Lightning Strikes
n
Whys and Wherefores of Lightning
n
Apollo 13 Launch Operations
n
A Case of Measles
n
A Fragile Lifeboat
n
Apollo 14 Launch Operations
n
Pruning the Apollo Program
n
The Impact of the Apollo Slowdown on KSC
n
Chapter 23 - Extended Lunar Exploration: Apollo 15 - 17
n
A Change of Course for Apollo
n
Interfaces with the First SIM
n
The Moon Gets an Automobile
n
Lunar Module Problems and More Lightning
n
Apollo 16 Operations
n
Spacecraft Storage
n
Apollo 17 Launch Operations
n
Chapter 24 - Five Years After
n
Appendix A: Launches of Saturn 1B and Saturn V
m
Appendix B: Launch Complex 39
m
Appendices C-E
m
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Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
Bibliography
m
Overview
n
Books
n
Journal Articles
n
Congressional Documents
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Conference Papers
n
Technical Reports
n
Interviews
n
The Authors
n
Updated September 26, 2000
Roger D. Launius, NASA Chief Historian
Steve Garber, NASA History Web Curator
For further information E-mail [email protected]
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Moonport, Library of Congress Data
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Benson, Charles D.
Moonport.
(The NASA history series) (NASA SP ; 4204)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. John F. Kennedy Space Center-History.
I. Faherty, William Barnaby, 1914- joint author. II. Title.
III. Series: United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The NASA History series
IV. Series: United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA SP ; 4204. TL4027.
F52J635 629.47 '8'0975927 77-29118
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C.
20402 (paper cover ) Stock No. 033-000-00740-0/Catatog No. NAS 1.21:4204
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Moonport, Foreword
Foreword
By now the grandeur of the achievement of landing men on the moon and returning them to earth has
taken its place in our language as a yardstick of human accomplishment - "lf we could send men to the
moon, why can't we do so-and-so?" The most imposing artifact of that achievement is the Apollo launch
facilities at Kennedy Space Center.
When the national objective of landing men on the moon was dramatically announced in May 1961, it
quickly became apparent within NASA that the remainder of the decade was little enough time to
design, build, and equip the extensive and unprecedented facilities required to launch such missions.
Indeed, time was so pressing that for many months the planning, designing, even initial construction of
launch facilities had to go forward without answers to some essential questions, such as: How big would
the launch vehicle(s) be? How many launches would there be, and how often?
Intense effort by a rapidly growing team of people in government, industry, and the universities
gradually filled in the grand design and answered those questions. Land was acquired, ground was
broken, pipe was laid, concrete was poured, buildings rose. When the launch vehicles and spacecraft
arrived, the facilities were ready and operations could begin. Seldom was the pressure off or the path
smooth, but the end of the decade saw the deadline met, the task accomplished.
This history tells the story of the Apollo launch facilities and launch operations from the beginning of
design through the final launch. You will meet many of the cast of thousands who took part in the great
adventure. You will read of the management techniques used to control so vast an undertaking, of
innovation in automation, of elaborate, repetitive, exhaustive testing on the ground to avoid failures in
space. You will also learn something of the impact of the Apollo program on the citrus groves and quiet
beaches of Florida's east coast.
It is fitting that, as this manuscript was being prepared, these same facilities were being modified to
serve as the launch site for Apollo's successor, the Space Shuttle, for at least the remainder of this
century.
August 1977
Lee R. Scherer Director Kennedy Space Center
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Moonport, Preface
Preface
On 28 July 1960, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced a new manned
spaceflight program. Called Apollo, its aim was to put three astronauts into sustained earth orbit, or into
a flight around the moon. The timing of the announcement was not auspicious. The next day, NASA's
first Mercury-Atlas (MA-1) disintegrated and fell into the ocean 58 seconds after takeoff from Cape
Canaveral. This disaster ushered in a bleak four months during which the test rocket Little Joe 5 joined
the MA-1 in the ocean, and the first Mercury-Redstone lifted a fraction of an inch and settled back on its
launch pad. The last failure, on 21 November, marked the absolute nadir of morale for the engineers
working on Mercury. The people at the new NASA headquarters in Washington, coping with financial
and administrative problems and facing a change of administration after the national election, were only
a little less dispirited than the workers in the field. But the fledgling space agency had an asset that made
its announcement of an ambitious Apollo program more than an exercise in wishful thinking - it had the
support of the American people.
If there is an American psyche, it had been shaken 4 October 1957 by the news that Russia had launched
the first man-made earth satellite Sputnik 1. To those apprehensive of anything Soviet, the news was a
red flag. The military and the President played down Sputnik's significance, but a layman could not but
wonder if Sputnik was one of those scientific breakthroughs that could alter the balance of power. The
average American was perhaps most concerned because someone else was excelling in technology - an
area in which the U.S. was accustomed to leading.
There was an almost unanimous determination to get into the space race and win it. Three Presidents,
with firm support from Congress, channeled the public will into an answer to the Russian challenge.
Lyndon B. Johnson, the Senate majority leader, pushed the Aeronautics and Space Act through Congress
in 1958. Under its authority, President Eisenhower set up NASA and transferred the armed services' non-
military space activities to the new civilian agency. The following year NASA received a vital asset - the
Army team of former German V-2 experts who were working up plans for Saturn, a large rocket.
Assigned the task of manned spaceflight, NASA's immediate goal was the successful orbiting of a man
aboard a Mercury spacecraft. NASA's Ten Year Plan of Space Exploration, revealed to Congress in
early 1960, called for nearly 260 varied launches during the next decade, with a manned flight to the
moon after 1970. The House Committee on Science and Astronautics considered it a good program
except that it did not move ahead fast enough.
Meanwhile, the Russians were not idle. On 12 April 1961, they put Major Yuri A. Gagarin into orbit
around earth. The Soviet Union and the United States were locked in a confrontation of prestige in Cuba,
in Berlin - and in space. Convinced it was necessary to show the world what America could do,
President Kennedy told Congress on 25 May 1961:
Now it is time to take longer strides - time for a great new American enterprise - time for
this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement which in many ways may
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