Episodes Tagged with "J 2"

Mar 12

Space Rocket History #104 – Saturn’s First Flight – SA-1 – Part 1

Posted on March 12, 2015

Just as launch complex 34 dwarfed its predecessors, Saturn’s checkout represented a new magnitude in launch operations. The Saturn C-1 stood three times higher, required six times more fuel, and produced ten times more thrust than the Jupiter. Its si...

Lifting the first stage from the transporter

Hoisting the stage in vertical attitude

Erecting the upper stages

Early design concepts of C-1 and C-5 versions of the Saturn launch vehicles

16-Unloading Compromise in Florida

15-S-I and S-IV stages aboard the Compromise

14-Booster movement around Wheeler Dam

11-Launch Complex 34

10-Configurations of Saturn flight vehicles

9-Saturn Barge route

7-Six-engine configuration of the S-IV stage

6-Redesigned tail of the Saturn booster

5- The barge Palaemon

3-First horizontal mating of the Saturn vehicle

2-Movement of dummy S-IV stage to checkout

Tagged:Alabama, Albert Zeiler, Apollo, Arpa, Atlantic Missile Range, Block I, Block Ii, Braunschweig, C 2 Saturn, C 4, Cape Kennedy, Centaur, Circumlunar, Compromise, Corps Of Engineers, Crunk, Dyna Soar, Exploration, Explorer 1, F 1, Fort Bliss, Grady Williams, Green Cove Springs, H 1, Hans Gruene, History, Hugh Dryden, Huntsville, Intracoastal Waterway, J 2, Jupiter, Karl Sendler, Kennedy, Kerosene, Kurt Debus, Launch Complex 34, Lox, Lr 119, Lunar, Lunar Module, M 26, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mercury Redstone, Milton Rosen, Missile Firing Laboratory, Missle Firing Labatory, Moon, Nasa, Nova, Palaemon, Peenemunde, Pershing, Project Apollo, Ranger, Rendezvous, Robert Gorman, Robert Moser, Rocket, Rp 1, S I, S Iv, S V, Sa 1, Saturn, Saturn C 3, Saturn I, Saturn Ib, Saturn V, Sendler, Soviet, Space, Tennessee River, Titan C, Von Braun, Wheeler Dam, White Sands

Mar 18

Space Rocket History #105 – Saturn’s First Flight – SA-1 – Part 2

Posted on March 18, 2015

No previous maiden launch had gone flawlessly, and the Saturn C-1 was considerably more complicated than any rocket launched thus far. Launch Operations Directorate officials gave the rocket a 75% chance of getting off the ground, and a 30% chance of...

To assemble the large Saturns, NASA needed a plant, preferably one already built. The Michoud facility (above), close to New Orleans, suited the requirements

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Modules of the Apollo spacecraft were tested in Florida in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building. Above, NASA officials Walt Williams, Merritt Preston, Kurt Debus, Brainerd Holmes, and Wernher von Braun

Maiden launch of the Apollo program- Saturn SA-1 from Cape Canaveral, 27 October 1961

First Saturn Launch

Liftoff of Saturn I. Note the long cable mast falling away on the right

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Abe Silverstein, NASA’s Director of Space Flight Development, is shown touring a rocket engine facility

1-Launch Complex 34, blockhouse interior

Tagged:Alabama, Albert Zeiler, Ames Research Center, Andrew Pickett, Apollo, Atlantic Missile Range, Block I, Block Ii, C 2 Saturn, C 4, Cape Kennedy, Centaur, Circumlunar, Compromise, Congressman Albert W Thomas, Corps Of Engineers, Crunk, Daniel Mcmath, Dyna Soar, Exploration, Explorer 1, F 1, Fort Bliss, Gainsville, General W K Wilson, H 1, History, Houston, Hugh Dryden, Huntsville, Intracoastal Waterway, J 2, Jim White, John Parsons, Jupiter, Karl Sendler, Kennedy, Kerosene, Kurt Debus, Launch Complex 34, Launch Operations Directorate, Lc 37, Lox, Lr 119, Lunar, Lunar Module, M 26, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mercury Redstone, Merritt Island, Michoud, Milton Rosen, Missile Firing Laboratory, Missile Systems Group, Missle Firing Labatory, Moon, Multiplexer, Nasa, Nova, Palaemon, Paul Dembling, Pearl River, Peenemunde, Pershing, Project Apollo, Ralph Ulmer, Ranger, Redstone Arsenal, Rendezvous, Robert Gorman, Robert Moser, Rocket, Rp 1, S 1, S I, S Iv, S V, Sa 1, Saturn, Saturn C 3, Saturn I, Saturn Ib, Saturn V, Sendler, Soviet, Space, Tennessee River, Titan C, Vice President Johnson, Von Braun, Xo 4b, Xo 6b

May 7

Space Rocket History #112 – Apollo: Headquarters

Posted on May 7, 2015

“The contractor role in Houston was not very firm. Frankly, they didn’t want us. There were two things against us down there. Number one, it was a Headquarters contract, and it was decreed that the Space Centers shall use GE for certain things; and n...

General Electric employees monitor activities of a spacecraft test in the automatic-checkout-equipment spacecraft control room in 1965

comparison of spacecraft and launch vehicle configuration

Apollo tracking network in 1966. Radar stations with large antennas for continuous tracking and communications were at Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia

Tagged:Ames, Apollo, Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, Bellcomm, Block I, Block Ii, Brainerd Holmes, Charles Frick, Edward S Miller, Ellington Air Force Base, Exploration, F 1, Frederick R Kappel, Gemini, General Electric, George Low, Gilruth, Grumman, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, H 1, Highwater, History, Holmes, Houston, Hugh Dryden, Huntsville, J 2, James Webb, John P Mayer, Joseph Shea, Kurt Debus, Langley, Lewis Research Center, Lunar, Lunar Module, Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, Manned Space Flight, Manned Spacecraft Center, Marshall, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mcdonnell, Mercury, Mode, Moon, Msc, Msfc, Nasa, North American Aviation, Office Of Manned Space Flight, Project Apollo, Robert Seamans, Rocket, Rocketdyne, Saturn, Seamans, Service Module, Space, William Rector

May 14

Space Rocket History #113 – Apollo: Command Module Design and Development 1963-1964

Posted on May 14, 2015

…From the information they gathered on the existing technical problems, Disher and Tischler concluded that prospects were only one in ten that Apollo would land on the moon before the end of the decade….

Full-scale model of the command module, above- the strake aerodynamic devices may be seen at either side of the spacecraft just above the aft heatshield

Removing LM from S=IVB stage

On 16 November 1963 in Cape Canaveral’s Blockhouse 37, NASA’s new manned space flight chief George Mueller

Communications with the moon as the earth turned. Astronauts on the moon’s surface also could talk to one another

Tagged:Apollo, Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, Apollo Soyuz, Bellcomm, Block I, Block Ii, Boilerplate, Brainerd Holmes, Canards, Charles Frick, Disher, Downey, Exploration, F 1, Gemini, General Electric, George Low, George Mueller, Gilruth, Grumman, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Harrison Storms, History, Holmes, Houston, Hugh Dryden, Huntsville, J 2, James Webb, John P Mayer, John Paup, Joseph Shea, Kurt Debus, Langley, Lewis Research Center, Lunar, Lunar Module, Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, Manned Space Flight, Manned Spacecraft Center, Marshall, Marshall Space Flight Center, Max Faget, Mcdonnell, Mercury, Mockup, Mode, Moon, Msc, Msfc, Nasa, North American Aviation, Office Of Manned Space Flight, Project Apollo, Robert Seamans, Rocket, Rocketdyne, Ruben Mettler, Samuel C Phillips, Saturn, Saturn I, Saturn Ib, Saturn V, Seamans, Service Module, Skylab, Space, Space Technology Laboratories, Strakes, Thomas Markley, Tischler, Tower Flaps, Tulsa, William Rector

May 21

Space Rocket History #114 – Apollo: Command Module Design and Development 1963-1964 Part 2

Posted on May 21, 2015

Max Faget’s position was that considering the difficulty of the job, if each mission was successful half the time, it would be well worth the effort. But Gilruth thought that was too low. He want a 90% mission success ratio and a 99% ratio for Ast...

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The cabin section (or primary structure) of the CM is assembled at North American in 1965

The CM probe would slip into the LM’s dish-shaped drogue, and 12 latches on the docking ring would engage, to lock the spacecraft together, airtight

Full-scale model of the service module, resting on a mockup of a spacecraft-lunar module adapter, with panels off to reveal part of the internal arrangement

Jettison of the launch escape system (right) after successful launch, also pulls away the boost protective cover that protects the windows from flame and soot

On the drawing of the launch escape system at upper right, the canard aerodynamic devices are near the top of the escape tower

Jun 11

Space Rocket History #117 – Apollo: Lunar Module Design

Posted on June 11, 2015

Since the lunar module would fly only in space (earth orbit and lunar vicinity), the designers could ignore the aerodynamic streamlining demanded by earth’s atmosphere and build the first true manned spacecraft, designed solely for operating in the s...

6-NASA engineers in 1964 decided that astronauts could stand in the lunar module cabin during the trip to the lunar surface. Note triangular windows

7-Proposed sleeping positions for astronauts on the moon

5-Mockup of lunar module cabin with seats

4-The drawing of the stage indicates positions of components

3-underside of the lunar module descent stage shows fuel tank installation

2-Administrator James Webb examines models of the lunar and command modules in docked position

1-Lunar module generations from 1962 (above left; the vehicle originally proposed by Grumman) to 1969

Tagged:8 Ball, Ac Electronics, Apollo, Ascent Stage, Bethpage, Block I, Block Ii, Cline W Frasier, Cruciform, Decent Stage, Donn Eislee, Downey, Electroluminescence, Exploration, Father Of The Lem, George Low, George Mueller, Gilruth, Grumman, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Hamilton Standard, History, Holmes, Houston, Hugh Dryden, Huntsville, J 2, J T Markley, James Webb, John P Mayer, John Paup, Joseph Shea, Langley, Lunar, Lunar Module, Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, Manned Space Flight, Manned Spacecraft Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mit, Mockup, Moon, Msc, Msfc, Nasa, North American Aviation, Office Of Manned Space Flight, Owen Maynard, Pete Conrad, Project Apollo, Rca, Rendezvous Radar, Robert Seamans, Rocket, Saturn V, Scott Carpenter, Seamans, Service Module, Space, Space Technology Laboratories, Spacecraft Technology Division, Thomas J Kelly, William Rector

Jul 9

Space Rocket History #120 – Apollo: Stages S-IV and S-IVB

Posted on July 9, 2015

The key to high-energy stages was to use liquid hydrogen as the fuel. Liquid hydrogen fuel appealed to rocket designers because of its high specific impulse, which is a basic measure of rocket performance. Specific Impulse is the impulse delivered p...

4-SIV-SIVB

3-Saturn 1b-V

2-Cutaways

1- SIV_rocket_stage

Tagged:Apollo, Block I, Block Ii, Convair, Cryogenic, Csm, Earth Orbit Rendezvouz, Exploration, Gemini, George Mueller, Gilruth, Hamilton Standard, Harold Felix, History, Houston, Hugh Dryden, Huntsville, J 2, J B Gayle, James Webb, Joseph Shea, Kerosene, Liquid Hydrogen, Lm, Lox, Lunar, Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, Manned Space Flight, Manned Spacecraft Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mercury, Mockup, Moon, Msc, Msfc, Nasa, Office Of Manned Space Flight, Project Apollo, Retro Rocket, Rl 10, Robert Seamans, Rocket, Rp 1, S Iv, S Ivb, Sa 5, Sacramento Test Operations, Sacto, Saturn I, Saturn Ib, Saturn V, Seamans, Space, Thor, Translunar, Transposition Maneuver, Ullage, W R Lucas

Aug 20

Space Rocket History #126 – Apollo-Saturn IB: AS-201, AS-202, and AS-203

Posted on August 20, 2015

Apollo Saturn 201 employed the Saturn IB launch vehicle, which was the up-rated version of the Saturn I rocket flown in ten earlier Saturn-Apollo missions. It featured an upgrade of the first stage engines to increase thrust from 1,500,000 lb-ft of ...

AS-203_launch

AS-202_launch

AS-201_launch

Apollo-Saturn 201 mission – launch, recovery

Tagged:Aerojet General, Apollo, As 201, As 202, As 203, Block I, Block Ii, Cape Canaveral, Chrysler, Csm 009, Csm 011, Dan David, Exploration, H 1, History, Holmes, Houston, Ibm Federal Systems Division, Instrument Unit, J 2, Langley, Launch Complex 34, Little Joe Ii, Manned Space Flight, Manned Spacecraft Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Msc, Msfc, Mueller, Nasa, North American, Pad 34, Pad 37b, Pad 39a, Project Apollo, Promise, Rca 110a, Robert E Field, Rocket, Rocketdyne, S Ivb, Saturn, Saturn I, Saturn Ib, Saturn V, Saturn Apollo 3, Service Module, Space, Trinidad Tracking Station, Uss Boxer, Von Braun

Jan 28

Space Rocket History #146 – Saturn: S-II Stage Part 1: Common Bulkheads, Gores, & Honeycomb Sandwiches

Posted on January 28, 2016

The structural efficiency of the S-II stage, in terms of the weight and pressures taken by its extra-thin walls, was comparable only to the capacity of one of nature’s most refined examples of structural efficiency, the egg.

1=5s-ii-cut-away

1*9s-ii-exploded-view-sm

1-8s-ii-breakdown-sm

Tagged:2014 T6, Autoclave, California, Common Bulkhead, Cryogenic, Dual Plane, El Toro Marine Base, Gores, History, Honeycomb, Isocyanate, J 2, J Section, Lh2, Liquid Hydrogen, Liquid Oxygen, Lox, Naa, Nasa, Navy, North American Avaiation, Oxider, Phenolic, Rocket, S Ii, Saturn, Saturn V, Seal Beach, Slosh Baffles, Space, Trichloroethylene, Weld

Feb 4

Space Rocket History #147 – Saturn: S-II Stage Part 2: Trials and Tribulations

Posted on February 4, 2016

“The S-II stage was a nightmare the minute it was conceived, and it only got worse from there. During the course of its creation, it would grind up people and careers the way the transcontinental railway devoured laborers. Though the methods and mat...

5-Test firing of a Saturn V second stage rocket S-II

6-s-ii-subassemblies

4-S-II_Inboard_1963

3-The S-II stage during stacking operations of Apollo 6 in the VAB

2-S-2 assembly building in Seal Beach, CA

1=7s-ii-cut-away-w-callouts

1=6s-ii-subassemblies-sm

1-Saturn_V_second_stage

Tagged:2014 T6, 1929, 1930, 1931, Apollo 1, Apollo 4, Arthur Rudolph, As 501, Bill Bergen, Black Saturdays, California, Cape Kennedy, Colonel Sam Yarchin, Common Bulkhead, Cryogenic, Debus, Eberhard Rees, General Edmund F L Oconnor, General Oconnor, General Samuel C Phillips, George Loss, George Mueller, Gores, Harrison Storms, History, Honeycomb, Huntsville, J 2, Jerome Weisner, Joe Shea, Lee Atwood, Lh2, Liquid Hydrogen, Liquid Oxygen, Lox, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mississippi Test Facility, Msfc, Mtf, Naa, Nasa, Navy, North American Avaiation, Oxider, Paul Vogt, Phillips Report, Presidents Scientific Advisory Committee, Psac, Ralph H Ruud, Robert Gilruth, Robert Greer, Rocket, S Ic, S Ii, S Ii 1, S Ii D, S Ii F, S Ii S, S Ii T, S Ivb, Saturn, Saturn V, Seal Beach, Space, Stormy, Tiger Team, Weld, Wernher Von Braun

Feb 25

Space Rocket History #150 – Apollo 6: Pogo and the Tang Ceremony

Posted on February 25, 2016

The success of Apollo 4 gave good reason to believe that the Saturn V could be trusted to propel men into space. But NASA pushed on with its plans for a second unmanned booster flight, primarily to give the Pad 39 launch team another rehearsal before...

5-Apollo-6-1968-04-04

4-Apollo 6’s interstage falling away

3-Apollo6fireyExhaustPlume

2-Apollo_6_launch

1-The Lunar Module Test Article (LTA-2R) is being moved for mating with the spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter

0-apollo-6-final_0

Tagged:Aerospace Corporation, All Up, Apollo 1, Apollo 11, Apollo 4, Apollo 5, Apollo 6, Apollo Stack, Arnold Engineering Development Center, Arthur Rudolph, Baja, Clifford E Charlesworth, Commandservice Module, Csm, Direct Return Abort, Donald Slayton, Downey, Eberhard Rees, Edwards Air Force Base, F 1, Florida, Gemini, George H Hage, Grumman, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Houston, Huntsville, Instrument Unit, J 2, John F Kennedy Space Center, John Hodge, John J Williams, John Mayer, Kleinknecht, Launch Complex 34, Lee B James, Lm 2, Lm 3, Lox, Lta 2r, Lunar Module, Marshall Space Flight Center, Martin Luther King, Memphis, Merritt Island, Michoud, Mississippi Test, Mueller, Naca, North American Rockwell, Phillips, Pogo, President Johnson, Resonance, Rocco Petrone, Rocketdyne, Rp 1, S 1c, S Ii, S Ivb, Saturn 1b, Saturn Ib 204, Saturn V, Schneider, Scimitar, Sheldon Rubin, Spacecraft 012, Supper Guppy, Tennessee, Translunar, Tullahoma, U S S Okinawa, Vab, Wernher Von Braun

Mar 30

Space Rocket History #155 – Apollo 7 – Assembly, Testing, Training, and Launch

Posted on March 30, 2016

Command Service Module-101 started through the manufacturing cycle early in 1966. By July, it had been formed, wired, fitted with subsystems, and made ready for testing. After the Apollo 1 fire in January 1967, changes had to be made, mainly in the w...

3-Apollo 7 Launch

2-Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham (left to right) practice climbing out of the spacecraft into a life raft, to perfect recovery procedures

1-Saturn 205’s first stage rests on the pedestal at Launch Complex 34 before mating with other stages for launch

Tagged:Apollo 1, Apollo 4, Apollo 5, Apollo 6, Apollo 7, Apollo Stack, Chysler, Commandservice Module, Csm, Csm 101, Donn Eisele, Douglas, Douglas Aircraft, Downey, Florida, Gemini, Gene Kranz, Gerald Griffin, Glynn Lunney, Griffith Planetarium, Grumman, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Houston, Huntsville, J 2, Jim Webb, John Hodge, John Young, Lm, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mercury, Michoud, Mississippi Test, Morehead Planetarium, North American Rockwell, S Ib, S Ii, S Ivb, Satuen Ib, Saturn V, T 38, Wally Schirra, Walter Cunningham, Wernher Von Braun