Apr 13

Space Rocket History #157 – Apollo 7-The Flight Part 2

Posted on April 13, 2016 by spac9750

CAPCOM Number 1 (Deke Slayton): Okay. I think you ought to clearly understand there is absolutely no experience at all with landing without the helmet on.
SCHIRRA: And there no experience with the helmet either on that one.
CAPCOM: That one we’ve got a lot of experience with, yes.
SCHIRRA: If we had an open visor, I might go along with that.
CAPCOM: Okay. I guess you better be prepared to discuss in some detail when we land why we haven’t got them on. I think you’re too late now to do much about it.
SCHIRRA: That’s affirmative. I don’t think anybody down there has worn the helmets as much as we have.
CAPCOM: Yes.
SCHIRRA: We tried them on this morning.
CAPCOM: Understand that. The only thing we’re concerned about is the landing. We couldn’t care less about the reentry. But it’s your neck, and I hope you don’t break it.
SCHIRRA: Thanks, babe.
CAPCOM: Over and out

Mission Control watches first live TV from Apollo 7

MC watches first live TV from Apollo 7

View of Florida from Apollo 7

Recovery of Apollo 7 Crew

Mission Control celebrates the end of a very successful Apollo 7 mission

Apollo 7 crew is welcomed aboard the USS Essex

Barbara Eden, Bob Hope, Paul Haney, and the crew of Apollo 7

Feb 11

Space Rocket History #148 – Apollo 4: Operation Big Shot

Posted on February 11, 2016 by spac9750

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“…our building’s shaking here. Our building’s shaking! Oh it’s terrific, the building’s shaking! This big blast window is shaking! We’re holding it with our hands! Look at that rocket go into the clouds at 3000 feet!…you can see it…you can see it…oh the roar is terrific!…” Walter Cronkite – Apollo 4 launch.

Apollo 4 mating of SC -017 with Saturn 501

Apollo 4 on Launch Pad

Apollo 4 the night before the launch

Apollo 4 lift off from LC-39A.

Apollo 4 leaves the launch pad

View of crescent Earth from Apollo 4.

Feb 04

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

Posted on February 4, 2016 by spac9750

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“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 materials used to build the S-II were reasonably well known, nobody had ever tried to apply them on such a titanic scale. Originally, it was to be somewhere around 8 stores tall with a diameter of 22 feet, but the width ballooned from there to 27 feet before the contract was even signed, then to 30, and finally to 33 feet. And all the while as the size of thing increased, NASA was trimming the allowable weight.” Harrison Storms of NAA.

Test firing of S-II Stage in Mississippi

Saturn V S-II Second Stage

Saturn S-II Assembly Building at Seal Beach.

Saturn S-II Assembly Bldg at Seal Beach.

S-II during stacking operations in the VAB

S-II Inboard Profile in 1963

S-II Cut-away with callouts

Jan 28

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

Posted on January 28, 2016 by spac9750

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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.