#Apollo Block II CSM

[lonestarflight]

"The Saturn IB space vehicle for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission, with its launch umbilical tower, rides atop a huge crawler-transporter as it moves slowly away from the Vehicle Assembly Building on its 4.24-mile journey to Pad B, Launch Complex 39, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center."

Date: March 24, 1975

NASA ID: S75-24007, S75-24009

[maddyaddy]

It's pretty interesting to think about how manned space capsule design, at least with the US programs, evolved so rapidly in 10 years (1958-1968). Case in point. Mercury's only real capability, flight-wise, was to orbit the Earth. It couldn't change its trajectory mid-orbit; it had to reenter the atmosphere to do that. Gemini, however, could use vernier thrusters to change its orbit by translation and did so in March of 1965. For the uninitiated among us, verniers are gimbaled thrusters that allow you to rotate and translate a spacecraft. Gemini could even rendezvous with another spacecraft in orbit.

Apollo's CSM, obviously, was capable of far more. Gemini, in fact, was a crash program to serve as a proof of concept for technologies developed for it. But in 10 years from the first American manned spaceflight, we have Apollo Block II - which can go from the moon and back. Truly fascinating.

[moonwatchuniverse]

December 2... we remember Apollo 7 astronaut Don Eisele USAF Colonel Don Fulton Eisele passed away on December 2, 1987 while on a business trip in Japan. Selected in NASA group 3 astronauts (October 1963), Eisele was teamed up with Ed White and Gus Grissom for Apollo 1. However, Eisele flew as CMP - Command Module Pilot onboard Apollo 7 testing the first Block II CSM in LEO - Low Earth Orbit. In 1986, Eisele was a guide onboard the supersonic Concorde passenger airliner during comet Halley’s chase flight out of Miami and New York. Colonel Eisele was an Eagle Scout and in 1987 he was cremated in Japan, his ashes were buried in Arlington cemetery with full military honors. (Photo: NASA)

[odishaphotos]

Apollo-7 (lunar mission)

Apollo-7 (lunar mission)

The Apollo 7 (Moon Mission) is the first human-to-human mission in the United States Apollo series. With the exception of NASA's Gemini-12 test, this was the first test to send manned vehicles into space. The Apollo 1 manned mission in the Apollo spacecraft failed to launch a manned spacecraft into the lunar mission for 21 months after failing to catch fire in January 1967. Meanwhile, the cause of the accident was investigated and the spacecraft and security systems were improved, and the Saturn-V rocket was re-tested unmanned. The Apollo-7 test was performed by the Apollo-7 command and service module in the lower chamber of the Earth.

About the campaign ---

The commander of the Apollo 7 crew was Walter M. Schirra. The other two drivers are senior pilot Donn F. Eisele and another pilot and engineer, R. Walter Cunningham. The driver's team was tasked with maneuvering and maneuvering their spacecraft. In this way, Eisel was given the command module pilot and Cunningham the Lunar module pilot. The mission of the Apollo-C class was to test the redesign of the redesigned Block-II CSM by orbiting the Earth for 11 days. It took off from Cape Kennedy Space Station on October 11, 1968. The mission was technically a successful mission that later convinced scientists to send Apollo-8 to the lunar orbit. On October 22, 1968, the vehicle completed its test and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

[alwaysconsiderate-blog]

Fake it

This genuine NASA design makes for a stunning bright white watchband that gives the watch an unmistakable space-strap look. It's a rarely seen watchband only produced by NASA during the development stages of the Block II Apollo CSM. Though never flown in orbit, they were the current issue during manned Thermal Vacuum testing (2TV-1).  

The relevant configurations of the SEB12100030 blueprint were the 19" and 21½" pairs -203 and -204 made with beta fabric tape, and then for -205 and -206 made from Telfon-coated beta cloth folded with a single seam.  Five or six 1-inch segments of loop pile were stitched at regular intervals from the VELCRO® brand hook tape end.

Although the watchbands for sale here aren't made from beta fabric, the alternative fabric was chosen for the same look and feel.

https://www.seb12100030.com/products/white-nasa-velcro

[louismixon]

What Happened to Apollos 2 and 3? By Amy Shira Teitel October 28, 2013 Things were looking good for NASA at the beginning of 1966. The Gemini program was halfway done and well on track to accomplish all the major program goals by the end of the year, and Apollo was in the pipeline on track to begin manned missions early in 1967. And flights in support of Apollo's lunar goal were well underway by this point. Tests of the Saturn I rocket and flights of boilerplate Apollo Command Modules (CSM) had begun in 1961. And from the start NASA had been using a straightforward and self-evident naming scheme: a letter denoting the rocket and payload and number standing for the rocket type and launch number. There were ten Saturn I launches designated by “S” or “AS” followed by a number from 100 to 110. The 100-series numbers were reserved for the Saturn I rocket, so AS-101 would be the first Saturn I launch. Five Little Joe launched tests of the CSM were noted by "A" followed by a number from 1 to 4; the first was an unnumbered qualification flight. Getting closer to manned missions were the more advanced Saturn IB launches. These missions were designated “AS” for Apollo-Saturn followed by a number beginning with 201, the 200-series numbers were reserved for the Saturn IB rocket. NASA AS-109's 1965 launch. All launched in 1966 while Gemini was coming to a close, AS-201 on February 26 was a suborbital test of the Saturn IB with a Block I Apollo CSM as its payload, AS-203 on July 5 was another suborbital flight to test the CSM’s heat shield, and AS-202 was a test of the Saturn IB rocket. The next mission in the Saturn IB sequence, AS-204, was scheduled as the first manned mission. It was a simple but vital Earth orbital test of the Block I CSM scheduled to launch on February 21, 1967. When NASA received the spacecraft for AS-204, spacecraft 012, at the Kennedy Space Center on August 26, 1966, it was protected by a cover emblazoned with “Apollo One” in capital letters. The mission was colloquially known as Apollo 1; the crew even had agency approval for a mission patch paying homage to the flight’s foremost position among manned missions. Following this first manned flight would be Apollo 2 was, a duplicate of the Apollo 1 mission to give NASA a chance to test or revisit anything the first crew might have missed. Apollo 3 would debut the advanced Block II CSM, the lunar mission-capable version of the spacecraft designed to dock with the Lunar Module and create a tunnel through which astronauts could transfer between vehicles. But it wasn’t long before this plan fell out of favour. With spacecraft 014, the spacecraft for Apollo 2, falling badly behind, many started questioning the value of flying a second Block I mission. There wasn’t too much the agency could learn from a Block I flight that it could then apply to the Moon-bound Block II missions. Besides, NASA had long abandoned the practice of duplicating missions; not since Gus Grissom followed in Al Shepard’s suborbital contrails in 1961 had NASA duplicated a mission. Not long after Gemini 12 splashed down on November 15, 1966, George Mueller of the Office of Manned Spaceflight cancelled Apollo 2. The missions were reorganized so Apollo 2 would debut the Lunar Module while Apollo 3, a high Earth orbit mission with both the CSM and LM, would be the first manned Saturn V launch. This was the standing order for Apollo missions, all with assigned crews in training, in January of 1967. Then NASA was struck with its first major setback. During a pre-launch test, a fire ripped through spacecraft 012 and killed the Apollo 1 crew. The ensuing accident investigation had widespread effects. It revealed shoddy workmanship found flaws in management practices, and underscored discrepancies in the spacecraft’s overall design. The review board recommended dozens of changes be made to make the spacecraft safer going forward, meaning NASA and the CSM contractor North American Aviation were facing a substantial redesign. A congressional inquiry ended with Apollo Spacecraft Program Office manager Joe Shea leaving the agency. NASA managers became increasingly cautious right at the time they needed to take big risks to meet the end of decade lunar landing goal. The fire also forced Apollo management to reconsider whether it was worth rescheduling the Apollo 1 Block I shakedown flight at all. With so many changes pending, it hardly seemed worth flying the version of the spacecraft that wouldn’t be going to the Moon. While the Apollo 1 investigation wore on, the structure of the whole lunar program was called into question. By the end of April, the charred spacecraft 012 had been disassembled to find the root of the accident and the pieces of Apollo were slowly coming back together. The decision was made to cancel all manned Block I flights. And with the Lunar Module still behind schedule, Apollo would start with an Earth orbital Block II CSM only flight followed, possibly, by a lunar orbital CSM flight.

[lonestarflight]

Workers in the VAB replace the fins on the ASTP Saturn IB’s (SA-210) first stage.

Date: March 11, 1975

NASA ID: S75-23780

[lonestarflight]

ASTP astronauts (left to right) Stafford, Brand and Slayton pose in front of their Saturn IB (CSM-111/SA-210) during the rollout.

Date: March 24, 1975

NASA ID: S75-24008

[lonestarflight]

Cancelled Flights: Apollo 3, later 2 (AS-207/208, later AS-205/208) (Part 2)

Commander: James Alton McDivitt

CM Pilot: David Randolph Scott

LM Pilot: Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart

Planned Launch: August 1967

Vehicles: Saturn IB (SA-207 & SA-208, later SA-205 & SA-208), CSM-101, LM-2

"Planned Apollo D mission. Two Saturn IB launches would put Apollo CSM and LM into orbit. CSM crew would dock with LM, test it in earth orbit. Cancelled after Apollo 204 fire.

Before the Apollo 1 fire, it was planned that McDivitt's crew would conduct the Apollo D mission - a first manned test in earth orbit of the Lunar Module. Separate Saturn IB launches would put Apollo Block II CSM 101 / AS-207 and Lunar Module LM-2 / AS-208 into earth orbit. The crew would then rendezvous and dock with the lunar module and put it through its paces. After the fire, it was decided to launch the mission on a single Saturn V as Apollo 9. CSM-101 instead would be used to accomplish the Apollo C mission that Grissom's crew was to have flown.

LM-2 was modified to appear like the Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle," and displayed at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

When Schirra's Apollo 2 / AS-205 mission was cancelled in November 1966, the booster went to McDivitt's mission, and it was called AS (or Apollo) 205/208, or AS-258 (before Schirra's cancellation, McDivitt's was AS-278, because it used Saturn IB boosters 207 and 208).

-Information from Astronautix.com: link

source

Smithsonian Archives: A19711598000

[lonestarflight]

North American Rockwell concept art of the Apollo 8 mission.

Date: December 2, 1968

NASA ID: S68-51302

[lonestarflight]

Apollo 8 Coming Home

"Human eyes directly observed the far side of the Moon for the first time on Christmas Eve 1968. Robert McCall imagines the sight of the rocket engine firing to propel the spacecraft out of lunar orbit for its return to Earth."

Artist: Robert T. McCall

NASA ID: link

[lonestarflight]

Workers in the VAB prepare to mate the ASTP (CSM-111) spacecraft with its Saturn IB (SA-210) rocket.

Date: March 18, 1975

NASA ID: S75-24424

[lonestarflight]

Workers ready the ASTP (CSM-111) spacecraft for the move from the MSOB to the VAB.

Date: March 17, 1975

NASA ID: S75- 23783

[lonestarflight]

Workers lower the ASTP CSM-111 onto the SLA.

Date: March 3, 1975

NASA ID: 75-H-191A

[lonestarflight]

The Apollo 12 spacecraft (CSM-108/LM-6) arrives at the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) during preflight preparations. The spacecraft had just been moved from the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building.

Date: July 1, 1969

NASA ID: S69-39323

[lonestarflight]

North American Rockwell concept art of the Apollo 8 mission.

Date: December 2, 1968

NASA ID: S68-51304