PART 3 (B)
Lunar Orbit Rendezvous: Mode and Module
January 1962 through March 1962
1962
January
1962
February
1962
March
January 5
NASA made public the drawings of the three-man Apollo
spacecraft to be used in the lunar landing development program, On January 9,
NASA announced its decision that the Saturn C-5 would be the lunar launch
vehicle.
Washington Evening Star, January 5, 1962; Washington
Post, January 10, 1962.
January 11
In his State of the Union message to the Congress, President
John F . Kennedy said: "With the approval of this Congress, we have undertaken
in the past year a great new effort in outer space. Our aim is not simply to be
first on the moon, any more than Charles Lindbergh's real aim was to be first to
Paris. His aim was to develop the techniques and the authority of this country
and other countries in the field of the air and the atmosphere, and our
objective in making this effort, which we hope will place one of our citizens on
the moon, is to develop in a new frontier of science, commerce and cooperation,
the position of the United States and the free world. This nation belongs among
the first to explore it. And among the first - if not the first - we shall be."
Senate Staff Report, Documents on International Aspects of the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space, 1954- 1962, p. 228.
January 15
The Apollo Spacecraft Project Office (ASPO) was established
at MSC. Charles W. Frick was selected as Manager of the new Office, to assume
his duties in February. Frick had been Chief of Technical Staff for General
Dynamics Convair. Robert O. Piland was appointed Deputy Manager of ASPO and
would serve as Acting Manager until Frick's arrival. ASPO would be responsible
for the technical direction of NAA and other industrial contractors assigned to
work on the Apollo spacecraft. All technical coordination with NAA or with other
contractors on the Apollo project would be coordinated through this Office. The
Manager of ASPO would be responsible for keeping the Director and Associate
Director of MSC fully advised on the status of the program.
MSC Announcement No. 10, Establishment of the Apollo Spacecraft Project
Office, January 15, 1962.
January 22
The first Apollo engineering order was issued to fabricate
mockups of the Apollo command and service modules.
Oakley, Historical Summary, S&ID Apollo Program, p. 5.
January 26
Ranger III was launched toward the moon from the
Atlantic Missile Range by an Atlas-Agena B booster. Because of a malfunction in
the Agena guidance system, the spacecraft missed its target by 22,862 miles and
eventually went into solar orbit. Of four scientific experiments only one was
partially completed: gamma-ray readings of the lunar surface. Attempts to relay
television pictures of the moon and to bounce radar signals off the moon at
close range were unsuccessful.
New York Times, January 29, 1962.
During the Month
NAA engineers began preliminary layouts to define the
elements of the command module (CM) configuration. Additional requirements and
limitations imposed on the CM included reduction in diameter, paraglider
compatibility, 250 pounds of radiation protection water, redundant propellant
tankage for the attitude control system, and an increase in system weight and
volume.
Layouts were also being prepared to identify equipment requirements in the CM
aft compartment, while layouts depicting the position and orientation of the
three crewmen during various phases of the lunar flight were complete.
Basic load paths for the CM inner structure, an access door through the outer
structure, and the three side wall hatches for crew entrance and exit had been
tentatively defined. The CM inner structure was currently of bonded aluminum
honeycomb, the outer structure of high-temperature, brazed steel honeycomb.
NAA, Apollo Monthly Progress Report, SID 62-300-1, January 31,
1962, pp. l5-16.
During the Month
Command module heatshield requirements, including
heating versus time curves, were established by NAA for several design
trajectories. A computer program method of analyzing the charring ablation
process had been developed. By this means, it was possible to calculate the mass
loss, surface char layer temperature, amount of heat conducted through the
uncharred ablation material and insulation into the cabin, and temperature
profile through the ablator and insulation layers. In February, NAA determined
that a new and more refined computer program would be needed.
Apollo Monthly Progress Report, SID 62-300-1, p. 1.
During the Month
The solid propellant called for in the original NAA
proposal on the service module propulsion system was replaced by a storable,
hypergolic propellant. Multitank configurations under study appeared to present
offloading capabilities for alternative missions.
Apollo Monthly Progress Report, SID 62-300-1, p. 18.
January-February
The Requests for Quotation on production contracts for
major components of the Apollo spacecraft guidance and navigation system,
comprising seven separate items, were released to industry by the MIT
Instrumentation Laboratory. (The Source Evaluation Board, appointed on January
31, began its work during the week of March 5 and contractors were selected on
May 8.)
Interview with Ralph Ragan, Instrumentation Laboratory, MIT, April 27, 1966;
Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, MSC, Weekly Activity Report, March 5-10, 1962;
memorandum, Robert C. Seamans, Jr., to MSC, Attn: Robert R. Gilruth,
"Appointment of Source Evaluation Board," January 31, 1962.
January-June
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation developed a
detailed, company-funded study on the lunar orbit rendezvous technique:
characteristics of the system (relative cost of direct ascent, earth orbit
rendezvous, and lunar orbit rendezvous); developmental problems (communications,
propulsion); and elements of the system (tracking facilities, etc.). Joseph M.
Gavin was appointed in the spring to head the effort, and Robert E. Mullaney was
designated program manager.
Interview with Saul Ferdman, Director of Space Vehicle Development, Grumman
Aircraft Engineering Corporation, May 2, 1966.
John C. Houbolt of Langley Research Center
and Charles W. Mathews of MSC made a presentation of lunar orbit rendezvous
versus earth orbit rendezvous to the Manned Space Flight Management Council.
MSF Management Council Minutes, February 6, 1962, p. 1.
February 7
At his regular press conference, President John F. Kennedy
was asked for his "evaluation of our progress in space at this time" and whether
the United States had changed its "timetable for landing a man on the moon." He
replied: "As I said from the beginning, we have been behind . . . and we are
running into the difficulties which came from starting late, We, however, are
going to proceed by making a maximum effort. As you know, the expenditures in
our space program are enormous . . . the time schedule, at least our hope, has
not been changed by the recent setbacks [Ranger failures]."
Washington Post, February 8, 1962.
February 7
On the basis of a study by NAA, a single-engine configuration
was chosen as the optimum approach for the service module propulsion subsystem.
The results of the study were presented to MSC representatives and NAA was
authorized to issue a work statement to begin procurement of an engine for this
configuration. Agreement was also reached at this meeting on a vacuum thrust
level of 20,000 pounds for the engine. This would maintain a thrust-to-weight
ratio of 0.4 and allow a considerable increase in the lunar liftoff weight of
the spacecraft.
NAA, Apollo Monthly Progress Report, SID 62-300-2, February 28,
1962, p. 46.
February 9
Robert R. Gilruth, MSC Director, in a letter to NASA
Headquarters, described the Ad Hoc Lunar Landing Module Working Group which was
to be under the direction of the Apollo Spacecraft Project Office. The Group
would determine what constraints on the design of the lunar landing module were
applicable to the effort of the Lewis Research Center. Gilruth asked that Eldon
W. Hall represent NASA Headquarters in this Working Group. [At this time, the
lunar landing module was conceived as being that part of the spacecraft which
would actually land on the moon and which would contain the propulsion system
necessary for launch from the lunar surface and injection into transearth
trajectory. Pending a decision on the lunar mission mode, the actual
configuration of the module was not yet clearly defined.]
Letter, Gilruth, MSC, to NASA Headquarters, Attn: Mr. Rosen, "Formation of
Lunar Landing Module Ad Hoc Working Group," February 9, 1962.
February 9
NASA announced that the General Electric Company had been
selected for a major supporting role in the Apollo project, to provide
integration analysis of the total space vehicle (including booster-spacecraft
interface), ensure reliability of the entire space vehicle, and develop and
operate a checkout system.
U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Science and Astronautics,
Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962, Report of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 88th Congress, 1st Session
(1963), p. 15.
February 13
A contract for the escape rocket of the Apollo spacecraft
launch escape system was awarded to the Lockheed Propulsion Company by NAA. The
initial requirements were for a 200,000-pound-thrust solid- propellant rocket
motor with an active thrust-vector-control subsystem. After extensive study,
Lockheed was directed to remove the control subsystem. A letter contract change
was subsequently made with Lockheed to develop and manufacture a pitch-control
motor to replace the thrust-vector-control subsystem. In conjunction with the
use of the pitch-control motor, the escape-motor thrust was reduced to 155,000
pounds.
Apollo Quarterly Status Report No. 1, p. 10; Oakley,
Historical Summary, S&ID Apollo Program, p. 6; TWX, NAA to MSC,
February 12, 1962.
February 13-15
A meeting on the technical aspects of earth orbit
rendezvous was held at NASA Headquarters. Representatives from various NASA
offices attended: Arthur L. Rudolph, Paul J. DeFries, Fred L. Digesu, Ludie G.
Richard, John W. Hardin, Jr., Ernst D. Geissler, and Wilson B. Schramm of
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC); James T. Rose of MSC; Friedrich O. Vonbun,
Joseph W. Siry, and James J. Donegan of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC);
Douglas R. Lord, James E. O'Neill, Richard J. Hayes, Warren J. North, and Daniel
D. McKee of the NASA Office of Manned Space Flight (OMSF). Joseph F. Shea,
Deputy Director for Systems, OMSF, who had called the meeting, defined in
general terms the goal of the meeting: to achieve agreement on the approach to
be used in developing the earth orbit rendezvous technique. After two days of
discussions and presentations, the Group approved conclusions and
recommendations:
- Gemini rendezvous operations could and must provide substantial experience
with rendezvous techniques pertinent to Apollo.
- Incorporation of the Saturn guidance equipment in a scaled-down docking
module for the Agenas in the Gemini program was not required.
- Complete development of the technique and equipment for Apollo rendezvous
and docking should be required before the availability of the Saturn C-5
launch vehicle.
- Full-scale docking equipment could profitably be developed by three-
dimensional ground simulations. MSFC would prepare an outline of such a
program.
- The Apollo rendezvous technique and actual hardware could be flight-
tested with the Saturn C-1 launch vehicle. MSFC would prepare a proposed
flight test program.
- The choice of connecting or tanking modes must be made in the near future.
The MSFC Orbital Operations Study program should be used to provide data to
make this decision.
- The rendezvous technique which evolved from this meeting would place heavy
requirements on the ground tracking network. GSFC should provide data relating
the impact of detailed trajectory considerations to ground tracking station
requirements.
[This meeting was part of a continuing effort to select
the lunar mission mode.]
Minutes, Earth Orbital Rendezvous Meeting, February 13-15, 1962, pp. 2-4.
February 14
NASA signed a contract with The Boeing Company for
indoctrination, familiarization, and planning, expected to lead to a follow-on
contract for design, development, manufacture, test, and launch operations of
the first stage S-IC of the Saturn C-5 launch vehicle.
Senate Staff Report, Manned Space Flight Program, p. 205.
February 18
NASA announced Project Fire, a high-speed reentry heat
research program to obtain data on materials, heating rates, and radio signal
attenuation on spacecraft reentering the atmosphere at speeds of about 24,500
miles per hour. Information from the program would support technology for manned
and unmanned reentry from lunar missions. Under the management of the Langley
Research Center, Project Fire would use Atlas D boosters and the reentry package
would be powered by an Antares solid-fuel motor (third stage of the Scout).
Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962, p. 17.
February 20
The Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7, with
Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., as pilot, was launched into orbit from the
Atlantic Missile Range by an Atlas booster. After a three-orbit flight of 4
hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds, Friendship 7 splashed down in
the Atlantic Ocean about 800 miles southeast of Bermuda. The spacecraft was
recovered within minutes, and Astronaut Glenn was reported to be in excellent
condition. With this flight, the basic objectives of Project Mercury had been
achieved.
Grimwood, Project Mercury: A Chronology, pp. 159-160.
February 27
The preparation of schedules based on the NASA Fiscal Year
1962 budget (including the proposed supplemental appropriation), the Fiscal Year
1963 budget as submitted to Congress, and Fiscal Year 1964 and subsequent
funding was discussed at the Manned Space Flight Management Council meeting.
Program assumptions as presented by Wernher von Braun, Director, Marshall Space
Flight Center (MSFC), were approved for use in preparation of the schedules :
- The Saturn C-5 launch vehicle and earth orbital rendezvous were considered
the primary mode for the lunar landing.
- Full-scale orbit operations development, including ground testing, would
be accomplished, using S-I boosters and orbital upper stages. This development
would be planned so that upper stages and rendezvous techniques would be
developed by the time the C-5 was operational. Planning would consider both
connecting and fueling modes.
- The development of a two-stage Nova with liquid-propellant engines in both
stages would be activated as early as realistically feasible. This would
provide an alternative, direct flight mode carrying the same orbital launch
vehicle as developed for the C-5.
- There would be no solid-propellant vehicle development.
Charles W.
Frick of MSC and Hans H. Maus of MSFC would coordinate schedule assumptions
between the Centers.
MSF Management Council Minutes, February 27, 1962, Erratum Sheet, Agenda Item
3.
During the Month
A NASA Apollo Office was established at NAA's Space and
Information Systems Division, under the direction of J. Thomas Markley of MSC.
The Office would serve primarily as liaison between the prime contractor and the
Apollo Spacecraft Project Office at MSC.
MSC Space News Roundup, February 21, 1962, p. 8.
During the Month
The command module crew couch was repositioned and
redesigned because of numerous problems. In the new design, an adjustable hand
controller, similar to that used on the X-15, would be attached to an adjustable
arm rest. The head rest could be regulated for an approximate four-inch
movement, while the side head support was limited in movement for couch-module
clearance. The adjustable leg support included a foot controller which could be
folded up.
The center couch, including the crewman parachute and survival kit, could be
folded out to a sleep position and stowed under either remaining couch.
Allowance was made for the crewman to turn over.
Principal problems remaining were the difficulty of removing the center couch
and providing the clearances needed for the couch positions specified for
various phases of the lunar mission.
Apollo Monthly Progress Report, SID 62-300-2, p. 43.
During the Month
NASA wind tunnel data on the adaptation of the Project
Mercury Little Joe booster to the Apollo launch escape system were analyzed. The
booster fins were ineffective in maintaining the stability of the configuration
and the project was canceled. The later Little Joe II depended on the inherent
stability of the total vehicle to attain a successful ballistic trajectory to
test altitude.
Apollo Monthly Progress Report, SID 62-300-2, p. 1; Convair
Division of General Dynamics, Little Joe II Test Launch Vehicle, NASA
Project Apollo: Final Report (May 1966), Vol. 1, p. 117.
NASA Headquarters selected the Chance Vought
Corporation of Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc., as a contractor to study spacecraft
rendezvous. A primary part of the contract would be a flight simulation study
exploring the capability of an astronaut to control an Apollo-type spacecraft.
Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962, p. 27.
March 2
The Marquardt Corporation was selected by NAA's Space and
Information Systems Division to design and build the reaction control rocket
engines for the Apollo spacecraft. The contract was signed during April.
Oakley, Historical Summary, S&ID Apollo Program, p. 6;
Apollo Quarterly Status Report No. 1, p. 17; Apollo Spacecraft
Project Office, MSC, Weekly Activity Report, February 25-March 3, 1962.
March 3
The Aerojet-General Corporation was named by NAA as a
subcontractor for the Apollo service module propulsion system.
Oakley, Historical Summary, S&ID Apollo Program, p. 6.
March 6
The organizational elements and staffing for the MSC Apollo
Spacecraft Project Office was announced:
- Office of Project Manager
- Charles W. Frick, Project Manager
Robert O. Piland, Deputy Project Manager
- Command and Service Module
- Caldwell C. Johnson, Chief
William F. Rector, Special Assistant
Calvin H. Perrine, Flight Technology
Lee N. McMillion, Crew Systems
David L. Winterhalter, Sr., Power Systems
Wallace D. Graves, Mechanical Systems
Milton C. Kingsley, Electrical Systems
(Vacant), Ground Support Equipment
- Lunar Landing Module
- Robert O. Piland, Acting Chief
- Guidance and Control Development
- David W. Gilbert, Chief
Jack Barnard, Apollo Office at MIT
- Systems Integration
- Paul F. Weyers, Chief
(Vacant), Reliability and Quality Control
Emory F. Harris, Operations Requirements
Robert P. Smith, Launch Vehicle Integration
Owen G. Morris, Mission Engineering
Marion R. Franklin, Ground Operational Support Systems
- Apollo Office at NAA
- Herbert R. Ash, Acting Manager
Alan B. Kehlet, Engineering
Alan B. Kehlet, Acting Manager, Quality Control and Engineering
Herbert R. Ash, Acting Manager, Business Administration
- Planning and Resources
- Thomas F. Baker, Chief
MSC Announcement No. 30, Personnel
Assignments for Apollo Spacecraft Project Office. March 6. 1962.
March 8
NAA awarded a development contract for the Apollo spacecraft
fuel cell to Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division of United Aircraft
Corporation.
Oakley, Historical Summary, S&ID Apollo Program, p. 5.
March 12
Primary MSC activities for the Apollo program were relocated
from Langley Field, Va., to the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Tex.
MSC Announcement No. 21, Relocation of MSC Headquarters, February 26, 1962.
March 12-13
A NASA Headquarters-MSC management meeting was held to
discuss the general status of the Apollo project, Apollo Spacecraft Project
Office organization, mission and engineering studies, and budgets and schedules.
Participants at the meeting agreed that a staged lunar landing propulsion module
would be studied.
Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, MSC, Weekly Activity Report, March 11-17,
1962.
March 13
James E. Webb, NASA Administrator, recommended to President
John F. Kennedy that the Apollo program be given DX priority [highest priority
in the procurement of critical materials]. He also sent a memorandum to Vice
President Lyndon B. Johnson, Chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space
Council, requesting that the Council consider advising the President to add the
Apollo program to the DX priority list.
Letter, Webb to The President, March 13, 1962; memorandum, Webb to Chairman,
National Aeronautics and Space Council, "Request for Highest National Priority
for the Apollo Program," March 13, 1962.
March 14
NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced the selection
of the Military Electronics Division of Motorola, Inc., as the contractor to
manufacture and test radio equipment in the first two phases of a program to
augment the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (DSIF) by providing "S" band
capability for stations at Goldstone, Calif., Woomera, Australia, and near
Johannesburg, South Africa. With these stations located some 120 degrees apart
around the earth, DSIF would have a high-gain, narrow-beam-width, high-frequency
system, with very little interference from cosmic noise and would provide much
improved telemetering and tracking of satellites as far out as the moon and
nearby planets.
Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962, p. 35.
March 15-16
Charles W. Frick, Manager of the MSC Apollo Spacecraft
Project Office, together with Maxime A. Faget, Charles W. Mathews, Christopher
C. Kraft, Jr., John B. Lee, Owen E. Maynard, and Alan B. Kehlet of MSC and
George M. Low of the NASA Office of Manned Space Flight, visited NAA at Downey,
Calif. This was the first monthly meeting of the Apollo design and review team
to survey NAA's progress in various areas, including the Apollo spacecraft
heatshield, fuel cells, and service module.
MSF Management Council Minutes, March 27, 1962, Agenda Item 4.
March 18
Marshall Space Flight Center's latest schedule on the Saturn
C-5 called for the first launch in the last quarter of 1965 and the first manned
launch in the last quarter of 1967. If the C-5 could be man-rated on the eighth
research and development flight in the second quarter of 1967, the spacecraft
lead time would be substantially reduced.
MSFC Consolidated Program Schedules and Funding, M-CP-R2, March 18, 1962.
March 23
The Avco Corporation was selected by NAA to design and install
the ablative material on the Apollo spacecraft outer surface.
Oakley, Historical Summary, S&ID Apollo Program, p. 6;
Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, MSC, Weekly Activity Report, March 18-24,
1962.
March 23
Wind tunnel tests were completed at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory and at Langley Research Center on two early configurations of Apollo
spacecraft models.
Oakley, Historical Summary, S&ID Apollo Program, p. 6.
These illustrations were used by D. Brainerd Holmes, Director, Manned
Space Flight, NASA, in testimony before the House of Representatives Committee
on Science and Astronautics, Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight, March 26,
1962.
March 25-31
NASA Headquarters approved plans for the development of the
Little Joe II test launch vehicle. Prospective bidders were notified of a
briefing to be held at MSC on April 6, at which time Requests for Proposals
would be distributed.
Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, MSC, Weekly Activity Report, March 25-31,
1962.
March 29
Members of Langley Research Center briefed representatives of
the Chance Vought Corporation of Ling- Temco-Vought, Inc., on the lunar orbit
rendezvous method of accomplishing the lunar landing mission. The briefing was
made in connection with the study contract on spacecraft rendezvous awarded by
NASA Headquarters to Chance Vought on March 1.
John D. Bird, "Short History of the Development of the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous
Plan at the Langley Research Center," p. 4.
March 29
NASA announced that a $5 million contract would be awarded to
Republic Aviation Corporation for the construction of two experimental reentry
spacecraft. Republic was selected from eight companies that submitted bids on
March 12. The contract was part of Project Fire, to develop a spacecraft capable
of withstanding reentry into the earth's atmosphere from a lunar mission. Plans
called for the spacecraft to be tested during the second half of 1963.
New York Times, March 30, 1962.
During the Month
A small group within the MSC Apollo Spacecraft Project
Office developed a preliminary program schedule for three approaches to the
lunar landing mission: earth orbit rendezvous, direct ascent, and lunar orbit
rendezvous. The exercise established a number of ground rules :
- Establish realistic schedules that would "second guess" failures but
provide for exploitation of early success.
- Schedule circumlunar, lunar orbit, and lunar landing missions at the
earliest realistic dates.
- Complete the flight development of spacecraft modules and operational
techniques, using the Saturn C-1 and C-1B launch vehicles, prior to the time
at which a "man-rated" C-5 launch vehicle would become available.
- Develop the spacecraft operational techniques in "buildup" missions that
would progress generally from the simple to the complex.
- Use the spacecraft crew at the earliest time and to the maximum extent,
commensurate with safety considerations, in the development of the spacecraft
and its subsystems.
The exercise also provided a basis for proceeding
with the development of definitive schedules and a program plan.
Memorandum, Thomas F. Baker, Chief, Planning and Resources, to Manager,
Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, March 23, 1962.
March-November
The Apollo guidance and navigation system was defined in
more detail as more information from NASA MIT studies was received on new
requirements for the system. As a result, the scope of the component development
tasks given to all the guidance and navigation subcontractors was substantially
increased.
Interview with Ralph Ragan, MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, April 27, 1966.