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AS-102

1964 Saturn I test

Field	Value
name	AS-102
image	Saturn SA7 launch.jpg
image_caption	Launch of AS-102
mission_type	Spacecraft aerodynamics
operator	NASA
COSPAR_ID	1964-057A
SATCAT	883
mission_duration	~7 hours, 30 minutes
orbits_completed	59
spacecraft	Apollo BP-15
launch_mass	16700 kg
launch_date	UTC
launch_rocket	Saturn I SA-7
launch_site	Cape Kennedy LC-37B
disposal_type	Uncontrolled reentry
last_contact	UTC
decay_date	UTC
orbit_epoch	September 20, 1964
orbit_reference	Geocentric
orbit_regime	Low Earth orbit
orbit_periapsis	177 km
orbit_apoapsis	206 km
orbit_inclination	31.7 degrees
orbit_period	88.32 minutes
apsis	gee
previous_mission	AS-101
next_mission	AS-103
programme	Apollo program

AS-102 (also designated SA-7) was the seventh flight of the Saturn I launch vehicle, which carried the boilerplate Apollo spacecraft BP-15 into low Earth orbit. The test took place on September 18, 1964, lasting for five orbits (about seven and a half hours). The spacecraft and its upper stage completed 59 orbits before reentering the atmosphere and crashing in the Indian Ocean on September 22, 1964.

Objectives

AS-102 was designed to repeat the flight of AS-101. It would once again carry a boilerplate Apollo command and service module. The only difference from Boilerplate 13 carried on AS-101 was that on Boilerplate 15, one of the simulated reaction control system thruster quads (attitude control thrusters) was instrumented to record launch temperatures and vibrations. Another major difference on AS-102 was that the launch escape system (LES) tower would be jettisoned using the launch escape and pitch control motors.

AS-102 was the first time a Saturn rocket carried the ST-124 programmable guidance computer. Previous launches had used an onboard "black box" that was preprogrammed.{{cite report|title=Results of The Seventh Saturn I Launch Vehicle Test Flight SA-7

Apollo Command Module boiler plate #15 checked out prior to SA-7 launch on September 18, 1964

Flight

In early July, a small crack in engine number six was found. This meant removing the engine, the first time that the ground crew had to do this with a Saturn rocket. It was then decided to return all eight engines to the manufacturer, which meant a job that would take about ten hours because of the large number of tubes, hoses and wires that connected each engine to the rocket. The replacement delayed the launch by about two weeks, followed by another delay of several days because of Hurricanes Cleo and Dora.

Launch was on 18 September from Cape Kennedy, Florida just before noon local time. The first stage burned for 147.7 seconds, with separation 0.8 seconds later. The second stage ignited 1.7 seconds later, and the LES jettisoned at 160.2 seconds after launch. It burned until +621.1 seconds with the stage and boilerplate in a 212.66 by 226.50 km orbit.

The flight met all its objectives. The spacecraft continued to transmit telemetry for five orbits and was tracked until re-entry on its 59th orbit over the Indian Ocean.

The only anomalous event on the flight was the failure to recover the eight film-camera pods. They had landed downrange of the expected area, where Hurricane Gladys forestalled a continued search. However, two of the pods did wash ashore two months later. The pods were covered with barnacles, but the film inside was undamaged.

References

McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page.
[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1964-057A NSSDC: ''SA-7'']

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

apollo-program spacecraft-launched-in-1964 spacecraft-which-reentered-in-1964 test-spaceflights spacecraft-launched-by-saturn-rockets saturn-i

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