Apollo 8 Press Briefing 12 November 1968

8/6/2019 Apollo 8 Press Briefing 12 November 1968

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N E W Sh.hD JL -

N AL AERONAUTICS A ND SPACE AD MIN IST RAT ION WO 2-4155TELS WO $6925ASHINGTON, QL 0546

. N o v e m b e r 12, 1968

NlWS BRIEFINGON

APOLIX) 8 MOON ORBITAL FLIGHT

PARTICIPANTS :DR. THOMAS 0 , PAINE, A c t i n g A d m i n i s t r a t o r , NASALT. GENERAL SA L 6 , P H I L L I P S , Apollo ProgramD i r e c t o r , NASAMR. WILLIAM C. SC , Apollo Miasion D i r e c t o r , NASAMR. ALIPR&D P, ALIBRANDoz Publ ic Affairs O f f i c e r , N A S A


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t h e press ALIBRANDQt Good ~ r n i n e ready t o beginconference on t h e A p o ll ion ,The par t i e i p a n t s t h i ill be D r . ThomasPaine, Acting Administrator; Lt. General Samuel P h l l l l ~ s , P O ~

Program Director; and B i l l Schneider , Apollo M i @ionDirector.Dr, Paine.PAINE: Good morning. After a careful and thoroughexas ina t ion o f a l l of t h e system and r isks involved, w ehave concluded t h a t w e are now ready t o P l y t h e most advancedm i s s i o n fo r our Apollo 8 launch i n December, t h e o r b i t aroundt h e moon.Frank Bornan and h i s crew and a l l of our engineerrsare unanimously i n fa vo r of s e l e c t i n g t h i s mission.W have reached t h i s conclusion a f t e r a long seriesof i n t e n s i v e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s of t h e s t a t u s of our program, t h ef l i g h t hardware, ground support equipment, s t a tt r a in ing .The timing fo r t h e December 21 launch is condit ionedb y t h e p o s i t i o n of t h e earth and t h e moon and t h e sun. I t isdesigned t o give us d a y l i g h t i n t h e launch area and t h e recovery

area and then designed t o g i v e u s t h e r i g h t kind of photographicand observation l i g h t on t h e s u r f a c e of t h e moon.The outbound t r i p w i l l occupy about three d a g s , t h et i m e i n o r b i t around t h e moon w i l l be about a day involvingt e n o r b i t a l swings around the moon, w i t h about a three-dayr e tu rn , ac tua l ly adding up to something just s l i g h t l y overs i x days t o t h e recovery.To t e l l you about t h e d e t a i l s of t h i s decis ion and

now t o in t roduce t h e Director ofneral Samuel P h i l l i p s .od morning, ladies a ntlemen. Thec ided t o f l y w i t h A pas designed. And ii t won't know t h e d i

8 is t h e mission

a r landing mission.


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3Andf o r which t h eTheof coume, is

respects t h e mission

excep t ion in t h e c 10spacecraft ,tha t there is not e aboard, andt h e command and s e r v i c t r i p t o t h emoon without having t h docked, and t h t h e except ion,i n most important respec of t h eknowledge w i l l gain, i t is t h e d e s i f o r t h eApollo-Saturn V space s y s t e m ,

Now, w e have concluded, ast h e t o t a l Apollo space ys tem w i l l bea t t h e scheduled launch t i m e on the 21sI would l i k e t o t e some t i m e t h imarize t h e important elemen of t h e backt o t h a t decis ion and t o di scuss also t h ec lus ian ,L e t m e s t a r t w i t h when we flewAgo110 4, which consisted oand t h e 017 spacecraft, Thbeing t h e f i r s t Saturn V f l i g h t ,less mission. The launch vehicle t ~ a t ~ ~ompletely a l lof t h e maneuvers and pe r f0t h e ul t imate lunar landingA s f a r t h e launch v s h ico u t i t s design mission,The spacecraft 017 flew for near ly 11 houon-board program control and under remote c o n t r o l fground, and performed flawles l y , Among it many demonstrationrs

it demonstrated th e high-speed reent ry t h a t is requi red f o rt h e r e t u r n f r o m 8 lunar mission,

Now, you can draw many concl m t h a t missfon,but one of them is t h a t i t showed t h Saturn Vdesign is a good design,Now, i n A p r i l of t h i t h e secondSaturn V, No. 502, which carried t h e btpac t 020, t h e


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sister s h i p o e c d i t Apollo 60 I t w a s designedi n most impor ect a repeat of t h e Apollo 4 mission.There were on t h a t m i s ion severa l impor tant techni -

c a l f a i l u r e s and malfunctionsl. You w i l l recall t h a t duringt h e second-stage o engines f a i l ed . During t h eo r b i t a l coast a n t i o n fo r res tar t f a r t h e simu-l a t e d trans n a r i n j e c t i o n , t h e upper stage f a i l e d t o r e s t a r tfo r t h e t r a l unar in jec t ion .In t h e post-mission analysis w e determined t h a t w ehad l ong i tud ina l osci l la t ions on t ha t veh ic le which are cowmonly cal led POGO, W observed also there w a s abnormal p e rformance of t h e p r o p e l l a n t u t i l i z a t i o n s y s t e m which con t ro l l edt h e d i v i s i o n of f u e l and o x i d i z e r i n t h e engine during t h epropulsive maneuver.We also di scussed in t h e b r i e f i n g t h a t fQl1QWed t h a tm i s s i o n a n a p p a r e n t s t r u c t u r a l f a i l u r e i n t h e spacecraft L?dadapter area of t h e s t r u c t u r e , W also o erved a t t h a t t i m e ,I w i l l reca l l again , t h a t i n s p i t e of these d i f f i c u l t i e s ,which were su bs ta nt ia l and impor tant , t h e spacecraft w a s cowmanded o f f i n t o a n a l t e r n a t e m is si on by t h e f l i g h t controlorganizat ion and it f l 8 flawless a l t e r n a t e m i ss io n, re-e n t e r i n g i n t h e P a c i f i c as intended.Now, t h e ques t ion t h a t one can raise then from t h i sseries 501 and 502 r e a l l y concerns t h e t o t a l adequacy of t h edesign and of t h e proce 88s of manufacture and therefore oft h e margins t h a t are a v a i l a b l e i n a piece of equipment,A f t e r t h a t mission we very rapidly assessed t h et echn ica l data, determined by t h e l a t t e r p a r t of Apri l oft h i s y e a r t h a t w e unders tood su f f i c i en t ly t h e reason fo r t h emalfunctions t h a t occurred, t h a t w e f e l t w e could proceedw i t h confidence to prepare t h e next Saturn V, No. 503, tocarry out a manned f l i g h t i n t h e l a t t e r p a r t of t h i s calendaryear .Since t h a t t i m e there has been one of t h e mostaggressive, thorough and determined engineering tests andeng ineer ing ana lys i s programs conducted t f have everse en . And i n t h e course of these months have i d e n t i f i e d


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5i n d e t a i l t h e rea Oris f o r t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s ,t h e correction^. We have tasted a t great length t h e correc-tions and, in p a r a l l e l w i t h a l l t h i s , conducted a very elaborateengineer ing an alys is .

W have designed

This culminated week before l a s t on the 7 t h of Novem-b e r i n a design c e r t i f i c a t i o n review which concluded by val i -da t ing and c e r t i f y i n g t h e Saturn V No. 503 as ready f o rmanned f l i g h t .L e t m e recal l a lso that l a s t August i n a press confer-ence and briefing t h a t w e had on t h e 1 9 t h of August, t o bespec i f i c , I o u t l i n e d t h e events t h a t l e d us t o t h e decis iont o drop LM 3 from t h e 503 f l i g h t which w a s being made readyf o r f l i g h t i n t h e l a t e part of t h i s y e a r . That dec i s ion w a s

reached because w e were encounter ing d e l a y s i n t h e checkoutof t h e lunar module a t t h e Cape which i n our judgment w a s lead-ing us t o a f l i g h t w e l l i n t o t h e s p r i n g of next y e a r i f w ewere t o w a i t u n t i l w e resolved t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s t h a t were de-lay ing t h e checkout,A t t h a t t i m e w 0 concluded t ha t i t w a s i n t h e besti n t e r e s t of t h e progressl of t h e program t o prepare t h e 503launch vehicle t o f l y w i t h command se r v i c e module 103 bu twithout t h e LM i n order t o get t h e Apollo-Saturn V s y s t e m

i n t o space opera t ions a t t h e ear l ies t t i m e and to m a k e t h egains toward our u l t ima te ob jec t ive of a manned lunar landingby f l y i n g y e t t h i s year w i t h a command s e r v i c e module only.

That d e c i s i o n t h e n i d e n t i f i e d a range of a l t e r n a t i v emissions t h a t we would prepare to conduct w i t h t h e decis iont o be made af te r a l l of t h e pmgram events had occurred, in-c luding t h e f l i g h t of A p o l l o 7 , which would then be t h e b a s i sfo r a dec i s ion to select from among those range of a l t e r n a t emissions, which included l o w earth o r b i t , high earth o r b i t ,many thousands of m i l e s i n o r b i t , circumlunar or i n t o l u n a ro r b i t and return as t h e range of opt ions .

Now, Apollo 7 , which of coup88 f l e w between t h e1 1 t h and 22nd of October, w a s launched on a Saturn-IB andcarried t h e f i r s t Block I1 spacecraft, No. 101. That mission,as we a l l know, m e t i t s object ives , and I have c lass i f i ed i tas a perfect mission.


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6took off been reducingt h e data from you know, w e carry manyhundreds of i n e l s aboard each of ourf l i g h t s i n or nalyze t h e performance down

s e v e r a l l e v e l s i n a l l of t h e important subsystems, Tha ta n a l y s i s h as been in g very hard a t t h e ques t ion I askeda f t e r 1 mentioned 501 and 502 sequence -- namely, a t t h edesign margi e8 of i n c ip i e nt f a i l u r e s whichc a r e f u l r e v i Is of t h e data might indica te , anda c a r e f u l re f the performance of t h a t spacecraft i n i tsprimary mode pera t ion such as t h e environmental control ,where i t w a s exercised thoroughly, as w e l l as looking care-f u l l y a t t h e perfo nce i n t h e s e v e r a l what I w i l l c a l la l t e r n a t e o r backoff or degraded modes of opera t ion which w ehave b u i l t i n t o t h i s equipment through redundancy of designand by providing backdown features t h a t t h e crew can selecti n case any of t h e pieces of equipment i n d i c a t e abnormal per-f ormance *As I s a y , w e have co nc en tr at ed many thousan ds ofeng ine ers ' manhours i n stu dyi ng t h a t data i n order t o assessand understand design margins and t h e poss ib i l i t i e s of kncipi-e n t f a i l u r e s . Bec e you reca l l , t h e w ay i n which t h i s pro-gram h a s been organized from t h e beginning, w e have a l w a y sknown t h a t w e would never be able t o demonstrate in a c lass ica l ,

s t a t i s t i c a l r e l i a b i l i t y sense t h e performance of t h e equipmentand t he r e l i a b i l i t y which r e q u i r e s t e n a o r even hundreds ofopera t ions t o demonstrate,So w e have b ad our program from t h e beginning onca re fu l design, incorp orat in g redundancies and degraded modeopera t ion , and then a very, very ex te ns iv e ground t e s t pro-gram culminated by a minimum of f l i g h t demonstrations t ov a l i d a t e t h e design,Now, 1% going t o d i s c u s s i n a few momenta two orthree of t h e f e a t u r e s of t h e work t h a t h a s been done sincet h a t t i m e using some vu-graphs, so I won't s a y any more abouti t r i g h t now.How, we i n the Apollo Program have been working nowfo r many y e a r s toward t h e o b j e c t i v e of a manned lunar landinga t t h e ea r l i e s t pract ical and safe t i m e , W e concluded backi n August and have devoted much energy t o t h e p o i nt s i n c et h a t there is much t o gain by going as deep i n t o space w i t h


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7t h e second manned Apollo f l i h t as w e would be able t o judgeprudent, We are able by going in to lunar o r b i t t o make anea r ly f l i g h t d e ~ ~ t r a t i o nf t h e design mission of t h eSaturn V and of t h e Apollo command and s e r v i c e module space-c r a f t and t o understand t h e opera t ion of t h e spacecraft i nt h e thermal environment of t r a n s l u n a r space and i n t h e environ-ment surrounding t h e moon, t o assess our communications capa-b i l i t y , and very importantly t o evaluate and work on ournavigat ion c a p a b i l i t y ,

In t h i s connection, our a b i l i t y t o ident i fy andtrack landmarks on t h e l u n a r s u r f a c e is very important t ot h e precise o r b i t determinat ion which w e expect t o be ableto accomplish i n order t o w i t h s u f f i c i e n t a cc ura cy make t h elanding w i t h t h e l unar module and then make t h e rendezvousbetween t h e lunar module and t h e command s e r v i c e module a f t e rt h e lunar landing,

W e are also very aware of t h e gains t h a t w e canmake by e a r l y development and evaluation of t h e procedurest h a t are involvedl in t h e lunar mission, those concerned w i t hf l i g h t con t ro l i n our Miss ion Co n t ro l Center as w e l l asaround t h e world , and, very important ly , our i n f l i g h t pro-cedures.Now, w h i l e w e have known and given much at t e n t i o n t o

t h e gains t h a t can be made b y proceeding out t o l unar o r b i t ,w e have also recognized t h a t i n ca r ry ing ou t such a missionw e take on some a d d i t i o n a l r i s k s over and above those t h a tone exposes himeelf t o or t h e f l i g h t crew t o opera t ing in al o w ea r t h orb i t . But w e have been able to-- I t is our con-c l u s i o n t h a t t h e progression of riskrr which w e have knownfrom t h e beginning t h a t w e have to undertake as w e take onmore and more of our complex s y s t e m leading t o t h e l unarlanding- W have judged tha t t h e progress ion of r i s k be-tween t h e A p o l l o 7 mission which we have flown and t h eApollo 8 mission which w e have designed is a normal progres-s i o n of r i s k s i n a l o g i c a l l y stepped development, f l i g h t tes tprogram.

I n t h e case of t h e l u n a r o r b i t mission, you cansummarize these new r i s k s i n two categories. 3n t h e onecategory, t h e spacecraft propul ion sy s t e m m u s t operate p r o p e rl y i n order t o propel t h e spacecraft back o u t of l u n a r o r b i tand on i t s w ay back t o earth. And t h e other category ofr i s k s are those t h a t are i nheren t i n being some three daysa w a y from t h e ear th as oppoaed t o somewhere between a h a l f


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8an hour and three hourearth i n a l o w ear th o i c h t h e crew is away from t h e

So i n t h i s case w e have t o place i n c r e a s e d r e l i a n c eon t h e dependabi l i ty of t h e l i f e suppor t s y s t e m and t h ee lec t r ic power s y s t e m i n main.

N o w , what I would l i k e t o do now is summarize fo ryou using some vu-graphs some of t h e high p o i n t s of t h e tech-ni ca l and opera t iona l r eviews which have gone on day a f t e r dayi n great dep th over t h e l a s t se ve ra l months t o gi ve you somef ee l f o r t h e depth of t h e cons ide ra t ion t h a t h as gone intot h i s decis ion.I * m going to j u s t show two charts t h a t concern t h e

launch ve hi cl e. And l e t m e p o i n t o u t i n t h a t connectiont h a t t h e launch vehicle per s0 is r e a l l y not involved i n t h edec i s ion procese of whether w e go i n t o ear th o r b i t or carryout a mission involving ope ra t i on s around t h e moon.The dec i s ion t h a t w e j u s t laat week v a l i d a t e d is t h eone which s a y s t h a t t h e Saturn V is indeed r eady t o conduct amanned f l i g h t . And t h e two most i mp or ta nt t e c h n i c a l f a i l u r e son 502 were t h e f a i l u r e s of t h e 52 engine on t h e second andt h i r d stages and t h e l o ng i tu d i na l o s c i l l a t i o n fo r POGO.What w e d i d fol lowing t ha t w a s t o se t up a tes t program i n

which w e were able t o very prec i se ly reproduce t h e cond i t ionsof t h e f a i l u r e on t h e engines, which 681118 down to a f a i l u r eof t h e s m a l l l i n e whiph feeds hydrogen into t h e s t a r t e r cupof t h e 52 engine.This i a J t h e o l d l i n e deerign and t h e weakness w a s i ntwo f l e x i b l e j o i n t s t h a t were g u t there to absorb v i b r a t i o n sand t h e changes involved as t h e engine operated.I t took some f a i r l y b r i l l i a n t d e t e c t i v e work t o

i d e n t i f y t h e f ac t that a f l o w vibration phenomenon w a s s e tup i n these l i n e s u nd er d r y vacuum conditions which had n otbeen discovered i n t h e ground tes t ing , because i n t h e f i n a la n a l y s i s i t turned out t h a t th e ground tes t setup conductedi n e i the r ambient a i r cond i t ions o r i n t h e blowdown t y p evacuum f a c i l i t i e s i n which one tests b i g engines allowedmois ture f r o m t h e a i r t o freeze out on these f l e x i b l e j o i n t sand t o change t h e s t i f f n e s s therefore t h e v b r a t i o n character-i s t i cs .


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9Operat ing in t h e vacuum of pace, t h e m o i s t u r econdensation on t h e extremely cold l i n e s d i d not occur.The vibra t ion characteristics were s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t . Thevi br at io n caused crac kin g, and under t h e pressures involved

i n feeding hydrogen i n t o t h i s u n i t , these j o i n t s cracked andbroke and res ul t ed then i n t h e f a i l u r e s of t h e engine andt h e f a i l u r e of t h e restart of t h e 5-IVB stage.T h i s l i n e was redesigned and I might B ay over-designed in t h e process,and bends i n t h e tube were s u b s t i t u t e d t o take up t h e motions.These were subjec ted t o ex tens ive overdes ign t e s t ing , werev e r i f i e d as more than adequate t o correct the problem.

The f lex ib le j o i n t s were t aken ou t ,

The new design w also i ncorpora ted in t h e oxygens i d e of t h e engine s t a r t s y s t e m , and i t d i d f l y on t h eS-IVB s tage of launch vehicle 205 which propel led Apollo 7i n t o o r b i t .

So i n a d di t io n t o extens ive ground tes t ing , it h asnow been used once i n manned f l i g h t .The next char t is a summary of t h e POGO s i t u a t i o ni n one of t h e impcrtant ways i n which one measures t h e marginsof t h e equipment. And t h i s is one of t h e summar$es which w a s

used i n t h e d e s i g n c e r t i f i c a t i o n r e v i e w o n t h e 7 t h of Novembert o summarize severa l hours of tec hni ca l d iscuss ion , and it ist h e r e s u l t of many thousands of manhours of work involvingmany companies t h a t w e called on t o h e lp us,The mode t h a t got u s i n t o d i f f i c u l t y on 502 w a st h e f i r s t l ong i tud ina l mode of t he veh ic le aa i t crossed t h eW X i n e f requency which w a s up very close, and ac t ua l ly ou taround 90 seconds it became marginal as fa r as s t a b i l i t y isconcerned.The c o r r e c t i o n t h a t h been made is t o use t h e pre-v a l v e c a v i t i e s of t h e WX l i n e s 88 accumulators, and w e i n j e c thelium i n t o those to provide a spr ing- l ike characterist icto t h e UIX column, And those accumulators are incorpora tedi n t h e four outboard cont ro l engines on th e f i r s t stage oft h e Saturn V,And by so doing, the first mode t a t got US i n t ot r o u b l e o n 502 is completely off t h i s chart. This ordinateis t h e loop g a i n i n phase measured i n d e c ib e l s , and t h e

c r i t e r i a w e have s e t fo r ourse lves a f t e r the 502 f l i g h t W a S


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10t o achieve a s t a b i l i t y margin of approximately 6 dec i be l s .

Now, a8 I s a i d , t h e mode t h a t got u s i n t r ou b l eon 502 is completely off t h e chart. I t is more than 30 db'sof margin of s t a b i l i t y .

And w e p l o t t e d here a l l t h e h i gh e r modes up throught h e n i n t h mode. And here is t h e s i x t h , s ev e nt h, e i g h t h andn i n t h t ract along here, The f o u r t h comes i n here a t t h i spoint . T h i s is f l i g h t t i m e i n seconds .And as t h e veh ic le p rope l l an t s deple te , t h e modegains change. And you can see here t h a t t h e t h i r d made comesi n l a t e i n t h e f l i g h t and then t a i led o f f . And t h e secondmode starts up s i g h t a t t h e outboard engine cut of f , Thiswas t h e shutdown of t h e stage. T h i s s y m b o l is where t h eSaturn engine cuts off, and a t about 150 seconds t h e stage h asf in i shed i ts job.So by combination of much testing t h a t w a s acccomp-l i s h e d i n s e v e r a l fac i l i t i e s , a great dea l of engineeringa n a l y s i s work, and f ina l ly s y s t e m t e s t i n g on S I C t e s t stageNo. 6 and 7 i n Miss i s s ipp i , i n which t h i s des ign change w a sincorporated, w e have concluded beyond doubt t h a t w e have avery adequate margin agains t POGO r ecur r ing on any subsequent

f l i g h t,Now, I recalled t h a t one of our t e c h n i c a l d i f f i -c u l t i e s on t h e 502 f l i g h t w a s an a pp ar en t s t r u c t u r a l f a i l u r ei n t h e spacecraft Lllil adapter area of t h e ~ t r u c t u r e . Tha ts u b j e c t too has rece ived a great deal of t e s t and analysis ,and w e have concluded beyond any doubt t h a t t h e cause of-We have concluded beyond doubt t h a t there w a s a sheet ofaluminum t h a t peeled o f f , t h a t that w a s one of t h e fac ingsheets o f t h e bonded s tructure, t h a t t h e r e w o n it peeledoff wa s because of an area on t h e o u t e r f a c i ng s h e e t wheret h e aluminum skin bond t o t h e honeycomb w a s not adequate,an area of something equal t o or greater than about tensquare inches, and as t h e v e h i c l e climbs i n t o t h e upper atmos-phere i t is subjec ted t o aerodynamic heating which raises t h etemperature, and, of course, it i s s u b j e c t t o pressure changeof t h e o u t s i d e air . And w e have concluded t h a t moist a i rtrapped i n t h e honeycomb hea ted as i t cl imbed, t h a t therew a s a pressure rise i n s i d e t h e honeycomb aa you measure i t


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11t o t h e outs id e ambient condi t ion , th a t th e press ure risew a s s u f f i c i e n t to cause fu r th e r debonding, which had s ta r tedw i t h a s m a l l debonded section, and enough debonding occurredthen that t h e aerodynamic forces peeled off a sheet ofaluminum.

You w i l l recal l t ha t the s t r u c t u r a l margins oft h a t design were adequate even so, t h a t a f t e r some load reliefoccurred when t h e fac ing sheet peeled o f f , t h e s t r u c t u r e re-balanced i t se l f and t h e vehicle cont inued without subsequentf a i l u r e .I t h i n k t ha t i s one of t h e meaeures , incidental ly,of design margins t h a t w e bu i l d i n t o t h e s y s t e m i n manywaya .Since that t ine, f r o m a great deal of t e s t i n g , w ehave now gone to an ultraaonic inajlpection of t h e honeycombs t r u c t u r e a t t h e Cape, ver i fy ing t h a t there are no debondedareas i n that s t r u c t u r e t h a t are 88 b ig as one square inch,which is wi th in t h e t o l e rance allowable. And i n a d di ti on t o

t h a t , w e have d r i l l e d q u i t e a number of holes on t h e innerfac ing sheet to vent t h e honeycomb. And i n a d di ti o n t o t h a t ,w e have put a t h i n l a y e r of cork around t h e o u t e r s t r u c t u r eto minimdae t h e temperature rise. So I t h i n k t ha t t h a t prob-l e m is more than corrected, and I won't s a y any more about i t .I would l i k e now to go on t o diecussl a facet oft h e Apollo 7 mission tha t is c r i t i c a l and important in t h edecis ion w e have made t o carry o u t t h e l u n a r o r b i t mission.-- namely, gett ing t o t h e margirw wi t h which w e be l i eve w ehave covered ourse lves i n our spacecraft sysltems.The next chart.Many of you w i l l recal l t h a t a t three t i m e s dur ing

t h e Apollo 7 f l i g h t there were r e p o r t s of AC bus dropoute,This occurred a t something l i k e 19 hours in to th e miss ion fo rt h e f i r s t time. Of those three i nc iden t s of AC b u s f a i l u r e s ,i f you want t o use t h a t term, in two cwes one bus droppedoff or f a i l e d , and i n one case both buses fa i led. I n a l lthree cases t h e crew w a s able t o reset t h e breaker t h a t hadt r i p p e d , and the AC power came back on.I w i l l only point out that t h e w ay th e spacecraft

is designed there are two AC busses, bus No. 1 and bus No. 2.


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12There are three i n v e r t e r s , Nos. 1, 2 and 3,

Now, t h e i n v e r t e r s are dr iven from t h e DC bus,and t h e i r funct ion is t o convert 28-volt DC i n t o t h r e e -phase l l 5 v o l t AC. Any one of t h e three i n v e r t e r s c a n beon e i ther of t h e buses. The normal operation is t o have oneinver ter on bus 1, ano the r inver t e r on bus 2, and a t h i r di n v e r t e r o f f t h e l i n e and i n st an db y s t a t u s .

These i n v e r t e r s power t h e ro ta t in g machinery oft h e spacecraf t , and a l l of t h e s y s t e m s t h a t are powered arepowered of f of both buses. So you have got redundancy interms of supply equipment from ei ther bus and from any oneof three inver ters .The spacecraft can be operated w i t h only one busand only one inverter, so you have got a three-mode degrada-t i o n t h a t is poss ib le here.I would poin t ou t t h a t s e v e r a l c r i t i c a l systemoperate o f f AC -- f o r example, t h e s t a b i l i e a t i o n and c o n t r o ls y s t e m -0 and you do have t o be able t o s t ab i l i ze and controlt o carry out t h e maneuvers t h a t are involved i n an ear tho r b i t a l mission o r i n any of t h e more ambitious missions,The d r i v e fo r t h e gimbal motors on t h e spacecraft

engine is powered by AC, so you have got to have AC t oc o n t r o l t h e spacecraft and t o carry o u t s e v e r a l of t h e kotat ' ingmachinery dr iv en fu nc tio ns l i k e pumps and so on.W i l l you put on t h e next chart?Our people were able during t h e f l i g h t t o corelatebus dropouts i n t h e AC s y s t e m w i t h swi tching funct ions ofturn ing off t h e heat i n t h e cryogenic tanks. T hi s issymbology t ha t shows t h e cryogenic oxygen tank t h a t is carried

i n t h e s e r v i c e module. There are two tanks, and there isredundancy. You have to supply heat i n these t a n k s i n ordert o maintain t h e pressure which expels t h e oxygen fo r use byt h e f u e l ce l l s and fo r dr iv ing i t u p i n t o t h e command modulef o r l i f e support . The heat is suppl ied by redundant means,i n t h e one case by an e lec t r i c heater which is powered offof t h e DC bus, and t h e redundant s y s t e m is a f a n which alsocan furnish heat. I t is p u t i n there t o avoid s t r a t i f i c a t i o nof t h e cryogens, but i t also p u t s i n heat. Now, t h a t fan is


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13dr iven off t h e AC bus.

In t h e automatic s y s t e m , which is t h e normal modeof operat ion and t h e mods t h a t Apollo 7 took off i n , a pres-s u r e sensor i n t h e cryogenic tank s ignals a motor swi tchi f t h e pressure drops below a c e r t a i n l e v e l . That motors w i t c h then closes and brings -- when you are i n t h e automaticp o s i t i o n w i t h i n t h e cockpit 1- br ings DC power off t h e DC bust o t h e heater, br ings AC power o ff t h e i n v e r t e r bus t o powert h e fan. This is t h e redundancy features.

Now, when t h e pressure is b u i l t up to presc r ibedl e v e l , t h e motor s w i t c h is s ignaled t o t u r n o ff and dropst h e load both from t h e DC bus and from t h e i nver t e r .Now, one of t h e f e a t u r e s of t h e AC s y s t e m is anAC voltage sensor t h a t is pic tu red here which powerre a t r i prelay which i n t h e case of an overvoltage coming out of t h ei n v e r t e r t r i p s t h e i n v e r t e r off t h e bus so you have an ACfa il ur e. And t h i s then is f e d t o t h e caution and warningpane l so t h e crew is aware immediately of t h e AC bus fa i lu re .And i n t h e three even t s in Apollo 7 t h e crew re-se t t h e breaker and AC power picked up.Now, t h i s c o r e l a t i o n W ~ E Imade during A p o l l o 7 , and

t h e suspic ion a t t h a t t i m e was t h a t as t h e AC load w a s droppedof f t h e bus, t h e overvol tage t r i p sensor s e n s i t i v i t y w a s sucht h a t t h e vol tage r+s e \ t ha t occurs when you drop load off t h ebus w a s enough t o t r i p t h i s and drop t h e i n v e r t e r off t h e bus.So fo r the balance of t h e Apollo 7 mission w e se tup such t h a t one of t h e systew was l e f t i n au tomat ic, t h eother w a s se t up i n manual, so t h a t w e didn' t have a droppingof both loads a t t h e same time. And a f t e r s e t t i n g up t h a tw a y , t h i s d i d not recur in t h e Apollo 7 mission.Now, af te r t h e mission w e got back t o t h e commandmodule, of course, which included t h e i n v e r t e r a nd t h e sens ingc i r c u i t s , d i d not inc lude t h e motor swi tch or t h e cryogenictanks which are i n t h e s e r v i c e module and therefore didn ' tcome back t o us*The next chart shows a p o s t - f l i g h t t e s t s e t u p wherew e took t h e 101 spacecraft a t Downey, s e t it up w i t h i t s


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4za0"LL


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14i nver t e r s and i t s e l ec t r i c a l s y s t e m i n a normal mode, puta direct cur ren t pmer supply on of impedance character is t icst o match t h e f u e l c e l l supply, and put t h i s motor s w i t c h , amotor s w i t c h , i n t o a vacuum b e l l j a r , because i t is i nvacuum i n t h e f l i g h t environment, and s e t up a s t imula t ion oft h e f an and t h e heater.

We were able i n t h i s test s e t u p t h en t o f i n d t h a tt h i s motor s w i t c h which is protected aga ins t mois tu re i n t r u s t i o nbut is not vacuum protected, has t h e motor open t h e con tac t s ,i f t h e condi t ions of outgass ing were exactly r i g h t i n t h evacuum environment, would cause arc ing a t t h e swi tch con tac t s ,a corona discharge t y p e effect i n a near vacuum, and underc e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s t h e ar ci ng would o ccu r t o t h e case, put ane x t r a load on the inver ter and thereby cause t h e dropout.The next char t s h o w s some of t h e r e s u l t s of t h i st e s t i n g where, depending on t h e d e t a i l s of t h e number of hourst h a t t h e s w i t c h had been exposed t o t h e vacuum and thereforet h e outgass ing of t h e p r o t e c t i v e materials and therefore t h eexact s t a t e of t h e vacuum i n t h e case, i n one case a t one p a rt i c u l a r l e v el t h e t r a n s i e n t t h a t occurred w a s very small,didn ' t h i t t h e o v e rv o l ta g e t r i p .

charge there w a s a s l i g h t overvol tage and then recoveryeThis is a t t h e time t h e corona d ischarge occurs i n t h e s w i t chc o n t a c t s i n t h e case. I t didn ' t d r o p i t out .Under a s l i g h t corona d i s -

But when the vacuum conditions and t h e number ofmolecules a t t h e switch case were j u s t r i g h t , then a moresevere corona d i s c h a r g e occurred and cawed actual ly t h eAC vol t age in t h e corona discharge t o t h e swi t ch case t oput on overload on t h e i nver t e r and t o drop I t off t h e l i n e .N o w , we're f o r t u n a t e i n this case t h a t w e were ablet o precisely reproduce t h e Conditions a9ter w e had go t t h ebulk of t h e hardware back from t h e f l i g h t . W are also

f o r t u n a t e t h a t it is no p rocedura l d i f f i c u l ty to not uset h e automat ic fea ture of t h i s cryogenic tank heat ing s y s t e mt ha t these motor switches were put in there t o dr ive . Sow e have introduced i n t o our procedures alre ady fo r t h e sub-sequent f l i g h t s manual controls of t h e pressure of t h e heat-ing and therefore t h e p r e s s u r i z a t i o n of t h e cryogenic tanksand have eliminated t h i s problem as a problem.Now, other than t h i s , which w a s s i g n i f i c a n t andimportant , on which w e have been able t o reach a n e n t i r e l y


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15adequate technic h e i n v e r t e r sand t h e AC s y s tcated veryc o n t r o l chara

over t h a t one only t o s h o w you an exampleof an abnormal condition t h a t occurred on t h e Apollo 7f l i g h t which ere a b l e to c o r t h a t f l i g h t ' s pur-n able t o reso ofar 88 t h e r e l i a b i l i t yerations is eol d l i k e t o t a l k a t h e r class of t h i n gwhich w e re ed i n great dep th t an example, Ihave mentioned, and i t ' s o b v i o u ~ , h a t t h e spacecraft engine,t h e some 20,000 pound th ru s t s er v i ce propulsion s y s t e m engine

on t h e service module, is used t o provide t h e engine fo rl u na r o r b i t i n s e r t i o n and then for transearth i n j e c t i o n t og e t us back out of l u na r o r b i t o n t h e w ay home, If i td i d n f t work t o g e t u s i n t o l u n ar o r b i t , we would l i k e a l u n a rpass, But once w e are i n l un ar o r b i t i t has g o t to work t og e t us ou t ,In an earth o r b i t a l m i s s i o n , as you know, we haveduring most of Gemini, and w e d i d in Apollo 7 , maintainedt h e c a p a b i l i t y t o provide retrograde energy for de o r b i t usingt h e reaction c o n t r o l s y s t e m . Once you g e t o u t i n l unar o r b i t ,

you don't have t h a t fa l lback o r backup c a p a b i l i t y , and you aredepending on t h e se rv ice p ropu l s ion s y s t e m .Now, from t h e beginning, t h e importance of t h i ss y s t e m w a s recognized and was provided for i n t h e design,The design is a s imple design and is h i g h l y redundant, Thereie only one par t of t h e engine which is r e a l l y a s t r u c t u r a l

par t t h a t is not redundant, T h a t is t h e t h r u s t chamber andt h e i n j e c t o r t h a t p u t s t h e p r op e ll a nt s i n t o th e t h r u s t chamberand t h e engin e nozzl e, And because it 's not redundant, ithas wide factors of s a f e t y and s tr en g th margins which havebeen tested elaborately and extensively over t h e y e a r s i nmany normal and many abnormal op era t ing cond it io ns,

Now, t h e reat of t h e s y s t e m is h i gh l y redundant.You obBerve here t h e p r0t h e prope l l an t is redund s whichare each i so la tab le f r o m t h e other -- i s o l a t i o n v al ve s.r e s s u r i z e s


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16d check valves are a l le check valves are quad-redundant.

This hePi r i z ~ t i o n y s t e m pre s u r i z e s t h ef u e l tank by eand pushes fue and into t h e engine,area which p r e s s u r i z e st h e con t ro1 sa lv e is a l so redundant, quad-is e % e m p l i ~ i e d e r s ,

schematic of the p r e s s u r i z a t i o n s y s t e m ,dundant c on tr ol valves which oper-ne h i g h = t e ~ ~ e r ~ t u ~ eondi t iona tor operated marginal ly,

mi g h t p o i n t o u t here i n o u r

T h i s w a s found some t i m e ago i n ground t es t i ng , andreason w e d i d change out the engine and i ts valve sywhich is cal led i n t e ral on th e 103 spacecraf t , a f t e r ourdecis ion t o prepare o ~ r s e l ~ e ~or t h e range of opt iona l m i s -s i o n s t h a t 1 have d e s c r ib e d ,e -0 1 guss t h e most importantt f o n t h a t w e too , I t is th ecover ourselves f o r a l l opt ions ,h a t e d o u r i t u a t i o n backi n August,

NQW, t h e s h i e h con t ro l l ed t h ef u e l and o x i d i z e r i n t p t njee to r and t h r u s t chamber areser ies-redundant ih each e, and then i n a loop t h a t i s n * tshown here another p s ~a~~~~for each fue l andox id ize r , which therefore ad-redundant.

So you can s u ~ ~ e ra lve fai lures of open or closedi n t h i s quad-redundant sehp and s t i l l be able t o e i t h e rs t a r t or s t o p t h e engine,

Next chart ,"here is a 1 i t h t h i s engine now,T h i s summarizes eng?lne nt o u n i t s of a l u n a ro r b i t Gprima m i s s i o n where tw i l l r e q u i r e f o r a l unar o


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18t h e SP8.absolute ly flawless performance, n o t an anoParly anywhere.Review of a l l the data from Apollo 7 indicate8

In t h e unmanned tes t preceding Apollo 7 , w e had t h eequivalcbnt of two and a q u a r t e r t i m a miesion d u ~ a t ~ o n .fa I d e n t i c a l system tmted on the ground, w e haveAnd aimilar a y s t e m a which incorporate t h e ap-80 starter.pl icable parts of Block I experience, 517.One of t h e messages here is -- what I 8 a id i n t h ebeginnang 0- that our design coneepts lean heavi ly on ding w i t h t h e necerssary redundancy and i n t e g r a t e d mode f

then thorough testing on t h e ground, and minimum f l i g h t dentom-s t r a t i o n . This exempl i f ies that.Next chart now.One oi t h e thin- about a rocket engine t h a t oneha# t o be aure of 16 aombust ion e tabi l i ty , We have in t hspacecraft enginerr -- and 1 say "theme" becaw. i t appl iesa180 to a l l of t h e launch vehiclerr 81 well arr the lunarmdule eng ines -- demonstrated rutable engine.In recent montha we have conducted 167 bomb t e r r t

i n t o an engine rhAle i t is r u n n i n g tohe engine go- unutable or t h e premrrureuced dmps i trelf Out, md if i t dapaPr,w i t h t h i s engine. "hie is t h e mean8 by which teeters i n tdace pressure spsee whether o rspike t h a t is ii t se l f o u t in a mil l iaewnds , which is t h e apecif ithen you have got a s t ab le en$ine, became you t r y t oit unstable and i t recover&8.

I t under a variety of t c w t cond i ti v e chamber M Well M the .tee1 c rhas been proven to be a morr-nominal mixture ratlorr, t tand prerserures, and i t l a a stable engins,For t h i s reason w e don't have t o have a f l i g h t eobustion s t a b i l i t y m o n i t o r nor a rough cornbutution cutoffs y s t e m i n thiru t~ys tem,Next chart.


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20i n t h e ground-based compt h e spacecraft to be execmaneuvers .

8s. I th in jee-y maneuvers.

a lunar missionone has t o ccura te ly. B i l lw i l l have mspacecraft where t o pfor i t s own on-board p l a tAnd i t cans a r y i t can par~sup t o t h e eplatform for i n e r t i a l spacedoesn't have t o go through t

of t h e m i s -s i o n using a v a r ~ e t y fdoppler da Flight networkd three-wayNow, ve gone t h gh h a s been

I t h a s been refined now fo rn developmentuse on t h e Gpr i ss ion . Formal t e s t i n g w i l lbe complete on t h e 9 t h of D e c ~ b e r .T h e y have b y t is t i m e completed s i m u l a t i o ~ s i ngt h e computer complex and t h et h e maneuvers t h a t are i n v o ~ i n t h e l unar o r b i t mission.acecraft and crew of a l l ofThe next -chart.Now1 t h i s is t h e 8 a r y of t h e major func t iona lcapab i l i t i e s of th e an-board computer program.d i g i t a l program t h a t isnavigation computer. W e c a l l i t t h e Colossus Program. I n

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2 1t h a t program are t h e f e a t u r e s t h a t allow t h e crew on t h e i ron-board displays t o monitor t h e launch, t o n i t o r t h e trans-earth i n j e c t i o n maneuver, and t o be able t oexecute i f requi red 0- t h i s is t h e indet h e spacecraft from t h e earth if fa l lbacs a r y 0- t o execute and monitor midcoursmaintain t h e pa t h to t h e moon o r back,on board the l unar o r b i t i n s e r t i o n maneuver^ plan , ta rge t ,and monitor fo r t h e t r a n s e a r t h i n j e c t i o n ,

So there is on-board ca p ab il i t y i n ependent of t h eground t o compute ge t t in g i n t o lunar o r b i t o r coming backo ut of l unar o r b i t .In add i t ion , crews have char t block data l i k et h e y have carried on a l l t h e manned f i t h which inde-pendent of computers they can g e t aThe on-board computer ca n a e f o r r e e n t r yguidance and fo r platform alfgnment u t a r s ig h t i ng andfo r navigat ion us ing s t a r o r horizon ngs and lu na rlandmark t racking,Now, t h e f l i g h t ropes t h e piece of mechan-

i s m t h a t a11 of t h i s d i g i t a l pdel ivered t o t h e Cape on t h e 14th ofi n t e g r a t i o n test between t h e space vf a c i l i t i e s w a s performed oh t h e 2 9 t hf l i g h t readiness r e v i e w and t h e c u s treview were c o n c l u d e d s a t i s f a c t o r i lSo t h e on-board program has been d eof time and fu l ly checked out and d v e r a long period

Next chart.Now, l e t m e j u s t supuaarize fore w e g i v e af u r t h e r d e s c r i p t i on of t h e mission i t a t w e have con-cluded are t h e ga ins t o be made toward our o b j e c t i v e ofa manned lunar landing f r o m a l unar o r b i t mission,As I sa id before, there are many t h ings w e can ' tdo i n earth o r b i t . W e have got to g e t o u t i n t o space and g e ti n t o t h e lunar environment t o do many of t h e t h ings t h a t arer equ i red i n connec t ion w i t h t h e landing i t s e l f , One of theseis navigat ion , going out, - i n o r b i t , and coming back. And


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22involved there are ' t h e l i g h t i n g c o n s t r a i n t s which are animportant element of determining our launch window,

In other word@, w e need t h e l i g h t i n g on t h e l u n a rsurface where w e i n t end t o land a t a f a i r l y X o w sun anglet o ev al ua te ou r on-board computation a b i l i t y of t h e guidanceand navigation s y s t e m and our a b i l i t y to t rack accura te lyt h e targets on e i the r horizon o r s t a r o r on lunar surface,These are a l l unction u i r e d i n t h e navigat ion process.

a t l unar d i s t ance , I t 's t oeen t h e spacecraft and t h eof s i g n a l g ai n, d i s ~ a n c e s ,point-ing accura cies , and so on.And t h e nee of o u r h i ~ h a g a i n nd of our non-d i r e c t i o n a l a n t e n n

ined, inc identa l ly , and d iscussedd do if t h e h i gain antenna didn ' te have had som evelopment diff icul tyf i c i e n t s t a t e ofh t h i s mission w i t h cow~ ~ e n n ~n t h e case i t

nt, you will recall i ne ~ ~ l u a t eh e so-calledng or tumblinate, insofaronly by o p e r a t i n g i n t h a texperience t h a t is d i r e c t l yng mission t h a t w e obt a in andp toward t h e more complexylng t h e l u n a r module and w i t h moreh , w e ' l l have less t i m e and less pro-e margins and so on t o be able t o

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both on t h e ground and i n f l i g h t and our crew t i m e l i n e sprovide adequately for more complex operations ahead.Next chart.Now, as I have s a i d , there are added r i s k s as w e g e taway f r o m proximity t o t h e earth. The minimum return t i m e iscons iderably longer than i t is fo r an earth o r b i t a l mission.

W e w i l l be of t h e order of three d a y s away from land as com-pared w i t h t h e prior manned f l i g h t where w e have been of t h eorder of h a l f an hour t o three hours away f r o m r e t u r n toearth.This then places need fo r i n cr e as e d r e l i a n c e ont h e p r i n c i p a l l y two major subsys te l i f e suppor t , which

supports pressurizat ion and oxygen fo r human survival, ande lec t r i ca l power which provides for t h e opera t ion of t h emany systems aboard. And t h e se r v ic e propul ion s y s t e m whichmust work t o come out of l u n a r o r b i t .Next chart.W e have done a caref of t h e r i s k s t h a tare involved i n t h i s mission -- i n rds, t h e d e l t a r i s k .

I have s a i d many t i m e s , and I r e m i again , t h a t oned f l i g h t there are r i s k s n ' t fo r some nu-ars be able t o e rocket , t h e b e s tr l d , without ha lved. I guess,~ a ~ t e ~ ~ou can't r e a l l y d your car and goanymore without taking e But there is r i s k

in each ne of o u r f l i g h t s .So w e have therefore d on rassessing t h ed e m e n t s of i n c r e ed r i s k to x t s t e p towardou r design mission.I p o i n t o u t h4re t h a t o u r spacecraft w a s designedfo r t h i s mission. W e provided redundancy t o recognize t h ef a i l i n g s of both people and equipment, and w e have had verygood experience i n ou r ground and f l i g h t t e s t programs. Ourspacecraft When i t f l i e s h a s performed exceedingly w e l l .Our ground t e s t e xp er ie nc e i n t e s t i n g a l l of t h e s e subsystemshas demonstrated t h e proper margin of design condit ion.


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24Now, w e have got a large margin f o r unknowns o rerrors on t h i s p a r t i c u l a r 6-prime mission. As B i l l Schneiderw i l l show you, w e have considerable margins of consumables

aboard, and our s y s t e m s have design margi which w e w i l li n no w ay tax on t h i s mission. Because w e don't have a LMaboard, w e have a very cons ide rab le se rv ice p ropu ls ions y s t e m propel lant margin which can be used i n t h e event t h a tw e have t h e overnomina l cond i t ion t h a t would req ui re ex tr aprope l l an t f o r example.W e t h i n k i t is f o r t u i t o u s fo r u s t h a t w e are ab let o carry out t h i s f l i g h t and take o n e s i g n i f i c a n t b i t e o u tof t h e w h o l e series of t h i n g s w e have t o do t o g e t u p t oa f u l l l u n a r l an di ng c a p a b i l i t y , but a b i t e t h a t doesn?t in-volve swallowing a t a l l . And t h a t b i t e involves one complex

spacecraft 0- namely, command and se r v i c e module w i t h whichw e have con sid er ab le ex peri ence now -- but without t h e l u n a rmodule. We t h i n k t h a t t h e added r i s k s t h a t a re over andabove those t h a t w e undertake fo r any manned f l i g h t are equalt o those genera l ly inheren t in the p r o g r e s i v e f l i g h t t es tprogram as you go from one s t e p t o t h e other, as w e d i d i nGemini, as w e are i n Apollo,And w e know t h a t t h e p r o b a b i l i t y of success fo ra lunar landing is enhanced b y g e t t i n g t h i a element of crewand ope ra t i on al experience and t h i element of added demon-s t r a t i o n and data ga the r ing as regards, t h e navigat ion andperformance of o u r whole s y s t e m .Next chart .F i n a l l y , w e have done i n designingt h e Gpr ime lunar o r b i t missionmission t o meet t h e o b j e c t i v e s t h a t w e have es t ab l i shed .W w i l l launch in d a y l i g h t . We vi11 mai i n a l l t h e w ayt o l u n a r o r b i t i n s e r t i o n a f r e e - r e t u r n t ectory. Now, what

t h i s means is t h a t from t h e moment of t r l u n a r i n j e c t ononward until w e reach t h e p o i n t of i n s e r t i n g t h e spacecrafti n t o l u n a r o r b i t t h a t i f no f u r t h e r maneuvers are performedw i t h t h e main spacecraft engine w e can maintain th e coursewhich w i l l f l y pas t t h e moon and come back t o t h e earthw i t h small midcourse corrections which are wi t h i n t h e capa-b i l i t y of t h e small thrus ters , t h e c o n t r o l s y s t e m , f r ee - re tu rnt rajectory. And t h a t tsmphwizes t h a t .

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25Translunar midcourse correct ion can be accomplishedw i t h t h e small t h r u s t e r s and w i l l keep us on a coume t h a tbrings us back t o an acceptable ear th landing,This mission is designed w i t h a two-burn entryi n t o l u na r o r b i t , The f i r s t burn puts us on a 60 x 1 7 0 - m i l eo r b i t around t h e moon, and t h e second burn then c i rcular izesa t 60 m i l e s , Those are n a u t i c a l m i l e s ,We have minimized t h e t i m e i n l u n ar o r b i t , ten revo-lut ions, approximately 20 hours. W e have minimized t h e r e t u r nt i m e . Our nominal mission d i s c u s s e d over t h e y e a r s has con-templated about 72 hours, about three days , r e t u r n t o earthfrom t h e moon. W have su f f i c ie n t prope l lant margins on t h i sf l i g h t because w e don't have a LM aboard a n d s u f f i c i e n t re-

s e r v e demonstrated i n t h e heat s h i e l d t o come back a l i t t l eb i t faster, so w e have bui l t t h i s t ra jectory to 68 hours r e t u r nt i m e , That minimizes t h e t i m e back t o ear th from t h e moon.There is a midcourse co rr ec t i on provided i n t h e t rans-ear th leg t o maintain e n t r y i n t o t h e r een t ry corridor. Andw e have provided fo r a short-range, non-skip reentry whichprovides us about three l e v e l s of backup for being ab le tomake t h a t r e e n t r y r e t u r n , B i l l Schneider w i l l describe t h a t ,Nay, w e can put t he l i g h t s on now. What I havet r i e d t o do is t o remind you of and summarise fo r you t h ebackground of t h e last year t h a t h a s l e d us up t o a s t a t e ofr ead iness fo r a f l i g h t to l unar o r b i t and return w i t h Apollo 8and describe fo r you some of t h e more s i g n i f i c a n t technicalfactors t h a t , w e have examined, many of them i n great depth ,i n t h e la$t severaS. months o r t h e last few weeks and severa ld a y s i n p a r t i c u la r ,With t h a t I would l i k e t o t u r n i t over to B i l lSchneider who w i l l describe fo r you t h e Ago110 8 l unar o r b i t

mission. B i l l Schneider is t h e mission director for t h i sm i s s i o n .B i l l ,SCHNIIEIDER: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.I would 1Ue t o take, t h e next few minutes to describe fo ryou what we're going t o be doing on Apollo 8 mission, Iw i l l be stepping through 8 l i t t l e b i t f a s t because i t is a


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26long mission. Of course, as f a r as w e are concerned, t h emission has jus t about begun.

If I may have t h e f i r s t s l i d e , please, j u s t tobring you up to date and t o p o i n t o u t t o you what o u r a c t i v i -t i e s are going t o be i n t h e upcoming d a y s , I prepared t h i ss l i d e here t o show what t h e coming events are, W e w i l ls t a r t off o n t h i s Fr iday , t h e 1 5 t h -- a s l i g h t error i n t h es l i d e here 0- w i t h o u r f l i g h t r ead iness t e s t . T h i s is ourl a s t b ig e lec t r i ca l t e s t of t h e spacecraft and launchv e h i c l e t o a s s u r e t h a t it is ready fo r f l i g h t .

T h i s is a crew p a r t i c i p a t i n g tes t , and t h e crews i t s i n t h e capsu le in t h e i r s h i r t s l e e v e s ,W e then have a reasonably l e i s u r e l y pace on throughou r normal (checkout procedure u n t i l w e come t o our countdowndemonstration t e s t , The countdown demonstration tes t is goingt o be run in t h e same sequence t h a t w e r a n t h e Apollo 7 .That is , w0 w i l l f i r s t have a w e t countdown demonstrationt e s t -- t h a t i s , a complete s imula t ion from beginning t o endof t h e countdown without t h e crew. W w i l l use a l l t h e pro-p e l l a n t s o n board and a l l of t h e procedures w i l l be jus t asif t h e crew were there. However, t h e capsule w i l l be unmanned.We w i l l then recycle, and t h e next day we w i l l d r ya t which t i m e t h e crew w i l l be i n t h e f i n a l tes t , W ego throygh t b f in 41 day \wi thou t t h e p r o p e l l a n t s onT h i s is 8 reasonably l e i su re ly schedule , W haveample t i m e i n here t o accomplish a l l of these.We do repergve t h e r i g h t fo r ourse lves t o s h u f f l edates around a l i t t l e b i t here and there, al though I don'ta n t i c i p a t e t h a t there w i l l be anything major come up between

now and then.However, on t h e 7 t h , i f w e f i n i s h on t h a t date ,w e then have a recycle t i m e -- may I have t h e next s l i d e ,please -0 fo r our countdown.Now, w e have a long countdown, which begins ont h e 1 6 t h of December. You w i l l n o t i c e w e have about nined a y s i n cas0 w e come up w i t h any problems i n t h e countdown


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demonstration tes t before w e pick up our cou nt. And i t isa long Apollo count, 101-hour count, which w i l l be pickedup about 9;45 p.m. on t h e 1 6 t h of December, and w e w i l l gothrough a l l of t h e checks t h a t w e normal ly go through lead-ing up t o our f i n a l co un t.

May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.This begins about 10:45 on t h e night of t h e 19th .T hi s i s n ' t a n empty space i n here, bel ieve m e . I t j u s t 80happens t h a t these are t h e only bars t h a t have been pickedout *We do en te r our no a l b u i l t - i n hold, a six-hourh o l d , a t 4:45 p.m. on t h e 20 I picking up again t h e count

a t m i n u s nine hours a t about :45 p.m. t h a t evening, aimingf o r a launch on th e 21st a tWe have not completely determined t h e precise momentof l i f t o f f as y e t . I t w l l l be a t 7:45 i n t h e morning,g ive or take a few minutes.May I have the next slli

c r i t e r i a fo r launch window@, f i r s t w ehave e s t ab l i sh n e r a l cr i t e r i a . P r i m a r i l y , w e desirea d a y l i g h t l a u That is , we wouldlaunch, W have s e tave a f r ee - re tu rn t ra jectoryi g h t i n g i n the Apollozones.

We are imuth 0- t h a t is,d i r e c t i o n s from t can launch by rangesafety and by per 108 degrees. And w ew i l l i n a l l p r o b a b i l i t y u t i l i z e t h i s f u l l range.And w e have set up our launch windowa rjruch t h a tw e have t w o o p p o r t u n i t i fo r any launch time for a trans-l unar in jec t ion , t h e f i r s t opportuni ty being a t t h e secondrev and t h e second opportunity b e i n g one r e v later.Looking a t t h e p r i m a r y windows t h a t w e are aimingf o r , w e are picking up, as I s ta ted , t h e launch window ont h e 21s t a t about 7:45, and w e do have approximately a


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28fiv e- ho ur laun ch window, These a re a l l Eastern StandardTimes, I might add. We have about a fi ve -h ou r launch windowt h a t w e w l l l be aiming fo r t h a t day.

On success ive d a y s t h e launch window moves downthrough t h e time p e r io d as you can see here, w i t h on t h e 26thhere picking up a t it looks l i k e about four o'clock,

We do desire, as I s a i d , a daylight launch, bothIf we do go onicking up t h e count and ending t h e count,t h e 2 l s t , w e w i l l be going f o r t h e Apollo zone, th e eastern -most Apollo zone, W w i l l have a sun e leva t ion ang le a t t h eseventh lunar revolut ion of about 6.7 degrees, which is j u s tabout what w e desire,

May I have t h e next s l i d e , please,Looking a t t h e launch phase, I might s t a t e againt h e launch of t h e Saturn V comes off from t h e pad 39A.Nothing unusu al i n ou r launch phase. I t ' s a t y p i c a l Saturn Vlaunch phase, and w e do have our normal abort capab i l i t i e st h a t you're a l l f u l l y aware of i n case of malfunct ions int h e launch vehicle on t h e way up,We do have a l t e rna te missions e s t a b l b h e d i n cases

where we have e a r l y te rminat ion of t h rus t on one of t h e stages,and i n genera l t hey lead t o an u l t imate ear th o r b i t a l mission,al though i f w e got an, e a r l y cutof f of t h e S-IVB j u s t p r i o rto i n s e r t i o n w e would probably hgve enough SPS c a p a b i l i t y t ogo on w i t h t h e mission, I'm s o r r y , I mean 5-11 stage. TheS - I n , of course, is needed fo r t h e t r a n s l u n a r i n j e c t i o n .

So i n g en er al i f w e have an e a r l y cu to f f and m u s tuse t h e SPS engine in going iq to a l unar o r b i t i n s e r t i o n ,our f i rs t a l t e rn a t e miss$on then is a repeat of t h e C mission,approximately ten days i n earth orb i t ,Next s l i d e , please.Just b r i e f l y summarizing w h a t t h e mission looksl i k e , just t o o r i e n t you before I go through t h e phases,t h i s is an artist 's r epresen ta t ion of what t h e mission looksl i k e , I t begins, of course , a t t h e Cape w i t h i n s e r t i o n ,and then w e go i n t o o u r o ne o r b i t for systems.checkout ,and f i na l l y ou r second o r b i t fo r our lunar o r b i t i m e r t i o n --


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29I ' m sorry -- fo r o u r t r a n s l u n a r i n s e r t i o n . W do ourTLI burp -0 t h a t is, t h e second igni t ion of t h e 5-IvB --a t t h i s poin t ( ind ica t ing) and go on out on our coast,midcourse corrections -- 1'11 go i n t o a l l of these i n al i t t l e more d e t a i l -- and then f in a l ly our lunar o r b i t in-s e r t i o n on the back s i d e of t h e moon.

A s Sam s a i d , a two-phase l unar o r b i t i n s e r t i o n , t h ef i rs t being put t ing us i n a 60 x 170, and then f ina l ly ac i r c u l a r i z a t i o n a t 60 , Ten o r b i t s t he n i n l u n a r o r b i t .Followed then by a t ramearth i n s e r t i o n , come back, and thenf i n a l l y s p l a s h down i n t h e Paci f ic .A t each one of these p o i n t s w e do have s p e c i f i cg o h o go points and speci f ic go/no go decisions, and w i t h i n

which w e have preplanned al te rn at e s t h a t I w i l l be descr ib ingt h a t w e w i l l u t i l i z e i f necessary a t these var ious p o i n t s .May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.Turning to t h e f i r s t phase, which is , of course, t h el i f t o f f , sy s t e m s checkout, and f i n a l l y t er mi na ti ng i n t h esecond S-IVB urn, t h a t p ut s u s i n ou r coast phase on outt o t h e moon.W e have an ea r th t ra jectqry t h a t looks l i k e t h i s( ind ica t ing) , Now9 ou r g o h o go poin t is stet up over Australiafo r t h e la rge burn, and w e w i l l g i v e t h e "go" providing w e havesurance t h a t t h e S-IVB w i l l sa t i s f ac to r i l y complete i t snd burn -- t ha t is , providing w e know of no f a i l u r e i nt h e S I V B , p ~ o v ~ d i ~ gh a t t h e consurmables i n t h e S - I V B ares u f f i c i e n t t o not only s t a r t t h e burn but also t o f i n i s ht h e burn, and t h a t w e have no known reason t h a t the S-IVBwould shut down.Also on t h e s p a c e c r a f t s i d e , t h e "go1' dec i s ion w i l l

be given only i f t h e spacecraft is completely operable w i t ha l l redundancies,If w e have an e a r l y cu to f f of t h e S-IVB a t t h i sp o i n t i n t i m e , w e have some prep lanned a l t e rna te missions t h a tbas i ca l ly take advantage of what are on t h e impulse w e haveimparted t o t h e spacecraft.

lead to a 4,000-mile apogee before w e g e t premature cutoffof t h e S-IVB, w e w i l l continue on out and do a high ear thIf w e are on an o r b i t t h a t w i l l


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30o r b i t a l mission, then d e o r b i t -- t ha t is , up t o 4,000 miles,s t a y there fo r two revs , then deorb i t and s t a y up ten d a y si n ear th o r b i t , repeat ing those por t ions of t h e C missiont h a t w e feel w e need to.There are a series of other a l t e r n a t e s i f w e g e t on ouSu f f i c e i t Yo s a y i f t h e 5-IVB c u t s off prematurelyand our apogee is over 60,000 m i l e s , we w i l l assess t h e s i t u a -t ion and i n a l l p r o b a b i l i t y go on a c i r c w l u n a r f l i g h t usingt h e SPS engine to provide t h e addi t ional impulse t h a t would benecessary.I f w e f a i l t o i n j e c t a t t h i s poin t , w e w i l l i n j e c tone rev l a t e r over a t t h i s poin t here ( i n d i c a t i n g ) ,Next s l i d e .QUESTION: What poin t?

IDER: One r e v la ter .QUESTION: Over what point d i d you s a y ?

: I t would be roughly r i g h t around h e re ,B i l l , one rev l a t e r ( indica t ing) .

May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.Now, when w e m a k e t h a t t r a n s l u n a r i n j e c t i o n b u r nw i t h t h e S-IVB, w e are as Sam has s a i d , on our w ay home.That is , w e w i l l be i n s e r ti n g i n t o a f r e e r e t u r n trajectory.W have se t up our f l i g h t dynamics such t h a t a t a l l t i m e s w i t hour service module RCS s y s t e m w e can put whatever impulse mightbe necessary t o correct any deViatiQIW.3 f o r a free r e t u r n tra-jectory t h a t would g e t u s back down t o t h e earth without anyneed for t h e SPS engine.T h e o r e t i c a l l y , of course, w e are a t the end oft h e first burn -- end of t h e 5-IVB burn -- theoret ical ly weare on a f r e e - r e t u r n t ra jec tory without any correct ion what-soever .During t h i s t r ans lunar coast per iod, as w e go onout t o t h e moon, w e do have t h e p o i n t s a t which w e plan t o


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31assess t h e s i t u a t i o n , a n d w e would abort -- t h a t is , w e wouldcome back ei ther circumlunar or h i gh apogee i f w e l os t re-dundancy i n some of our on-board spacecraft s y s t e m s ,

Sp e c i f i c a l l y , if w e lose redundancy i n t h e environ-menta l cont ro l s y s t e m , t h e s er v ic e module and prop uls ions y s t e m or t h e e lec t r i ca l power s y s t e m , w e would elect t oabort t h e mission. A l s o , i f w e los t selected portions oft h e guidance and control s y s t e m , communication s y s t e m or t h es e q u e n t i a l s y s t e m ,May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.Looking a t how long it would take uet t o come home,t h i s s l i d e here s h s t h e minimum t i m e Prom abort to landingas a funct ion of t i m e , of elapsed t i m e , of making t h e dec i s ionto abort, For example, if we dec ided a t 40 hours out t h a t w ewished t o abort t h e mission, w e would be back i n something ont h e order of 20 hours. S i m i l a r l y , i f w e go on out to t h emoon, t h i s point here, we'd and up doing a circumlunar missionand not a h i g h a l t i t u d e abort.We have, a~ though e don't have to uBe i t t o abort--

f l a b l e for abort during t h a t period of t i m e 10,000ropuls ion s y s t e m , and, as Ir t on our normal fre e-r etu rn

r o r b i t i n s e r t i o n , af te r t h e l unar o r b i tto come home ra Nominally, as General72-hour re tu rn , Forh l y a 55-hour return, If we decided t h a to g e t home f as t and wanted to use t h i s 4,000 footrunning along t h i s l i n e here ( indica t ing) .have avai lable , w e could have return times

May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.One point t ha t I d i d not m a k e is roughly i n t h i stiane period here, approximate ly f i v e hours in to t h e mission,w e w i l l do a propellant dump on t h e S-IVB, which i n e ss en cep u t s us in -- t h a t is , a r8trOgrade dump which g i v e s u sabout 90 foot per second, which b a s i c a l l y p u t s t h e S-IVBbehind t h e spacecraft -- and because of f l i g h t dynamics and

t


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32o r b i t a l mechanics 0- and w e end up w i t h a s l i n g s h o t modew i t h t h e S - I V B on a nominal t ra jec tory going on out i n t osolar o r b i t 0

A t t h i s poin t I would l i k e t o t a l k about communica-t i o n s and p o i n t o u t to you t h a t w e do have preplanned i n ourmission t h e a b i l i t y t o provide te levis ion back t o earth. W eare providing f o r two methods of t e l e v i s i o n coverage i n ourf l i g h t plan, one a t about 31 hours and one about 55 hours in tot h e f l i g h t .Now, t h e TV does r e q u i r e t h e u s e of t h e high-gainantenna. And, as General P h i l l i p s s a i d , t h i s is t h e f i r s tf l i g h t fo r t h e high-gain antenna, and so there is a f i n i t e

p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t w e might n o t be able t o g e t t h e TV fo r you.However, as General P h i l l i p s d i d s ta te , t h e u s e of t h e omniantennas provides a l l of t h e communications t h a t w e need oper-a t i o n a l l y . The loss of t h e high-gain ant enn a would cause ust o lose Ty i n t h e o u t e r f r i n g e s as w e l l as biomedical da taand h ig h b i t ra te data.We r e t a i n a l l t e l e m e t r y data t h a t g i v e s us t h e w e l l -being of t h e s y s t e m . We r e t a i n a l l voice communications anda l l t rack , but what w e do lose, 88 I s a i d , i f w e lose t h es y s t e m , is TV, biomedical, and h i g h b i t rate .W do have t h e decision pointsr fo r midcourse correc-t i o n s . These come a t about s i x hours, 24 hours a f t e r TLI.,and about 20 hours a t e i g h t hours before l u n a r o r b i t i n s e r t i o n .W have f o u r d e c i s i o n p o i n t s where w e w i l l dec ide whether ornot w e are going to m a k e t h e burn.We w i l l m a k e a l l burns t h a t w e poss ib ly can us ingt h e s e r v i c e module RCS s y s t e m .Xf t h e ground computation t e l l s u s t h a t a delta-Vof less than one foot per second is required, w e w i l l m a k eno attempt t o make t h e burn. That is , w e w i l l not correctt h a t . If t h e ground t e l l s u s t h a t c o r r e c t i o n is more ont h e order of f o u r feet per second, w e w i l l use t h e SPSs y s t e m t o make t h e burn.May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.


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33How accura te ly do w e know Where we are going?T h is s l i d e here shows o u r p r e d i c t i o n on p e r i l i n e or 3 sigma K-- t h a t is a high p r o b a b i l i t y case -0 as w e go on ou t in tot h e mission.Here w e have t i m e from a r r i v i n g a t t h e moon as afunct ion 0% u n c e r t a i n t y i n where you t h i n k you are going t obe. You can see t h a t 70 hours -- t h a t is , a t t h e beginningof t h e mission -0 our 3 sigma Uncertainty is about 13 m i l e s ,12 o r 13 m i l e s , and i t r a p f d l y decreases down t o abou t f ivem i l e s , and then when w e g e t close t o t h e moon w e g e t downt o t h e order of one m i l e .The spacecraft, t h i s on-board s y s t e m , roughly han uncertainty of abou t s ix m i l e s , so w e know p r e t t y w e l lwhere w e are going.Next s l i d e , please.The l unar o r b i t i nse r t ion burn , as w e s t a t ed , i a s atwo-burn and is a burn fo r 60 x 170 followed b y 60 x 60 burn,both of which are on t h e back s i d e of t h e moon.Our f ixed a t t i t u d e burns-- And w e again have specif i

g o h o go c r i t e r i a for conducting these burns. I n essence, w ew i l l not conduct t h e burns if w e have had t h e loss of someselected s y s t e m s . And there is a complete l i s t of t h o s e s y s -tems t h e l oss o f which would require t h a t we not go i n t o l u n a ro r b i t but do come back o n a circumlunar f l i g h t .

A t y p i c a l example of t h i s is i f w e lost one entryb a t t e r y w e would elect not to go i n an W I urn.Next s l i d e , please.When w e ge t i n t o l u n ar o r b i t , t h i s is t h e t i m e l ine- -

I 'd better take a moment t o explain what these are. Thischar t over here begins w i t h r ev 1 and goes through t o rev 10w i t h a d a y b i g h t cycle as you go on through, w i t h t h e a c t i v i -t i e s t i c k e d o ff on bars down here.T h i s chart over here s t a r t s w i t h t h e W I i r s t burna t t h i s p o i n t here. The ear th is down i n t h i s di rec t ion . Thesun is up i n t h i s di re ct io n. And t hen t h e o r b i t t i m e l i n eis d e p i c t e d i n t h e s p i r a l .


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34You recognize, of course, t h a t w e s t a y i n t h e60-mile o r b i t throughout ,In genera l , t h e f i rs t pass, t h e f i rs t a c t i v e pass

here, is taken up w i t h s e q u e n t i a l photographs -- t h a t is,photographs wherein w e wish t o determine what t h e moon looksl i k e , what our landing sites look l i k e ,W e then go in t o a series of stereo photographs andgo on in to t h e mission w i t h some landmark tracking.W do have a t t h i s point- T h i s is t h e easternmostApollo landing s i t e . We do have four separate at tempts orfour separate t i m e s a t which w e w i l l track t h e Apollo landing

s i t e . We have scheduled a l so three a d d i t i o n a l s i tes on t h eback s i d e of t h e moon t h a t w e wish to track i n order t o seewhat o u r a b i l i t y is t o track, both t o track on board as w e l las todetermine from t h e ground how good our t racki ng accuracyis .W have a number of requests from s c i e n t i s t s t o con-duct some s c i e n t i f i c i n v e s t i g a t i o n s p r i m a r i l y looking a t t h esolar corona, looking at d i m s k y . Most of these a c t i v i t i e st ake place i n these dark per iods back here.In genera l , t h e crewmen w i l l be s l e e p i n g -- o r rest-i ng I guess I should s a y -- i n two-hour cycles throughout t h i sper iod , leading us then t o transearth i n j e c t i o n a t t h e appro-p r i a t e t i m e ,I might s a y r i g h t here t h a t w e are c a r r y i n g a number

0f photographic equipments on board.cameras w i t h a number of r o l l s of black-and-white and colorf i l m , as w e 1 1 aa a 16 m i l l i m e t e r ( a u r e r ) camera,

We have two Hasse lb la t

We are planning hopeful ly -- and 1 can ' t t e l l you pre-c i s e l y when r i g h t now 0- i f t h e high-gain antenna is up --t o have some per iods of W .be i n t h i s genera l area here i n order t o g e t t he l i n e of s i g h tback t o t h e earth. We are looking a t r evs 1, 2 and 9, al thoughI can ' t spec i fy fo r you which r evo lu t ion of t h o s e w e w i l lselect y e t ,And, of course, i t w i l l have t o

The l u n a r o r b i t phase would be aborted fo r c e r t a i nspec i f i c losses of equipment, p r i m a r i l y for loss of redundancy


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35i n t h e guidance and control s y s t e m s o r i n t h e e lec t r i ca lbuses o r i n any of t h e r e d u n ~ a n c i e s n SPS service modulepropulsion s y s t e m .

Next s l i d e , please.Transearth i n j e c t i o n , w e s a i d , is nominally a tt h e end of t h e t en th r evo lu t ion . We do have t h e c a p a b i l i t yt o m ai nt ai n o u r se l ve s i n l u n a r o r b i t f o r one or t w o more o r b i t s

if there is some overpowering reason f o r doing so. However,t h e nominal plan t h a t w e w i l l attempt t o maintain is t o comeback a t t h e end of t en r evo lu t ions .We have targeted our landing longi tude a t 165 degreesw e s t 0- t h a t is , almost i r e c t l y s o u t h of H a w a i i . And a l l ofour landing zone f or a l l of o u r l i f t o f f times and a l l of o u r

l i f t o f f days are on t h a t l i n e . We do n o t c o n t r o l o u r l a t i -t u d e u n t i l t r a n s e a r t h i n j e c t i o n . A t t h a t poin t w e d e c i d e whatl a t i t u d e w e w i l l be going to.We are t a r g e t i n g fo r t h e m i d d l e of t h e corridor, andw e are t a r g e t i n g f o r maintaining our c a p a b i l i t y w i t h a r e e n t r yspeed.

i d e j u s t sh ed w e d i d come back i nover Asia.

Next 9 e.d , aga in have t h e c a p a b i l i t y11 be conducting midcourse COPrections. These ag obably be conducted using t h ese rv ic e module reae 1 y s t e m , and w e w i l l directt h e t ra jectory for Corr n t r o l o n l y , and w e w i l l maintain

Thoes corr w i l l be made a t t h e m o r a t convenientt i m e s , and t h e y s u b j e c t to t h e same delta-V restrictionI spoke about before.May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.Just t o g iv e you an idea of what kind of uncer t a in tyw e have i n r een t ry f l i g h t p a t h angle , t h i s chart w a s o r i g i n a l l yse t up f o r one of t h e l onger r e tu rn t i m e s , and fo r o u r [iO-odd-

hour re turn t i m e you j u t squeeze it up a l i t t l e b i t .


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36You can see t h e manned space f l i g h t network i t s e l fwithout any assistance on board w i l l g i v e us a l i t t l e overa degree of uncer t a in ty a t TEI, and t h i s very r a p i d l y con-verges down t o t h e one degree which w e f ee l is most desi rab le ,

very quickly comes down t o a very, very nominal level, m o s ts a t i s f a c to ry f o r r een t ry ,"he spacecraft i t s e l f , w e bel ieve t h a t is a r een t ryguidance uncertainty, 3 sigma, of about t h a t order of magni-tude ( ind ica t ing) -- w e l l , wi th in what is necessary. Whatis necessary is something on t h e order of a degree,May I have t h e next s l i d e , please.Entry i t s e l f looks something l i k e t h i s , T h i s is as l i g h t v a r i a t i o n from t h e skip r e e n t r y t h a t you m ay havebeen famil iar w i t h , i n t h a t w e are f l y i n g what w e are c a l l i n ga cons tant g reent ry . We have dec ided t o use on ly 1,350 m i l e sof ou r nominal re en tr y range, although t h i s range is a v a i l a b l et o u s by our l i f t i n g r ee nt ry . We d i d select t h i s shor t rangei n order to g e t t h i s t h i r d backup I might s a y -- mode ofcons tan t g,QUESTION: Is t h a t what w e cal led "footpr in t" i nea r l i e r f l i g h t s ?

: Yese And I w i l l go i n t o t h a t a l i t t l eb i t f u r t h e r .

or weather avoidance, if w e aremore than one day o uerv ice p ropu ls ion s y s t e m t o a d j u s t our nominae are less than one day o u t , w e w i l lretarget our ent ry point and use o u r f o o t p r i n t fo r weatheravoidance.This is what t h e trajectory w i l l look l i k e , Entry

And w e do e n t e r S-band, w e e n t e rn t e r f a c e a t 400,000 f ee t ,t h e blackout region, and begin f l yi n g ou r con sta nt g r een t ry ,I n c o n t r a s t t o t h e s k i p r e e n t r y , which would nomin-a l l y have taken us much f u r t he r o ut i n t h e atmosphere andthen come back i n , w e p u l l t h i s cons tant 4 g's, and do al i t t l e d i p , come o u t of blackout, and the n come on back in .This whole a c t i v i t y here takes about 14 or 15 minutes.


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37QUESTION: How many g 's , B i l l ?SCHNEIDEFt: About 4 gts scheduled.One thing I should mention a t t h i s p o i n t is w e aregoing t o give t h e crew "go" fo r t ak ing off t h e i r s u i t a ti n j e c t io n i n t o o r b i t , back on one of t h e ear l i e r s l i d e s , andt h e y w i l l conduct t h e mission, t h e remainder of t h e mission,wi thou t su i t s . That is, r een t ry w i l l be without space s u i t s .We have provided t h e crew w i t h heel r e s t r a i n t s anda l so w i t h a head r e s t r a i n t , which, if you reca l l , were t h etwo areas of concern on Apollo 7 .QUESTION: Does t h a t i nc lude reen t ry then , B i l l ?SCIINBIDER: Y e s s i r .Next s l i d e , plea80.Footprint . This is our reentry coverage. We doW have s ta t ioned a Mercury s h i p a t t h i s poin t ,cone i n , as I s t a t ed , over Asia. W have very good t r ack ingof Guam.and then w e come down and touch down here. We have t h e York-town i n t h e recovery area.A s I s a i d , recovery is along 165 longitude and fo ra nominal mission w i l l be approximately a t t h i s poin t (indi-ca t ng1.Next S l i d e , please+I would l ike t o summarise for you t h e mission byt i n e BO t h a t you w i l l g e t an idea of when th ings occur . Andt h i s s l i d e over here shows t h e nominal mission times t h a t

t h i n g s w i l l occur , p lus de l ta times, fo r d i f f e r e n t l i f t o f fdays. That is , nominally, fo r example, a nominal t o t a l missionis s i x days and four hours approximately. W e could conceivablybe as long as one day longer or four hours shorter i f w e l i f t e doff a t a d i f f e r e n t l i f t o f f t i m e .I guess t h e b ig numbers t o p o i n t o u t are t h e TLIburn, which is roughly about 311 seconds and s t a y s p r e t t yclose t o t h a t no matter what our t i m e is, and t h e f r ee - re tu rncircumlunar t i ne , which is another ke y number, is about 130 hours


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38and 37 minutes. I t can increase some 17 hours o r be asl i t t l e as one hour shorter .

The fx)I burn is almost independent of l i f t o f f t i m e .There are some differences because you do a plane cor rec t iona t t h a t same t i m e , and t h e plane change does change w i t h l i f t -off day.I guess t h e t r a n s e a r t h r e t u r n t i m e of 58 hours plusnine minus two is t h e other important point,Again turning t o t o t a l delta-V, as f a r as t h e launchvehic le is concerned, w e have plenty of delta-V a v a i l a b l e ,We use approximately 10,000 feet per second out of t h e

S - I V B f o r t h i s second, t h e TLI burn. W have approximately,if I remember correctly, about f i v e seconds of burn l e f t ,very comfortable margin.In t h e spacecraft, as I s a y , w e expect t o do mostof our midcourse burns using t h e SPS s y s t e m . W e have plenty-I ' m s o r r y . Using t h e RCS s y s t e m . We have p l e n t y of SPSs y s t e m a v a i l a b l e i f w e need i t i n there. W e use approximately

7,000 feet p e r second.f l oa t i ng around, and w e haven't used t h a t .We have about 4,000 feet per second

J u s t to show you where w e st an d i n consumables, mayI have t h e next chart , please?

RCS consumables. Those of you who have been fo l l owing manned space f l i g h t know t h a t consumables have a lways beensomething t h a t w e have had t o p l ay very ca re fu l l y , and herew e have a s i t u a t i o n where I t h i n k a t least i n RCS f u e l fornominal mission w e have very l i t t l e w o r r y about t h e f u e lq u a n t i t i e s . W e have avai lable t h a t much, w i t h u n c e r t a i n t i e sas shown up here, and you can see w e probably use about 30 p e rc e n t of i t .

May I have t h e next s l i d e , please,The SPS budget runs l i k e t h i s . Beside these, as Is a i d , we have about 4,000 foot per second l e f t over. Theseare t h e kinds of di sper s ions t h a t w e a n t i c i p a t e , 3 sigma d i s -pers ions ,

3 sigma maximum dispersion fo r t h e midcourse corrections.You can see w e a n t i c i p a t e a b o u t 120 feet per second


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8/6/2019 Apollo 8 Press Br

Apollo 8 Press Briefing 12 November 1968

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Transcript of Apollo 8 Press Briefing 12 November 1968