|
SA-5 was the first launch of the Block II Saturn I rocket and was part of the Apollo program. JFK identified this launch as the one which would place US lift capability ahead of the Soviets, after being behind for more than six years since Sputnik.〔(JFK Speech at Brooks AFB, 21Nov63 (video, on the last full day of his life) )〕 ==Upgrades and objectives== The major changes that occurred on SA-5 were that for the first time the Saturn I would fly with two stages - the S-I first stage and the S-IV second stage. The second stage featured six engines burning liquid hydrogen. Although this engine design (RL10) was meant to be tested several years earlier in the Centaur upper stage, in the end the first Centaur was launched only two months before SA-5. This rocket stage was delivered to the Cape by a modified B-377 aircraft, the ''Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy''. Other major design changes included the enlargement of the fuel tanks on the first stage. For the first time the rocket would carry its planned 750,000 lb (340,000 kg) of propellant and would use eight upgraded engines producing a thrust each of 188,000 lbf (836 kN). The first stage also featured for the first time eight fins for added stability during flight. As with the earlier flight the rocket would still carry only a Jupiter-C〔http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/ch11.htm"topped by a nose cone from an Army Jupiter rocket, brought the typical height of the Block I series to about 50 meters.""With a Jupiter nose cone, SA-5 was about 50 meters high", Results of Saturn I Launch Vehicle Tests, pp. 3-5〕 nosecone instead of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft. Also the guidance and control computer on the rocket was positioned above the second stage. This was where it would be found on the Saturn V flights that would take astronauts to the moon. The Instrument Unit controlled the ascent of the rocket through the atmosphere, automatically compensating for any winds or loss of thrust during the ascent. For the first time in the Apollo program, this flight would be an orbital mission. This was possible because of the upgraded first stage and the addition of the second stage. It would enter into a highly ellipitical orbit and re-enter a couple of days later as its orbit decayed. U.S. President John F. Kennedy referred specifically to this launch in a speech he gave at Brooks AFB in San Antonio, Texas, on November 21, 1963, the day before he was assassinated. He said: :And in December, while I do not regard our mastery of space as anywhere near complete, while I recognize that there are still areas where we are behind – at least in one area, the size of the booster – this year I hope the United States will be ahead.〔(JFK Speech at Brooks AFB, 21Nov63 (video) )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saturn I SA-5」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|