New Orleans (LPH 11) - Naval Cruise Book

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the Project Apollo lunar mission. After the second stage drops away, the third ignites and burns for about two minutes to place itself and the spacecraft into the desired Earth orbit. At the proper time during this Earth parking orbit, the third stage is re-ignited to speed the Apollo spacecraft to escape velocity of 24,900 miles-per-hour. In this second sequence, the stage burns for about six minutes. The stage is 58 feet long and 21.7 feet in diameter. The instrument unit, located atop the third stage, between the stage and thepayload, contains guidance and control equipment for the launch vehicle. It is 3 feet long and 21.7 feet in diameter. Stage three has an operational life of four hours before all systems become inoperative and separation occurs. This was why Apollo 14's docking problem in Earth orbit was so very critical. The astronauts were battling a time element as well as mechanical problems. The final section of the 365 foot tall Saturn V Moon rocket is the Apollo spacecraft itself, which rests atop the instrument unit. The spacecraft contains three distinctly separate modules: the lunar module, service module and command module. LUNAR MODULE The lunar module was named Antares for the star on which the landing craft oriented itself as it headed down to the Fra Mauro region of the Moon. The module was essentially composed of two units, the ascent stage and the descent stage. The ascent stage measured approximately 12 feet high and 14 feet in diameter. The descent stage was about the same size as her sister unit, measuring about 10 and one-half feet high and 14 feet in diameter. Both stages were encased in a shield of mylar and aluminum alloy for protection against heat and micrometeoroids. Each stage served a distinct purpose during the Apollo 14 lunar landing. The descent stage was equipped with special landing gear called struts, which were mounted' in dish-like footpads, and filled with a honeycomb of crush- able aluminum providing for a soft landing. A 68-inch sensing probe was also attached to the end of each strut. The probes told the astronauts to shut down their descent engine upon contact with the Moon's surface. After the astronauts had touched down on the Moon, the descent stage served only as a launching pad for the later scheduled blastoff. The job of the ascent stage was to carry Astronauts Shepard and Mitchell off the Moon and back to the command module. It was equipped with a drogue used to align the lunar module with the command module in docking. The ascent stage also contained a tunnel, 32 inches in diameter, which allowed the astronauts to crawl from the ascent stage into the command module. The tunnel could only be reached by opening a hatch in the lunar module, which could not be opened unless equal pressure was present on both sides. Consequently, a per- fectly tight seal had to be made in the docking process or the astronauts would have been unable to pass through the adjoining tunnel. Should difficulty arise in the dock- ing procedure, which would not allow passage between the two modules through the tunnel, alternative methods would be utilized. ln such an emergency, the astronauts could leave Antares through a hatch, walk through space, and then enter Kitty Hawk through its hatch. After the successful docking of the ascent stage with the command module, Antares was sent hurtling back to the Moon's surface. Its impact was recorded and analyzed by NASA in Houston as part ofa seismological experiment. Scientists hope this will help them learn more about the Moon's crust and the Moon's origin. SERVICE MODULE The service module is, as the name implies, a unit which serves the command module. Its main function is to provide the necessary power to propel and maneuver the command module in its flight to and from the Moon. lt is equipped with a restartable main propulsion engine, which can be used to make mid-course corrections during flight, deboost the vehicle into Moon orbit and then boost it out of Moon orbit and back to Earth. It is also fitted with attitude control rockets, which permit the craft to roll, pitch and yaw, as well as edge upward, downward and sideways during flight. These rockets serve the same purpose as horizontal stabilizers, ailerons and the rudder on conventional airplanes. Both the rockets and main propulsion engine burn hypergolic or self-igniting fuels. When a pair of oxi- dizers and propellant liquids are mixed together, they ignite spontaneously. Thus, the process is totally a chemi- cal reaction and no spark plugs or other electric ignlters are needed to start the engine or rockets. Three compact hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, together with tanks of supercooled hydrogen and oxygen, supply the craft's total electrical power. These remain functional until the last five hours or so when the service module is cast away from the command module upon returning to Earth. The actual separation occurs when an electrical signal fires explosive bolts holding the two modules together. Another job of these fuel cells is the manufacturing of part of the astronaut's drinking water. lt is actually a byproduct of the chemical reaction that makes their electricity. The service module is also equipped with space radi- ators. These radiators are much different than the radiators used in cars, yet still serve the same purpose. The radiators are actually outside walls of the craft, lined with tiny tubes through which liquid ethylene glycol is pumped. This liquid carries heat generated by human, mechanical and electrical systems from the interior of the two modules to their exterior surfaces. Also contained in the service module is a dish-shaped antenna. It folds out and automatically aims itself to Earth, allowing communication between the astronauts and NASA. COMMAND MODULE The command module of Apollo 14 was called Kitty Hawk because as the astronauts put it: That's where it all started. Kitty Hawk is a community in North Caro- lina where the American aviation pioneers, the Wright brothers, first demonstrated powered flight by man early in this century. The module, piloted by Astronaut Roosa, contained the necessary life support systems for the three astro- nauts and was the only unit of the entire spacecraft which returned to Earth. The command module is 13 feet in diameter and weighs 11,000 pounds.

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The Saturn V rocket was especially designed for the Apollo Mission series. To date it is the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, capable of putting more than a quarter of a million pounds of payload into Earth orbit or sending 95,000 pounds to the lVloon. The rocket consists of three separately functional units or stages designated S-1C, S-2 and S-IVB. The first stage iS-1Cl is the largest and most powerful of the three stages. It measures 138 feet long and 33 feet in diameter. When fueled, the stage holds 214,200 gallons of RP-1 kerosene and 346,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and weighs in excess of 5,028,000 pounds. Equipped with five F-1 engines weighing ten tons each, the first stage produces approximately 7.5 million pounds of thrust to create initial lift off from the Earth's surface. In turn, the combined thrust of the engines burns over 15 tons of propellants per second during their two and one-half minutes of operation and takes the vehicle to a height of about 36 miles with a speed of about 6,000 miles-per-hour. The total amount of propellants the first stage con- sumes in those few short minutes is comparable to the oxygen necessary to support half a billion people and the fuel necessary to simultaneously operate three million automobiles. After its short journey, the first stage separates from the rest of the Saturn V and the second stage takes over. The second stage QS-21 also contains five engines, but they are smaller than those contained in stage one. These ':F 12f ...- 7 five 1-2 engines used in the second stage develop a total thrust of over one million pounds. The stage is 81 and one-half feet long and 33 feet in diameter. Unlike stage one, the second stage burns liquid hydro- gen rather than kerosene. This is because hydrogen produces more thrust per pound of fuel than kerosene. However, kerosene is a much more stable fuel than liquid hydrogen, and is thus preferred, in view of safety pre- cautions, for initial lift off on Earth. As with stage one, liquid oxygen is still converted into a gas for use in the combustion process. When the second stage is fueled it holds 267,700 'gallons of liquid hydrogen and 87,400 gallons of liquid oxygen and weighs over 1,064,000 pounds. The liquid hydrogen is stored in the Saturn V at a temperature of minus 423 degrees F. and turns into a gas at any temperature above that. On the other hand, liquid oxygen is stored at minus 287 degrees F. and is con- sidered hot in its liquified state at that temperature. These propellants are burned at a rate of over one ton per second during about six and one-half minutes of operation to take the vehicle to an altitude of about 108 miles and a speed of near orbital velocity, which in this case is about 17,400 miles-per-hour. Stage three QS-lVl3l contains but one engine. lt is capable of producing 230,000 pounds of thrust and carries a combined fuel package of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen amounting to 87,300 gallons. The third stage has two important operations during

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Pre-launch activities for Apollo 14 actually began months and even years in advance when NASA and the U.S. government released contracts for the building of the rocket, space capsule, and LEM. But most important of the actual Cape Kennedy activities began six days before the day of lift off. During this period jan. 25-31, 1971 highly skilled Cape l l Kennedy technicians completed the work on the electri- cal circuitry and perfected the space vehicle ignition equipment. Once the mechanical buildup of space- components was accomplished the final phase of fueling the command, service and lunar landing modules was completed. The official Cape Kennedy countdown started 28 hours before the designated launch time 13:23 p.m. EST on Sunday jan. 31, 19711 and continued to the T minus nine hour mark when a built-in 'hold went into effect. The fueling of the Saturn V rocket began eight hours prior to blast off. The fueling of Saturn V required four hours and 27 minutes to complete. With four hours and 17 minutes prior to lift off, the Apollo 14 astronauts were awakened. They underwent a brief medical examination before arriving at the launch pad. Approximately two hours and 40 minutes before the launch, astronauts Shepard, Roosa and Mitchell climbed into the capsule. . .their home for the next nine days. Once inside, astronaut Alan Shepard proceeded to check out the Emergency Detection System with the launch team on the ground. This check took place at T minus one hour and 51 minutes. The launch was delayed some 40 minutes at the T minus eight minute mark due to adverse weather con- 'W ...Laughing ditions in the form of thunder storm activity around Cape Kennedy. Since lightning struck the Apollo 12 rocket in November 1969, NASA has ruled no lift offs will be attempted in adverse weather. So the NASA technicians waited for the bulk of the storm to pass before giving Apollo 14 a Go at 4:05 p.m. EST on Sunday january 31, 1971. At T minus five minutes the Apollo access arm, the last hold on the spacecraft, was retracted. With 3:06 left to blast off, the Firing Command began in automatic sequence. This automatic count con- tinued until lift off. With 8.9 seconds to lift-off, the actual ignition sequence started. When the big Saturn V rocket roared off the pad, at Kennedy Space Center Complex 39A amidst bellowing smoke and flames, it was on an azimuth of 72 degrees, or in a direction which, if not corrected, would take the spacecraft past the Moon if no further maneuvers were initiated. Downrange and after the 11 minute mark Go Ahead for Earth orbit, the astronauts tried docking and encountered some difficulties in the spacecraft's latching mechanism. The difficulties were later corrected and the mission was on. At approximately 30-and-one-half-hours Ground Elapsed Time CC-ETD the spacecraft changed course to produce the desired conditions for altitude, time and sun angle for lunar orbit. Lunar orbit was accomplished about 60 hours later. Once in lunar orbit, the astronauts began the primary mission objectives, not the landing but the all important photography of possible future Moon landing sites. '-