The Uprated Saturn I launch vehicle was conceived in 1962 at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as the quickest, most reliable, and most economical means of providing a vehicle with greater payload capability than the Saturn I for suborbital and orbital Apollo missions before the Saturn V would be available.
The design was based on using two existing stages of Saturn I and Saturn V vehicles, redesigned Saturn I booster (the S-IB stage) and the third stage (S-IVB) and instrument unit from the Saturn V.
The concept permitted rapid development of the vehicle, and maximum use of designs and facilities from other Saturn programs saved time and money.
Two Uprated Saturns launched earlier this year on Feb. 26 and July 5 continued the string of 10 Saturn I successes.
The Uprated Saturn I, including two stages and an instrument unit, is 141 feet tall. Mated with the 83-foot Apollo spacecraft the entire space vehicle stands 224 feet high on the launch pad.
First stage -- The 202 stage is 80 feet long, 21-1/2 feet in diameter. Dry weight is 91,600 pounds.
Design changes have been made in the Saturn I booster to reduce weight. However, the first stage for this flight was one of two boosters in the series initially designated a part of the Saturn I program and some of the weight reducing changes were not incorporated.
The second flight Uprated Saturn I stage, flown in July, was the first of the boosters incorporating virtually all of the weight reduction changes. Dry weight of that stage, 86,200 pounds, was reduced by about 20,000 pounds over the basic S-I. This was done by redesigning the fins, removing hydrogen vent pipes and brackets unnecessary to the new design, resizing machine parts in the tail section assembly, redesigning the spider beam and modifying the propellant tanks.
Eight H-1 engines producing a total thrust of 1.6 million pounds power the stage. The engines, made by Rocketdyne, burn liquid oxygen and RP-1 fuel. In approximately 22 minutes of operation, the stage burns 40,000 gallons t270, 500 pounds) of RP-1 fuel and 64,000 gallons (611,000 pounds) of liquid oxygen, to reach an altitude of about 35 miles at engine cutoff.
Four of the Rocketdyne H-1 engines are mounted in a square pattern in the center of the stage's thrust structure section. The other four are mounted in a square pattern near the outer edge of the thrust structure. The outer engines are equipped with independent, closed-loop hydraulic systems which gimbal the engines as much as eight degrees for vehicle flight direction control.
The stage is made up of eight 70-inch diameter propellant tanks (Redstone type) surrounding a single 105-inch (Jupiter type) tank. The center tank and four of the outer ones hold liquid oxygen, and the other four contain RP-1 (kerosene). The tanks are interconnected at the bottom to provide the capability of completing the mission in case one engine fails. This capability was demonstrated in two Saturn I flights.
Chrysler assembles the stages at the NASA-Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and tests them at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
Second stage -- The stage is 58 feet long and 21.7 feet in diameter. Its Rocketdyne J-2 engine, powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen, generates 200,000 pounds thrust. After first stage burnout it lofts the spacecraft to about 135 miles altitude.
Dry weight of the stage, including the interstate which connects the first and second stages, is 29,700 pounds. The stage operates about 7.5 minutes to achieve orbital speed and altitude, but will not orbit on this flight . The J-2 engine will burn approximately 60,000 gallons (36,000 pounds) of liquid hydrogen and some 20,000 gallons (190,000 pounds) of liquid oxygen.
Douglas Aircraft Co. builds the second stage at its Huntington Beach, Cal.,facility and tests it at the Sacramento Test Center.
Instrument Unit -- The 260-inch diameter instrument unit is three feet high and weighs 4,500 pounds. It is an unpressurized, load-supporting structure of sandwich-type bonded construction. Honeycomb-panel "cold plates" are attached to welded brackets on the interior skin. The electrical and electronic equipment is mounted on the plates for cooling purposes.
The instrument unit has the electrical and mechanical equipment which guides, controls and monitors vehicle performance from liftoff until after insertion of the payload. It controls first stage powered flight, stage separation, second stage powered flight, and further flight to the point of payload separation.
On this mission the instrument unit will control the vehicle through second stage powered flight. Some ten seconds later the spacecraft is separated.
Equipment includes guidance and control, electrical, measurement and telemetry, radio frequency, instrumentation, range safety command system, environmental control, and emergency detection systems (EDS).
Systems include the ST-124-M-III inertial platform, the launch vehicle digital computer and the electrical equipment required for launch vehicle performance.
The instrument unit was designed by the Marshall Center. International Business Machines Corp., Federal Systems Division, is the IU contractor for fabrication, system testing, and integration and checkout with the launch vehicle, with mayor elements coming from Bendix, IBM, Electronic Communications, Inc.
LAUNCH COMPLEX 34
The AS-201 space vehicle will be launched from Complex 34, Cape Kennedy, the pad used for the first four Saturn I launches and the first Apollo/Uprated Saturn I last Jan. 26.
The complex consists of a 430-foot diameter launch pad, a mobile service structure, a launch control center and related ground support equipment, vehicle service systems including RP-1 (kerosene) fuel, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen used for launch vehicle cooling and pressurization.
Preparations are directed during checkout, countdown and launch from a dome-shaped launch control center located about 1,000 feet from the pad. The control center (blockhouse) is constructed of steel and concrete with a roof designed to withstand pressures of 2,188 pounds per square inch -- well above safety limits for the 300-man crew inside, in event of an explosion in the pad area.
The mobile structure is wheeled into place during launch preparations and rolls back 680 feet from the pad about three hours before liftoff. It stands 310 feet high and weighs some 3,500 tons. Seven fixed platforms and eight enclosed, retractable working areas are in the service structure. These give the service crew access to all sections of the launch vehicle and spacecraft.
Hurricane doors, 44 feet tall, provide weather protection for the first stage, and retractable silo sections provide similar cover for the S-IVB, instrument unit and spacecraft. Following the successful Saturn I series, Complex 34 was modified for the Uprated Saturn I program. The work included installation of doors capable of protecting the first stage from hurricane winds, silos for the upper stages and spacecraft, a new anchoring system for the service structure, reinforcement of structures, frames and propellant systems.
Additional modifications were made to the swing arms, instrumentation, pneumatics and environmental control system for the Saturn.
Modifications required to "man rate" Complex 34 for the Apollo program included installation of a spacecraft access arm and a high speed elevator in the umbilical tower for the flight crews.
Copyright 1997-2005 by John
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