Part 5

The fin-stabilized X-4 air-to-air missile was guided to its target by means of electrical impulses which passed through two wires connecting the rocket to the launch aircraft until detonation. Once the missile was on its way to the target bomber, the fighter pilot directed its course with a separate small control stick in his cockpit. Because the control wires streamed out ahead of the launching aircraft, the pilot was prevented from evasive maneuvering.

Launched from German fighter aircraft, usually a FW-190, the X-4 was powered by either a solid-propellant engine or a bi-propellant liquid-rocket engine. It carried a 20-kilogram (44-pound) warhead.

Jupiter-C

Jupiter-C carried the first successful American artificial earth satellite, _Explorer 1_, into orbit on January 31, 1958. Jupiter-C launched additional Explorer satellites on March 26 and July 26, 1958.

Jupiter-C, or Juno 1, is a modified version of the Redstone Ballistic Missile and a direct descendant of the V-2 (A-4) rocket developed in Germany during the second World War.

The vehicle’s main stage is powered by a rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and a hydrazine mixture. The second and third stages are contained in the “tub” on the nose of the rocket. Both use scaled-down Sergeant solid-propellant rockets: eleven in the second stage and three in the third. A final Sergeant motor is attached to the base of the satellite to provide the velocity necessary to place the vehicle in orbit. An electric motor spun the entire “tub” prior to launch and during the climb into space in order to stabilize the satellite.

The Jupiter-C was built by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency.

Vanguard

Standing 21.6 meters (70.8 feet) high and weighing more than 10,000 kilograms (20,000 pounds), the Vanguard launch vehicle successfully orbited three satellites. The first was _Vanguard 1_, launched on March 17, 1958.

The rocket has three stages. The first-stage motor, burning kerosene and liquid oxygen, operated for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. The second stage carried the vehicle to an altitude of 210 kilometers (130 miles), propelled by white-fuming nitric acid and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH). With propellants exhausted, the upper stages then coasted to 480 kilometers (300 miles) above the surface of the Earth where the solid-propellant third-stage motor fired to place the satellite into orbit.

The Vanguard was designed and built by the Martin Company for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

Scout

On February 16, 1961, Scout became the first solid-propellant vehicle to orbit a satellite (_Explorer 9_). It is a four-stage launch vehicle that can perform a variety of space and reentry research tasks. Its relatively low cost has made it a popular choice for many satellite programs, including Transit navigation satellites, the Small Astronomy and Small Scientific Satellites, the Beacon Explorer, Hawkeye, Micrometeoroid, Meteoroid Technology, and Solrad satellites. The rocket has also been used extensively to launch foreign satellites. ANS-A (Netherlands), GRP-A (Germany), UK-5 (England), Eole (France), San Marco 5 (Italy), and the ESRO satellites for the European Space Research Organization (now European Space Agency) have all gone aloft aboard Scout launch vehicles.

The satellite in the nose of the Scout on exhibit is an INJUN/Air Density Explorer identical to that launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, on August 8, 1968.

Scout was built by the LTV Aerospace Corporation for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Defense.

The Scout is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and LTV Aerospace Corporation.

Minuteman III

The Minuteman III is the standard U.S. land-based intercontinental ballistic missile. This three-stage solid-propellant missile is launched from underground silos that are 24.4 meters (80 feet) deep and 3.7 meters (12 feet) in diameter. These missiles can be launched either from underground control centers or by an airborne launch control center installed in KC-135 aircraft.

Minuteman III was first test-fired on August 16, 1968, and has since replaced earlier Minuteman series ICBMs in the operational system. This missile was designed by Boeing for the Air Force Strategic Air Command.

This missile is from the US. Air Force and Boeing Aerospace Corporation.

Poseidon C-3

This two-stage solid-propellant Fleet Ballistic Missile is launched underwater from nuclear-powered submarines. The Poseidon is launched by compressed air, with first-stage ignition just after the missile is clear of the hull. Poseidon carried the Mk-3 Multiple Independently targeted Reentry Vehicles (MIRV)—thermonuclear weapons which enable a single missile to cover a number of targets.

The first successful test flight of Poseidon was from Cape Canaveral on August 16, 1968, and the first submarine launch was from the U.S.S. _James Madison_ on August 3, 1970.

The Poseidon C-3 is from the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.

Skylab

Launched into earth orbit on May 14, 1973, Skylab was a research center that housed three-man crews on three different visits to the space station. The longest mission lasted nearly three months.

Equipment and experiments on board the orbiting station were designed to accommodate four areas of research: earth observation to further knowledge of natural resources and the earth’s environment; solar observation to increase understanding of solar processes and influences on earth’s environment; study of the effects of long duration weightlessness on man, basic biological processes and adaptability to space flight conditions; and experiments in processing of materials under the unique conditions of weightlessness and vacuum environment of space. All missions were highly successful in obtaining data and photographs.

Skylab consisted of four major components: the Orbital Work Shop (OWS), Airlock Module (AM). Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA), and the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM).

The cylindrical Orbital Work Shop is 15 meters (48 feet) in length and 6.5 meters (22 feet) in diameter. The workshop is divided into two major areas by an open-grid partition. By wearing special shoes, the astronauts can use this grid to anchor themselves in the weightlessness of space. The lower portion contains the crew quarters, food preparation and dining areas, washroom, and waste processing and disposal facilities.

I M131 chair control Sleep compartment 70 sq ft II Head 30 sq ft Wardroom 97 sq ft III M507 gravity substitute work bench Experiment compartment 181 sq ft M171 gas analyzer M171 helmet stowage ESS IV M092 LBNPD Electric power control console M131 rotating chair

The upper portion contains a large work-activity area, water-storage tanks, food freezers, film vaults, and experiment equipment.

The Airlock Module enabled spacesuited crew members to make excursions outside the Skylab to replace or adjust equipment, change film, or carry out other extra-vehicular activities. This capability was vital to emergency repairs by the astronauts on the first mission. The Airlock Module was attached to the OWS and passage to the module was accomplished through a hatch which connected the module to the interior of the workshop. When an astronaut entered the module, he would vent the atmosphere of the module into space. When the pressure in the airlock reached zero, the crew member could open the outer hatch and float out into space.

The Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA) was used by crews arriving or departing from the Skylab workshop. The Apollo command/service modules delivered crews to the MDA from which the astronauts could enter Skylab through the hatch in the docking port. In an emergency, two command/service modules could dock at the MDA. The MDA also held equipment for earth resources multispectral photography, materials processing, and astronomy. The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) was on top of and controlled by the MDA. It contained six astronomical instruments to obtain information about the Sun.

Solar energy is the prime source of electric power on Skylab. Two systems of solar electric-cell arrays—one wing on the OWS and four panels on the ATM—deployed after the Skylab reached orbit. Principal contractors: OWS—McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company; AM—McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company; MDA—Martin Marietta Aerospace.

The Skylab components on display were presented to the museum by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

On May 24, 1972, President Richard Nixon and Aleksey Kosygin, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, signed an agreement “concerning cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.” The signing represented a formal endorsement of negotiations that had been held between the two nations over several years. The agreement established the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) to develop and fly a standardized docking system “to enhance the safety of manned flight in space and to provide the opportunity for conducting joint scientific missions in the future.”

On July 15, 1975, the afternoon countdown for the Soviet launch was completed and _Soyuz_ lifted off from the Baykonur complex near Tyuratum in Central Asia, some 3200 kilometers (2000 miles) southeast of Moscow. _Soyuz_ carried cosmonauts Alexey Leonov and Valeriy Kubasov.

Taking advantage of _Apollo_’s larger fuel supply for maneuvering, _Apollo_ followed _Soyuz_ into orbit 7½ hours later. _Apollo_ was launched atop a Saturn 1B from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

After careful maneuvering, the two craft linked up around noon on July 18. Some 225 kilometers (140 miles) above Earth, the astronauts and cosmonauts visited each other’s craft, performed joint experiments, and made further tests of the new docking system.

Following the undocking Saturday, _Apollo_ fired its engines briefly and moved away from _Soyuz_. _Soyuz_ descended from orbit and landed in the south-central USSR early Monday morning, July 21.

Astronauts Stafford, Slayton, and Brand remained in orbit conducting research and making science demonstrations. Splashdown into the Pacific Ocean occurred in late afternoon on Thursday, July 24.

The historic ASTP mission was accomplished by using existing systems and a new docking module. The _Apollo_ spacecraft was made available when the lunar-landing program was curtailed. Since the command module was built with a docking system designed to work only with U.S. spacecraft, a method of incorporating the new docking system had to be devised.

A second important problem was the difference between the spacecraft atmospheres. The _Apollo_ used a pure oxygen atmosphere at about one-third of the atmospheric pressure on earth’s surface; _Soyuz_ used a nitrogen-oxygen mixture at normal atmospheric pressure. To permit crews to pass from _Soyuz_ to _Apollo_ without suffering from the “bends” (a painful condition experienced when nitrogen gas bubbles form in the body fluids), engineers had to design an airlock to equalize the pressure.

The docking module, 3 meters long and 1.5 meters in diameter (10 feet long and 5 feet in diameter), also solved the problem of incompatible docking mechanisms by carrying the new docking system on one end and a system compatible with _Apollo_ on the other.

Prime contractor for Apollo Command Module, Service Module, and Docking Module was Rockwell International.

The _Apollo_ hardware is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the _Soyuz_ spacecraft is on loan from the USSR Academy of Sciences.

_Apollo_

Command module Base diameter 3.90 m. (12.8 ft.) Length 3.66 m. (12 ft.) Weight 5896 kg. (13,000 lb.) Service module Diameter 3.9 m. (12.8 ft.) Length 6.71 m. (22 ft.) Weight at launch 24,947 kg. (55,000 lb.) Docking module Diameter 1.52 m. (5 ft.) Length 3.05 m. (10 ft.) Weight 1882 kg. (4155 lb.)

_Soyuz_

Orbital module Diameter 2.29 m. (7.5 ft.) Length 2.65 m. (8.7 ft.) Weight 1224 kg. (2700 lb.) Descent module Diameter 2.29 m. (7.5 ft.) Length 2.20 m. (7.2 ft.) Weight 2802 kg. (6200 lb.) Instrument module Diameter 2.77 m. (9.75 ft.) Length 2.29 m. (7.5 ft.) Weight 2654 kg. (5850 lb.)

M2-F3 Lifting Body

This wingless craft is called a lifting body, because it derives its lift from the fuselage rather than from wings. Removing the wings reduces the weight of the craft, but adds significant control problems. The lifting body concept was developed early in the last decade to explore the problems of aerodynamic heating and vehicle control during reentry from earth orbit. These are the problems that will be especially critical in the space shuttle of the 1980s.

The M2-F3 tested flight behavior of wingless craft over a wide range of speeds.

The M2-F3’s forerunner, the M2-F2, made 16 flights—all unpowered—between July 1966 and May 1967. On May 10, it crashed on landing, partly due to control instability. The craft was rebuilt, and the center fin was added. This modification effectively solved the control problem, and the new craft, designated M2-F3, logged 27 more flights by December 1972. Some of the M2-F3’s flights were powered by a 3630-kilogram (8000-pound) thrust rocket which boosted the craft to a higher altitude.

The M2-F3 was launched from a B-52 bomber at a height of about 13,300 meters (45,000 feet) and a usual speed of 730 kilometers (450 miles) per hour. The maximum altitude achieved was 21,800 meters (71,500 feet). The M2-F3’s record speed was 1718 kilometers (1066 miles) per hour. The M2-F3 was built by Northrop.

The craft on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Length 6.8 m. (22 ft., 2 in.) Span 2.9 m. (9 ft., 7 in.) Height 2.5 m. (8 ft., 10 in.) Weight 2720 kg. (6000 lb.) empty; 4540 kg. (10,000 lb.) fueled Speed 1718 km. per hr. (1066 m. per hr.) max. achieved Altitude 21,800 m. (71,500 ft.) max. achieved Mach number 1.5 max. achieved

Freedom 7

On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., became the first American in space. He flew this Mercury spacecraft, _Freedom 7_, through a 15-minute, 22-second sub-orbital, or ballistic, space flight.

A Redstone booster, burning liquid oxygen and hydrazine-base fuel, lifted _Freedom 7_ from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The vehicle’s single engine developed 35,380 kilograms (78,000 pounds) of thrust.

The structure of the Mercury is titanium, covered with steel and beryllium shingles. The heat shield at the base of the spacecraft is of beryllium.

The heat shield served as a “heat sink” by storing the heat created by the spacecraft’s reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft reached the ocean before the heat could penetrate the interior of the craft. (Later flights used ablative heat shields, which protected the spacecraft by vaporizing and burning away during reentry.)

_Freedom 7_ traveled at a maximum speed of 8335 kilometers (5180 miles) per hour, going 485 kilometers (302 miles) downrange. The maximum altitude was 187 kilometers (116 miles).

Prime contractor for Mercury was the McDonnell Aircraft Company.

The _Freedom 7_ is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Diameter 2 m. (6 ft., 6 in.) max. Length 2.8 m. (9 ft., 2 in.) at launch Weight 1660 kg. (3650 lb.) at launch; 1100 kg. (2422 lb.) as exhibited

Gemini 7

_Gemini 7_ was launched on December 4, 1965, carrying astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell, Jr., into a two-week flight. _Gemini 6_ and _7_ accomplished the first manned rendezvous in space. It was an historic flight for the United States’ manned space program and an important step in the preparation for the Apollo lunar flights.

The story of the _Gemini 7/6_ mission had begun two months earlier. The October launch of _Gemini 6_ had to be delayed when _Gemini 6_’s Agena target vehicle failed to reach orbit. It was then decided that _Gemini 6_ would attempt to rendezvous with _Gemini 7_. Eight days after the launch of _Gemini 7_, _Gemini 6_ was ready. But once again, the launch had to be delayed—this time an electrical plug became detached from the Titan booster prematurely, shutting down the engines. Finally, on December 15, _Gemini 6_’s Titan II launch vehicle lifted off. _Gemini 6_ began a 6-hour chase to catch _Gemini 7_, which was in a near-circular orbit 300 kilometers (186 miles) high.

_Gemini 6_’s launch put it 1175 kilometers (730 miles) behind _Gemini 7_ in an orbit which varied from 161 to 272 kilometers (100 to 169 miles) in height. By flying in a lower altitude orbit, _Gemini 6_ astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford circled the Earth at a higher velocity, slowing down as they moved to match speed with _Gemini 7_ at the higher orbit. Finally, Schirra jockeyed the _Gemini 6_ spacecraft to within 30 centimeters (1 foot) from _Gemini 7_.

They stayed in formation for four revolutions while all four pilots practiced maneuvering. Then _Gemini 6_ broke off and reentered, splashing down on December 16, 1965.

_Gemini 7_ went on to complete its 14-day mission which set a record for the longest U.S.-manned space flight which stood until the first Skylab mission. _Gemini 7_ splashed down on December 18.

Prime contractor for Gemini was the McDonnell Aircraft Company.

_Gemini 7_ is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Rendezvous and Recovery Section Ejection Seat Adapter Equipment Section Reaction Control System Section Cabin Retrograde Section

F-1 Engine

Five F-1 engines powered the first stage of the Saturn 5 launch vehicle that launched the manned Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. These engines developed a total thrust of 3.5 million kilograms (7.6 million pounds). They burn liquid oxygen and a form of kerosene at a rate of 13,475 liters (3560 gallons) per second.

The propellants are supplied to the thrust chambers by turbopumps driven by gas generators that use a fuel-rich mixture ratio of the same propellants used in the engine.

The F-l was developed and produced by Rocketdyne, a division of Rockwell International, under the technical direction of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville. Alabama.

The engine on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Function Cluster of five providing 3.4 million kg. (7.5 million lb.) of thrust for Saturn 5 first stage Thrust 690,000 kg. (1,522,000 lb.) Propellants Kerosene (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer) Length 5.8 m. (19 ft.) with nozzle extension Diameter 3.8 m. (12 ft., 4. in.) with nozzle extension

Lunar Roving Vehicle

The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is a spacecraft designed to carry two astronauts, their life-support systems, scientific equipment, and lunar samples on the airless, low-gravity surface of the Moon.

Lunar Roving Vehicles were used on Apollo missions _15_, _16_, and _17_ and were driven a total of 90 kilometers (56 miles) on the Moon.

The crew of _Apollo 15_, the first to use an LRV, drove their vehicle 27.9 kilometers (17.3 miles) at speeds up to 19-21 kilometers (12-13 miles) per hour. In comparison the _Apollo 14_ astronauts traveled only 4.2 kilometers (2.6 miles) on foot.

LRVs enabled the astronauts to carry heavy, bulky equipment and to place scientific instruments at considerable distances from the lunar module.

An LRV could carry two astronauts as far as 91.5 kilometers (57 miles) across the lunar surface or operate for up to 78 hours.

Each LRV was transported to the Moon in a compartment of the descent stage of a lunar module.

Four LRVs were built by the Boeing Company. Three were used on the Moon; the LRV on display was used in tests.

The LRV on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Weight On Earth 210 kg. (462 lb.) On Moon 34 kg. (76 lb.) Payload On Earth 490 kg. (1080 lb.) On Moon 80 kg. (178 lb.) Length 3.1 m. (10 ft., 2 in.) Width 1.8 m. (6 ft.) Wheel base 2.3 m. (7 ft., 6 in.) Turning radius 3 m. (10 ft.) Drive One ¼ h.p. motor in each wheel; total 1 h.p. Power source Two 36-v. silver-zinc batteries

Apollo Lunar Tools and Equipment

Penetrometer Tongs Extension handle Core tube caps assy. Color chart & traverse map Core tubes 16mm camera Camera staff 35-bag dispenser Core tubes Scoop Hammer Lens/brush Gnomon