Apollo 7 Mission, 3 Day Report

8/8/2019 Apollo 7 Mission, 3 Day Report

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......................d ........................................................................... . MSC-PA-R-68-141 ..)........................

N A T I O N A L A E R O N A U T I C S A N D S P A C E A D M I N I S T R A T I O N................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................:::::::.. ( N A S A - T f i - X - 7 2 1 2 1 ) APOLLC 71::_....C A Y R E P O R T ( N A S A ) 2 1 N 7 5 - 7 G U R u \

APOLLO 7 MISSION3-DAY REPORT

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This paper is not suitoble for goner01 distribution oronly in other working correspondence and documents referencing. It may be referencedby participat ing organizations.

M A N N E D S P AC E C R A FT C E N T E RH O U S T O N . T E X A Soc TOBER 1968


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MSC -PA-R-68-14

APOLLO 7 MISSION3-DAY REPORT

October 25, 1968

Prepared by: Apollo 7 Mission Evaluation Team

Approved by : / /Bz-qd 4w L Y , YGeorge M l Lo wManagerApollo Spacecraf t Program

NATIONAI; AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATIONMANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER

HOUSTON, TEXAS


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The e v a l u a ti o n i n t h i s r e p o r t i s basedon p re l iminary da ta ; and t h e va lues are sub-j e c t t o change. All t i m e s a r e r e f e re n c e d t or an g e z e r o , t h e i n t e g r a l s e c on d b e f o r e lift-o f f . Range zero was 1 5 : 0 2 : 4 5 G . m . t .


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The Apollo 7 sp a ce v e h i c l e w a s launc hed from Cape Kennedy, Fl or id a,at 11:02:45 a .m . e. d. t . on October 11, 1968. Following a nominal boostphase, the spacecraf t and S-IVB combination w a s i n s e r t e d i n t o an o r b i t o f123 by 153 n a u t i c a l m i l e s .modules from the S-IVB, t he c r ew manua l ly con t ro l l ed the spacecra f t /S - IVBcombination.e x e r c i s e was completed. Phasing maneuvers were l a t e r e x e cu t ed i n p r e p a r a -t i o n f o r a su cc es sf ul rendezvous wi th t h e S-IVB.f l i g h t , e igh t p l anned maneuvers us ing th e se r v ic e p ropu l s ion system werecompleted, and a l l major t e s t o b j e c t i v e s w ere s a t i s f i e d .

P r i or t o separat ion of the command and serviceA ft e r s e p a r a t i o n , a t r anspos i t ion and s imula ted dock ing

During the 10.8-day

Almost wi thout excep t ion, sp ac ec raf t systems ope rate d as i n t ended .All t e m p e ra t u r es v a r i e d w i t h i n a c c e p t a b l e l i m i t s and e s s e n t i a l l y e x h i b i t e dpr ed ic te d beh avi or . Consumable usage w a s always maintained a t safe l e v e l sand p e r m i tt e d i n t ro d u c t i o n of a d d i t i o n a l f l i g h t a c t i v i t i e s t o wa rd t h e endof t h e mis sio n. Communications q u a li ty was gen era l ly good , and l i v e t e l e -v i s i o n w a s t r a n sm i t t e d t o g round s t a t i o n s on s e v en o c c as i o n s . A t e s t o fth e rendezvous ra da r system was completed i n suppor t of l a t e r f l i g h t s w i tht h e lu na r module. Manual ope rat i on of t h e s p a c e c r a f t by t h e c re w was good.Even though they were somewhat hampered by head colds and congestion, thec re w sa t i s f a c t o r i l y p erf or me d a l l f l ig h t - p la n f 'unc tions , and th e photo-gra phi c experiments were completed.

A normal deorbit , ent r y , and lan ding sequence was completed , wi tha l l parachu tes opera t in g p roper ly . The ve h ic l e l anded a t approximately260:09:00 i n the At la nt ic Ocean so uth ea st of Bermuda, with re cover y co-o rd ina tes o f 27' 33' n o r t h l a t i t u d e a n d 64' 0 4 ' west l ong i tude . Th i sl a n d i n g p o i n t i s approximately 7 n a u t i c a l m i l e s downrange of t h e plann edl a n d in g p o i n t . The crew w a s r e t r i e v e d by h e l i c o p t e r , a nd b o t h t h e sp ac e -c r a f t a n d c r e w were t aken aboard the p r ime r ecovery sh ip , USS Essex.


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TRAJECTORY

Li f t -o f f o f the Apollo 7 miss ion occur red a t 15:02:45 G . m . t .(11:02:45 . m . e . d . t . ) w i th s ub se qu en t o r b i t a l . i n s e r t i o n a t OO:lO:27.The o r b i t a l i n s e r t i o n c o n d i t io n s were a v e l o c i t y o f 25 554 f t / s e c , af l igh t -pa t h ang le o f 0.00 d e g r ee , an d a n a l t i t u d e o f 123.1 n . m i .

Af ter th e co mand and se rv ic e modules were se p a r a t e d f r o m t h e S-IVB,two ph asi ng maneuvers f o r rendezvous were per fo rmed wi th t h e r ea c t i onco n tr ol system. The rendezvous sequence w a s i n i t i a t e d o v e r C a r n a r v o ni n r e v o l u t i o n 17 a t 26:24:55,w i t h t h e f i r s t se r v ic e p ropu l s io n maneuver.The second service propulsion maneuver w a s performed one revolution l a t e rt o e s t a b l i s h t h e n e c e s sa r y c at ch -u p r a t e . The crew rep or t ed s t a t io n-keeping wi th the S-IVB a t 3O:OO:OO. A f i n a l sepa ra t io n maneuver from th eS-IVB was performed i n rev olut ion 19 a t 30:20:00.

The deo rbi t maneuver (e i gh th se rv ic e propu ls io n maneuver) occ urreddur ing r evo lu t ion 163 over H a w a i i a t 259:39:16, with subsequent landinga t approximately 260 :09 00.Table I c o n t a i n s a summary of a l l rendezvous and subsequent servicepr op uls ion maneuvers. Table I1 c o n t ai n s t h e o r b i t a l e le me nt s f o r e ac hmaneuver.


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SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE

STRUCTURES AND MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

St ruc tu ra l l oads were be low des ign l i m i t v a l u e s f o r a l l phases off l i g h t . The p ea k g ro un d w inds j u s t p r i o r t o l i f t - o f f w er e w i t h i n 3 kno t sof t h e s t r u c t u r a l r e d l i n e ; however, t h e m ea su red l au n ch v e h i c l e s t r a i nd a t a i n d i c a t e d t h a t o nl y 50 percent of t h e l i m i t load s were encountered .The peak wind i n t h e max q region w a s 52 f t / s e c , an d s t r u c t u r a l l o ad sw ere l e s s t h a n 25 p e r c e n t o f l i m i t . The axial l o a d f a c t o r a t t he end o fS- IB boost w a s 4.3g, compared with th e des ign ax i a l l o a d f a c t o r of 4.86g.

A l l mechanical systems requi red fu nct ione d proper ly .

THERMAL CONTROL

Temperatures of a l l pas s ive e l ements o f t he space cra f t r emainedw i t h i n l i m i t s f o r an ea r t h or b it missio n. The command module a b la to rtemp erature ranged from 3' t o 95' F as expected . However, t h e se rv ic epropu l s ion f eed l ine s were w a r m e r t han expected ; consequent ly , t h e he a te r swere not requ i red . The moni tored temperatures f o r th e se rv ic e propul-s i o n a d r ea c t i on c on t ro l p rop e l l a n t and he lium tanks s lowly decreasedth roughou t th e miss ion .were never approached dur ing th e f l i g h t . The the rmal e f f i c i en cy o f th ese rv i ce module ins u la t io n appeared t o be adequa te based on th e t empera -t u r e h i s t o r i e s o f t h e t a nk s.

The "fracture mechanics" temperature l i m i t s

No sp ec i f i c ins t ance s o f ex tended t empera tu re inc rease s were no tedd u ri n g t h e e n t i r e m i ss io n .s ion sys tem co ld soak, a l l quad tanks showed a d e f i n i t e c o o l i n g t r e n d .This type of response i s i nd ica t ive o f wha t w i l l occur on a t r a n s l u n a rmission when th e ve hic le i s no t i n th e pas sive therma l co nt ro l mode andthe se rv i ce module i s being cold soaked.

Over th e 3-hour per i od of th e se rv ic e propul-

EARTH LANDING SYSTEM

The e a r th l and ing sys tem per fo rmed s a t i s f a c t o r i l y . The crew reportedt h a t a l l parachu tes d i s r ee fe d and dep loyed p roper ly .spacecraf t assumed a s t a b l e I1 (apex-down) a t t i t u d e fo r 8 minutes , a twhich t ime th e upr i gh t in g system was a c t i v a t e d ; 4 .5 minutes l a t e r , t h es p a c e c r a f t was r e tu r ne d t o th e s t a b l e I ( apex-up) a t t i t ude .

A f t e r la n d i n g , t h e

Operat ion of


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Power Dist r ibut ion

t h e r e co v er y a i d s w a s i n t e r r u p t e d w h i le t h e s p a c e c r a f t w a s i n t h e s t a b l e I1a t t i t u d e . C o r n m i c a t i o n s were r e e s t a b l i s h ed a nd t h e f l a s h i n g l i g h t w a sa c t i v a t e d a f t e r t h e s p a c e cr a f t w a s u p r i g h t e d .

ELECTRICAL POWER AND SEQUENTIAL

The e l e c t r i c a l power system maint a ined th e ac and dc vol t age s wi tki innvminal l i m i t s e xc e pt f o r t h e d i s c re p a n c ie s d i s c u ss e d i n t h e f o ll o w in gparagraphs.

The crew re po rt ed two ac bus 1 f a i l u r e i n d i c a t i o n s a nd one a c b us 1and 2 f a i l u r e i n d i c a t i o n e a r l y i n t h e m i s si o n. The l o s s o f v o l t a g e w a sve;.:fied by th e onboard me ter, and t h e vol ta ge w a s r e s t o r e d t o norm al b jr e se t t in g the ac bus sensor s . The occur rences were -0 in c iden t wi th th ecryogenic oxygen tank fans and heaters cycl ing OFF i n t h e a utomat ic mode.The only c ond it io n under which an ac bus can be aut om ati ca l ly disconnectL:di s an overvo l t age be ing sensed by th e ac over load sens in g un i t . Af te ra procedural change w a s made t o p reven t t he f ans i n bo th t anks f rom cyc-ILing OFF s imul t aneous ly , t he p rob lem d id no t r ec ur fo r th e r emain ing200 h ou rs of f l i g h t .

TWO o t h e r o c c u rr e nc e s were a s so c i a t e d w i th a c t i v a t i o n o f t h e cryo-gen ic t ank f ans : a master a l a r m w a s observed a t t h e b e gi n ni n g o f t h ec ryogenic hea te r c yc le a t t h e t i m e both buses dropped ou t , and th e d ig-i t a l event t i m e r s t a r te d ina dv er t en t ly once when th e oxygen fans wereturned on manually.

F u e l C e l l sAll power r equ i r ement s imposed on th e th re e f u e l ce l l s were s a t i s f i ed .P r io r t o t h e f i f t h se rv i ce p ropu l s ion maneuver, t h e condenser ex i tt e m pe r at u re of f u e l c e l l 2 increased from 160 t o 180 F (nominal i s 155t o 165O F). The e l e c t r i c a l l o a d w a s removed f rom fu el c e l l 2 f o r a p p r o x i -

mately 54 m in ut es t o p e rm i t c o o l i n g p r i o r t o t h e s e r v i c e p r o p u l s i o n man-eu ve r. Performance of t h e f u e l c e l l w a s sa t i s f a c t o r y d u r i n g t h e m aneuver.Four da ys l a t e r , t h e e l e c t r i c a l l o a d w a s aga in removed f rom f u e l c e l l 2f o r a s h o r t p e r i o d of t im e as a precau t ionary measure t o in su re p roperperformance duri ng th e d eo rbi t maneuver.

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5The da ta ind ica te a poss ib le mal func t ion i n t he genera to r bypassva lve which con t ro l s g lyco l f low t o th e condenser ex i t . Another po ss ib i l -i t y i s t h a t t h e f lo w i n t h e g l yc o l c o o la n t l o op w a s r e s t r i c t e d . The r e -

su l t w a s t h a t t h e g l y c o l c o ol a n t e n t e r in g t h e f u e l c e l l from t h e s pa ce -c r a f t r a d i a to r w a s ho t t e r than normal , and the condenser ex i t t empera tu resubsequent ly increased under the h igher power load.c a p a b i l i t y of t h e f u e l c e l l was o nl y s l i g h t l y a f f e c t e d . Therm al c o n t r o lby the cor responding bypass v al ve i n f u e l c e l l 1w a s abnormal i n one in-s ta nc e; th e condenser e x i t temperature i ncre ase d above th e normal oper-a t i n g t e m p er a tu r e d u r i n g t h e f i r s t p e r i o d when o n l y two f u e l c e l l s werec a r r y i n g t h e l o a d . It o p er a te d no rm ally a f t e r f u e l c e l l 2 w a s r e t u r n e dt o th e bus, and th e problem was not e vident th e second t i m e f u e l c e l l 2w a s removed from the bus.

The load-sharing

B a t t e r i e sThe vo l t age and cur r en t de l ive red by the en t ry ba t t e r i e s and pyro-t ech n ic ba t t e r i e s were wi th in th e r ange o f normal ba t t e r y pe rformanceth roughou t the miss ion cons ider ing loads , s t a t e s o f charge , and ambient

t e m p e ra t u r e i n t h e a r e a s i n which t h e b a t t e r i e s w ere i n s t a l l e d .The c h a r g e r a t e s o n b a t t e r i e s A and B were much lower than expected .

However, sp ec ia l ground t e s t s performed dur ing th e f l ig h t showed t h a t twof a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h i s c o n d i ti o n : l i n e im pedance be tw een t h e b a t t e r yand charger , a nd t h e p a r t i c u l a r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e b a t t e r y a nd b a t t e r yc h a r g e r sy st em u nd er t h e f l i g h t c o n d i t i o n s .The main bus voltage, as read-out onboard a t command module/servicemodule se pa rat ion , unexpectedly dropped t o approximately 25 .O v o l t s b u tt h e n g r a d u a l l y i n c r e a se d t o a nominal l e v e l p r i o r t o b la c ko u t.

S e q u e n t i a lDuring th e mission, th e se qu en t ia l system performed emergency detec-

t i o n sys te m a b o r t e n a b l e , t o we r j e t t i s o n , launch-vehicle/spacecraft sep-ar a t io n , command module/service module se par at i on , and the ea r t h landingf u n c ti o n ( s e e t a b l e I11 f o r a l i s t of miss ion even t t imes) .The logi c and pyrotechnic bus su ppl i ed the seq ue nt i a l system wi tht h e p r op e r v o l t a g e s th ro u gh o ut t h e f l i g h t .

CRYOGENICS

The c ryogenic s to ra ge system per fo rmed s a t i s f ac to r i ly dur ing th emiss ion . Excess r ea c ta n t s were ava i l a b le because spa cec ra f t power l e ve l sw ere s l i g h t l y b elo w t h o se p r e d i c t e d f o r t h e m i s s i o n .


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Automatic qua nt i ty ba lancing i n th e oxygen tanks w a s accomplishedwi th in 1-1/2 p erc ent even though t h e fans i n oxygen tank 2 were not oper-a t e d a u to m a t i c a l l y f o r a major po r t ion o f t he miss ion .ba lancing i n the hydrogen tanks and one manual q ua nt it y a djustmen t weresuc ces s fu l ly per fo rmed. The c r i t e r i a f o r t h i s m i ss i on were b a la n c in g t ow i th in 3 percen t .

Automatic quantity

Heat l e a k values of approximate ly 80 Btu/hr on the oxygen tanks a f t e rthe l aunch phase v ib ra t ion were as e x pe c te d s i n c e t h e VAC-ION pumps wereno t ene rg ized . A s t h e m i s s io n c o nt i nu e d, t h e h e a t l e a k v a lu e s d e c r ea s e dt o 25 Btu/hr and t h e pr ed ic te d oxygen ve nt in g di d not o ccur . The phenom-enon of hea t leak decrease cannot be expla ined a t t h i s t i m e .

A s previ ously ment ioned, an overvol tage co ndi t i on occurred th re et imes i n t h e a c e l e c t r i c a l sy st em . C o in cid e nt l y i n e ac h c a s e , t h e f o u roxygen tank fans were turn ed of f . By p la c in g th e tank 2 fans i n manualmode, no fu r t he r overvol tage c ondi t ions were observed dur ing the remaindero f t h e mi s sio n, and no s i g n i f i c a n t p r e s s u r e o r q u a n t i t y r e a d ou t f l u c tu a -t i o n s were noted wi th approxi mately 5-minute motor runs a t i n t e r v a l s o f8 t o 1 2 hours.

COMMUNICATIONS

The communications system, which includes voice, telemetry, updata,t e l e v i s i o n , and t r a c k i n g c a p a b i l i t y , s a t i s f a c t o r i l y s up po rt ed t h e m i ss i on .The VHF and S-band vo ic e l i n k s pr ovi de d good communications. Theonboard te le v i s i on equipment w a s ope rat ed on seven occasions w ith goodp i c t u r e qua l i t y . The p layback vo ice per fo rmance va r i ed i n qua l i t y fromno isy t o good as received by the network s i t e s during recorder dumps.Some dropouts of both real-time and playback telemetry were noted; how-ever , ove ra l l t e l eme t ry pe rformance w a s s a t i s f a c t o r y .Downlink da ta were l o s t a t approximate ly 65 h o ur s i n t o t h e m i s s io n .

R e a l - t i m e tel em etr y and te le vi si on were t ime-shared on t h e backup S-bandFM mode u n t i l f u l l communications capabili ty w a s re s to r ed by swi tch ingt o th e a l t e rn a t e S-band t ransponder.

The VHF voice duplex-B mode w a s ver y good du ri ng th e countdown andlaunch phase u n t i l abou t 7 minutes. A t t h a t t im e , v o i c e q u a l i t y becamegarb led on downlink rec e i ve rs and d i d not comple te ly c l ea r u n t i l s implex-Aw a s s e l e c t e d o v er t h e Canary I s l a n d s t r a c k in g s t a t i o n . The o p e r a t i o n o ft h e duplex-B mode w a s s u c c e s s f u l l y r e v e r i f i e d a t about 7- l /2 h o u r s i n t othe miss ion .


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USS HuntsviZZe l o s t con tac t wi th th e spa cec ra f t approx imate ly 2 min-u t e s e a r l y d ur i ng t h e f i n a l r e v o l u t i o n . S-band c m m m i c a t i o n s bl a ck o uta t M e r r i t t I s l a n d o c c ur re d a t 259:54:58; t h e s i g n a l w a s acquired byBermuda a t 259: 59:46, t h e f i r s t r e p o r t e d c o n t a c t a f t e r bl a ck o ut .

RADAR

A t e s t of the rendezvous radar t ransponder w a s success fu l ly comple tedwi th t h e White Sands Missile Range during revolution 48. Approximately47 seconds of data were obtained.on th e space cra f t tr ansponder a t a range of 390 n. m i . a nd t r a c k e d t o arange of 415 n. m i .

The ground radar acquired and locked-

INSTRUMENTATION

The instrumentat ion performance w a s s a t i s f a c t o r y t hr ou gh ou t t h emission except f o r th e d iscrep ancies no ted . The performance of th e da tastorage equipment w a s sa t i s f a c t o r y t hr ou g ho u t t h e m i s s io n .A t U:09 :23 , th e ce n t r a l t iming equ ipment w a s r e a d i n g c o r r e c t l yover USS Redstone. A t 12:07:26, it w a s reading 00:42:09, in di ca t in g a

r e s e t a t 11:25:17.H a w a i i an d co n ti n ue d t o r e a d c o r r e c t l y .The timing equipment w a s updated a t 12:26:20 over

Two discre pan cies were encountered with t h e biome dical in strume nta-t i o n equipment; th es e ar e d iscussed under Crew Provis ions.

GUIDANCE AND CONTROL

Guidance and control system performance w a s s a t i s f a c t o r y t hr ou gh -ou t the miss ion . The i n e r t i a l measurement un i t w a s a l i g n e d o p t i c a l l y , asscheduled, wi th in s m a l l to le ra n c e s . Backup alig nm ent methods were demon-s t r a t e d f o r t h e i n e r t i a l measurement u n i t and t h e s t a b i l i z a t i o n andc o n t r o l sy ste m a t t i t u d e r e fe r e n c e. Data were obtained on s t a r v i s i b i l -i t y , l an dm ark t r a c k i n g , s t a r / h o r iz o n s i g h t i n g s , and o p t i c s u t i l i z a t i o n .The guidance and naviga t ion system, using o pt ic a l t ra ck in g data , suppor tedt h e rendezvous wi th th e S-IVB. A l l s i g n i f i c a n t a t t i t u d e c o n t r o l modes i nboth t h e prime and th e backup system were t e s t e d and appeared t o performs a t i s f a c t o r i l y . T hr us t v e ct o r c o n t r o l o f t h e s e r v i c e p r o pu l s i on e ng in ewas demonstra ted usi ng both t h e guidance and nav iga t io n and th e s t a b i l i -za ti on and c on tr ol systems, and mid-maneuver manual take ov er technique swere a l s o s uc ces s fu l ly demons tr at ed .


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Two hardware problems were enc oun tere d. The r o t a t i o n a l hand con-t r o l l e r m in us -p it ch b r ea k o ut sw i tc h was r e p o r t e d t o h av e o p e r a t e d i n -a d v e r t e n t l y o n c e e a r l y i n t h e m i ss i on .a t t i t u d e i n d i c a t o r n o . 1 i n d i c a t e d a n ab norm al s h i f t i n t h e p i t c h axiswhen being dr iven by th e backup a t t i t u d e refe renc e system.a t i o n a l c a p a b i l i t y w a s l o s t as a resul t o f e i t h e r p ro bl em .

The b a l l on f l i g h t d i r e c t o rNo o p er -

A t 215:59:00, h e c rew r ep o r t ed t h a t t h e i n t e r i o r l i g h t s h ad be endimmed t o ch ec k t h e v i s i b i l i t y o f t h e e x t e r i o r l i g h t s .were br ightened, a program alarm w a s s i gn al le d by th e computer. The alarmw a s r e se t and the p rob lem d id no t r e cur .

When t h e l i g h t s

RE A CT IO N CONTROL SYSTEMS

A l l spa cec raf t rea ct i on co nt r o l system parameters were normalth roughou t the miss ion , and bo th sys tems opera ted sa t i s f a c t o r i l y .The primary se rv ic e module quad he at er s performed normally and

mainta ined a l l quad package temperatures between 118O and 141' F duringt h e m i s s i o n .The he lium regu la to r s fo r the se rv i ce module r ea c t i on co n t r o l sys temmain ta ined the hel ium and p rop e l l a n t mani fo ld p ressu res es se n t i a l l y con-s t a n t . P r op e ll a nt u t i l i z a t i o n w a s near t he p red i c t ed nominal i n most

c a se s .Zero helium leakage w a s indicated from the command module reaction

c o n t r o l sys te m p r i o r t o a c t i v a t i o n j u s t b e f o r e t h e d e o r b i t m aneuver. Thecommand module engine hea te rs were not re qu ire d because t h e eng ine i nj ec -t o r temperatures remained above 46" F p r i o r t o s y ste m a c t iv a t i o n .command module react ion control system performed normally from activat ionthrough lan ding . System 1w a s u sed f o r e n t r y c o n t r o l as planned, andsystem 2 w a s not used.The

SERVICE PROPULSION SYSTFN

The e igh t p lanned f i r i ng s o f th e se rv ice p ropu l s ion eng ine were pe r -formed, and the system operat ion w a s s a t i s f a c to r y i n all aspec t s . Thea c t u a l t i m e s , dura t ion s , and ve loc i ty changes a r e summarized i n t a b l e I .The ig n i t ion t ime fo r the th i r d maneuver w a s advanced 1 6 hours fromt h e o r i g i n a l f l i g h t p l a n t o im pro ve t h e ma rg in o f d e o r b i t c a p a b i l i t y w i tht h e s e r v i c e module r e a c t i o n c o n t r o l sys te m. To e n su r e t h e v e r i f i c a t i o n


12/21

9

o f t h e p r o p e l l a n t g ag in g sys te m, t h e f i r i n g t im e f o r t h e f i f t h m aneuverw a s i nc re ased from 6 1 t o 66 seconds so t h a t b o th p o i n t s e n so r s w m l d beuncovered dur ing s t eady- s t a t e eng ine opera t ion . P rope l l an t quan t i ty da tain d i ca te th a t bo th sensor s were uncovered. Af te r the f i f t h maneuver, a3-hour cold-soak t e s t w a s performed, wi th no nota ble decrease i n tempera-t u r e s w i t h i n t h e sy s t e m .

Therm al c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e sys te m a pp ea re d t o b e b e t t e r t h a na n t i c i p a t e d f o r random, d r i f t i n g f l i g h t i n t h a t t h e r a t e o f te m pe ra t ur edecrease w a s l e s s t h a n p r e d i c t e d .

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM

Performance of t h e environmental con tro l system w a s s a t i s f a c t o r y .Dur ing p re launch op era t io ns , t h e cab in w a s purged t o an atmosphere of60-percen t oxygen and 40-percent ni tro ge n. The crew w a s i so l a t e d f r o mt h e cabin by th e s u i t c i r c u i t , which conta ined 100-percent oxygen. Dur-i n g l a un c h , t h e c a bi n s e a l e d o f f a t 5.9 ps ia . Cabin p res su re con tinuedt o d ec re as e as a function of t h e cabin enrichment procedure. This proce-dure w a s t e rmina ted at about 00:11:00, nd the owgen con ten t w a s 73 per-c e n t of t h e t o t a l c a b in p r e s su r e . C abin l e ak a ge w a s e s t i m a t e d t o h a vebeen 0 .1 l b / hr , which agrees w i t h t h e pre l aunch va lue .The r a d i a t o r s s a t i s f a c t o r i l y r e j e c t e d t h e s p a c e c r a ft he a t l o ad s t ot h e ex ten t th a t th e evapora to r s were no t r equ i r ed . The p r imary evapora-

t o r i s r equ i r ed on ly when the hea t loads exceed th e r ad ia to r ca pa b i l i t y ;under th e low, va r i ab le hea t l oads which ex i s t ed , t he evapora to r oper -a t e d e r r a t i c a l l y i n t h e a ut om at ic mode, causing what appeared t o be wickdrying and subsequent f l as h f ree zing. The automat ic con t ro l dynamics aresuch th a t t h i s co nd i t ion can be expec ted . The evapora to r w a s f r e q u e n t l yse r v i c e d w it h w a t e r i n an a tt em p t t o k ee p it working under these con-d i t i o n s b u t w a s subsequen t ly tu rned o f f .

The secondary coolant loop w a s t e s t e d f o r 8 hours wi th the secondaryevaporator , which w a s s e rv ic e d p r i o r t o f l i g h t . The t e s t w a s begun witha h e a t l o a d of 1400 wat ts ; hal f t ray through the t e s t , t h e l o ad w a s i n -c r ea s e d t o 1800 w a t t s . The dynamic response of the secondary evaporatorw a s s uc h t h a t s t a b l e o p e ra t io n of t he evapora to r con t ro l syst em w a sachieved. Under th e automatic demand, th e evap orato r w a s r equ i r ed abou t50 m in ut es p e r r e v o l u t i o n d u r in g t h e t e s t .opera ted d i f f e r e n t l y from the p rimary because th e hea t load w a s h igheras a r e su l t o f th e lower capac i ty of th e secondary r ad ia to r s .

The secondary evaporator

Moisture condensed on cold , uni nsu la t ed coolant l i n e s , as a n t i c i p a t -ed , and was dumped overboard by th e crew u t i l i z i ng t h e u r ine t r a ns fe r


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hose and cab in enrichm ent purge assembly. Some co nd en sa tio n w a s a l s on ot ed i n t h e s u i t umbi l i ca l hoses .A water l e a k w a s observed a t t h e B-nut c o n n ec t i on t o t h e waste waterquick d isconnect dur ing the overboard dumps.The urin e dump system oper ate d normally and no in d ic a t i on of fr ee z-i n g w a s observed.Both cabin fans were o p e r a t i n g a t l i f t -o f f ; however , one w a s t u r n e doff a f t e r o r b i t a l i n s e r t i o n t o re du ce t h e h i g h n oi s e l e v e l .c a b i n f a n w a s subsequent ly tur ned of f . The measured cab in tempera ture

w a s between 6 5 O and 7 5 O F an d w a s n o t s i g n i f i c a n t l y e f f e c t e d by fan opera-t i o n .

The second

CREW PROVISIONS

The c rew equ ipment opera ted sa t i s f a c t o r i ly dur ing the miss ion wi thth e except ion of t h e b iomedical ins t rume ntat ion equipment and th e watermeter ing d i spenser .

Two disc repa ncie s were encountered wi th th e b iomedical ins t rumenta-t i o n equ ip me nt. F i r s t , a w i r e w a s broken a t t h e c on ne ct or t o t h e EKGs i g n a l c o n d it i o ne r o n each of two harnesse s . In add i t io n , th e p in con-nec t o r s t o the sensor s pe r io d ic a l l y became d i sconnec ted . Second, th edc-dc co nv er te r on t h e command module p i l o t w a s rep or t ed t o have becomew a r m . A s a p r e c a u t i o n a r y measure, t h e h a r n e s se s were disconnected f roma l l three crewmen.

The manual t r ig ge r in g dev ice fo r th e water meter ing d ispenser becamei n c re a s in g l y d i f f i c u l t t o o p er a t e as t h e m i s s io n p r o g r es se d .


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11

FLIGHT CREW ACTIVITIES

Crew performance w a s sa t i s fac to ry th roughou t the miss ion , even thougha l l three crewmen had head colds and congestion.

The mission w a s conducted es se nt ia l l y i n accordance with th e nominalf l i g h t p l a n .re schedu l ing o f th e t h i r d s e rv ice propu ls ion maneuver f rom th e 58th t oth e 48th rev olu t io n . Addi t ion al photography w a s accommodated during thel a t t e r por t i on o f t he miss ion.

The on ly s i g n i f i c a n t a l t e r a t i o n t o t h e f l i g h t p l a n was t h e

The deo rb it , en tr y, and land ing sequences were accomplished normally.The spacecraf t assumed the s tab le I1 (apex-down) a t t i tu de a f t e r l and ingand w a s u p ri gh t ed t o t h e s t a b l e I (apex-up) pos i t io n by in f l a t io n o f theup ri gh ti ng bags. The crew el ec te d a h e l i c o p t e r p i ck up f o r t h e , a p p r o x i -m a te ly 3 -mile t r i p t o t h e r ec ov er y c a r r i e r .


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12

MISSION SUPPORT PERFORMANCE

FLIGHT CONTROL

Fl igh t con t ro l pe r fo rmance w a s s a t i s f a c t o r y f o r t h e e n t i r e m is si on ;t h e only major ground system problem encountered w a s i n t h e d a t a r e co ve ryfrom the Manned Space Flight Network.

NETWORK

Network performance w a s s a t i s f a c t o r y du r in g t h e m i s s io n . Se v e r a lminor problems were encountered, but none af fe ct ed th e mission ope ra ti on s.

RECOVERY

Recovery opera t ions were succ ess fu l ly e ff ec te d i n th e West At l an t i cThe follow-y th e pr ime recovery sh ip , U S S Essex, on October 22, 1968 .i n g t a b l e l i s t s t h e major recovery ev ents on October 22 , 1968:Greenwich mean

t ime , hr :min11: 511: 811:1211:3411: 611:4013:03

EventS-band con tac t by recovery a i r c r a f tVHF' c o n t a c t b y r e c o v e r y a i r c r a f tLandingV i s u a l s i g h t i n g by r ec ov er y a i r c r a f tRadar contac t by U S S EssexF l o t a t i on c o l l a r i n s t a l l e d and i n f l a t e dSpacecraf t aboard USS Essex

The space craf t l andin g poi n t was es t ima ted f rom sh ip pos i t ion (byLORAN) a nd a h e l i c o p t e r b e a r in g t o b e 27' 3 3' n o r th l a t i t u d e , 64' 04 ' w e s tlongi tude . The sea condi t ion a t t h e r e co ve ry s i t e w a s moderate.

Because the spacecraft assumed a s t a b l e I1 o r i e n t a t i o n f o r a pp ro xi -mate ly 1 2 minutes a f t e r lan din g, t h e o per ati on of t he command moduleV n i r p tr-tters and recovery beacons w a s t e m p o r a r i l y i n t e r r u p t e d .


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13

EXPERIMENTS

Two exper iments , Syno ptic Terra in Photography and Synoptic WeatherPhotography, were included on t h i s miss ion . P re l iminary in fo rmat ion in -d i c a t e s t h a t most o f t h e t e r ra in photography was performed. For meteoro-log ica l pho tography , 27 phenomena were of interest ; a t l e a s t 7 wereapparent ly photographed and 8 others may have been.w a s photography of t ro p i c a l s torms. Three s torms were i n view of thes p a c e c r a f t , wo of which reached hur r ica ne i n t en si ty .

The most successful


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14

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18/21

TABLE I1 .. ORBITAL ELEMENTS

r

Event

I n s e r t i o n

S-IVB safing 153.5122.689.7031.64R e a c t i o n c o n t r o lsystem phas ingmaneuver

'167.0122.889.8631.61

R e a c t i o n c o n t r o lsystem phas ingmaneuver

167.0122.889.8631.61

t

165.124.189.8831.62

F i r s t s e r v i c e pro-puls ion systemmaneuver

164.8123.989.8731.62I 64.4119.889 7531.61Second service pro-p u l s i o n sy s t e mmaneuver

164.0119 -989.7531.62I 96.1125.190.4331.62Terminal phasei n i ia t ion

196.1125.190.4331.611 53.1113.689.4331.62

Condition

153.1113.689.4331.62

Apogee. n . m i . . . .P e r i g e e . n . mi . . . .Period. min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n . d e g . .

153.9121.789.6531.62

Apogee. n . mi. . . .P e r i g e e . n . mi . . . .Period. min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n . d e g . .Apogee. n . m i . . . .P e r i g e e . n . mi . . . .Period. min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n . d e g . .Apogee. n . m i . . . .P e r i g e e . n . m i . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n . d e g . .Period. min . . . . .Apogee. n . m i . . . .P e r i g e e . n . mi . . . .Period. min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n . d e g . .Apogee. n . mi . . . .P e r i g e e . n . mi . . . .Period. min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n . d e g . .Apogee. n . mi. . . .P e r i g e e . n . m i . . . .Period. min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n . d e g . .

AfterIefore153.5122.689.701 31.64


19/21

,

Event

16

Condi t ion

TABLE 11.- ORBITAL ELEMENTS - Concluded

~~

Terminal phasef i n a l i z e

Separa t ion a f' te rrendezvous

Th i r d s e r v i c e p ro -p u l s o n systemmaneuver

F o u r t h s e r v i c e pro-p u l sion systemmaneuver

Apogee, n. mi. . . .P e r i g e e , n. m i . . . .P e r i o d , min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n , d e g . .Apogee, n. m i . . . .P e r i g e e , n . m i . . . .Per iod, min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n , d e g . .Apogee, n. m i . . . .P e r i g e e , n. m i . . . .Per iod, min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n , d e g . .Apogee, n. m i . . . .Per igee , n . mi. . . .Per iod, min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n , d e g . .

F i r t h s e r v i c e pro-pu l s ion sys temmaneuver

Apogee, n. m i . . . .P e r i g e e , n. mi. . . .Per iod, min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n , d e g . .

S i x t h s e r v i c e p r o -pu l s ion sys temmaneuverApogee, n. mi. . . .P e r i g e e , n . m i . . . .Per iod, min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n , d e g . .

Seven th s e rv ice p ro -p u l sion systemmaneuverApogee, n. mi. . . .P e r i g e e , n . m i . . . .Per iod, min . . . . .I n c l i n a t i o n , d e g . .

maneuver( d e o r b i t )

Before

153.9121.789.6531.62161.4121.689 7631.62159-121.589.6831.61150 788.988.9931.23148.689.488.8731.22

,236.390.190.6130.10230.890.230.0790 51227.090.090.4529 89

A f te r

161.4121.689 7631.62161.5122 o89.8331.64160 o90.331.2389.13157 590.389-1531.25244.789.890 7231.07236.290.290.6130.06231.390.090 5129.86


20/21

TABLE 111.- SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Planned Actua lLaunch Phase

Range zero (15:02:45 . m . t . )Li f t - o f f (15:02:45.36 . m . t . )Maximum dynamic pr e s s u r eS-IB inbo ard engine cut of fS-IB outboard engine cu to ffS-IB/S ID se p a r a t ionS-IVB e n g in e i g n i t i o nEscape tower j e t t i sonS-IVB engine cu toff

Orb i ta l Phase

00:00:00.200:01:15.000:02:20.28OO:02:23.2800:02:24.58OO:O2:25.9800:02:43.2800:10:14.80

O r b i t a l i n s e r t i o nS-IVB safing s t a r tS-IVB sa fi n g ter mi nat eS-IVB takeoverC$M/S-IVB s e p a r a t i o nF i r s t phasin g maneuver (RCS) s t a r tF i r s t phas ing maneuver (RCS) cut offSecond ph as in g maneuver (RCS) s t a r tSecond ph as in g maneuver (RCS) cut of fF i r s t s e r v i c e pr o pu l si on i g n i t i o nF i r s t s e r v i c e pr o p ul s i on c u t o f fSecond se r v ic e p ropu ls ion ign i t i onSecond se rv ic e propuls ion cut offTe rm ina l p ha se i n i t i a t e (RCS) s t a r tTermina l phase i n i t i a t e (RCS) cu to f fTerminal phase f i n a l i z e (RCS) onTerminal phase f in a l iz e (RCS) of f

00:10:26.7601:34:27.001:46:28.002:29 5502:54:55.1703:20:00O3:20:16.315 52:OO15:52:18.526:24:55.226:25:04.728:00:56.O28:01:03.829:18:34.0

29 53 34

00:00:00.3600:01:18.000:02:20.6500:02:24.3200:02:25.5900: 2 :27.0600:02:46.5400: 0: 6.76

00:10:24.801: 4 28.9601:46:29.96Not avai l .02: 5:0703:20 :2103:20:37.315 52:OO15 52:18.526:24:55.226:25:05.228:00:56.O28:01:03.829:17:55Not avai l .Not a v a i l .29: 4: 3


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Planned

TABLE 111.- SEQUENCE OF EVENTS - Concluded

Actua l

jeparation maneuver ( R C S ) s t a r tjeparation maneuver ( R C S ) c u to f fr h i r d s e r v i c e p ro p u ls io n i g n i t i o nLhird se rv ic e prop ulsi on cu to ffFourth se r v ic e p ropu ls ion ig n i t ionFourth se rv i ce p ropu ls ion c u to f fF i f t h s e r v i c e p r o p u l s io n i g n i t i o nF i f t h s e r v i c e p r o p u l s io n c u to f fs i x t h s e r v i c e p r op u ls i on i g n i t i o nSix th se rv i ce p ropu ls ion cu t o f fSeven th se r v ic e p ropu ls ion i gn i t io nSeventh se rv i ce propu ls ion cu toffE ig hth s e r v i c e p ro p u ls io n i g n i t i o nEighth se r v ic e p ropu ls ion c u to f f

Entry PhaseCommand module/service module separa-En t r y i n t e r f a c e (400 000 f e e t )Ente r b lackou tLeave blackoutDrogue deploymentMain parachute deploymentLanding

t i o n

30 2030 2075:48120 4375 47

0005.458.607.800

120:43:00.4165 00 00165:01:05.9210 08 00210:08:00.4239 06 11239:06:18.8259 39 15.9259 39 27.9

259 :40 58259 53: 6259:56:17259: 9 :14260: 3: 8260 04 14260 08 58

30: 0 0030:20:05.475:47:58.675: 8:07.9120 43120 43165 00165 01210 08

0000.50007.600

259 40 46259 53 25259:54:58259 59:46260:03: 0260 03:56260 09 00

Documents

Apollo 7 Mission, 3 Day Report