Apollo 7

Apollo 7 (October 11th 1968 - October 22nd 1968) is the first live mission of the Programme Apollo, the only impetus by the space Fusée Saturn IB. It was also the first American mission which sent a team of three men in space, and the first mission to diffuse images for television.

Crew

The crew which took part in the mission Apollo 7 was consisted of the three temporary members of the mission Apollo 1 for the year 1967, namely:

Walter Mr. Schirra, Commander;
Gift Eisele, Pilot of the Module of Order;
Walter Cunningham, Pilot of the Lunar module.

If one or more team members would be unable to fulfill their mission at the time of launching, a temporary crew had been prepared:

Tom Stafford (Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo-Soyuz), temporary Commander;
John Young (Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, STS-9), Pilot of the temporary module of order;
Eugene Cernan (Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo 17), Pilot of the temporary lunar module.

A team was dedicated to the support and the preparation of the mission:

Ronald Evans (Apollo 17);
ED Givens;
Jack Swigert (Apollo 13);
Bill Pogue (Skylab 4).

Three teams on the ground dealt of the calculation of trajectory and the direction of flight, located each one by a color ( black , white , gold ), directed by:

Glynn Lunney ( black TEAM );
Gene Kranz ( white TEAM );
Gerald Griffin ( gold TEAM ).

Today (2007), only one of the members of the crew of Apollo 7, Walter Cunningham, is still in life. Eisele died in 1987, and Schirra in 2007. After the mission Apollo 7, none of the three team members realized of another space flight.

The mission Apollo 7

Course of the mission

The mission Apollo 7 before was very intended to validate the American technical projections in the space field. After the disastrous failure of Apollo 1 in January 1967, the module of ordering of Apollo had been completely altered. Schirra, which was to be the only astronaut on board the mission Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, required these adjustments of the module of order and service. Since it did not transport a lunar module, Apollo 7 could be launched with the rocket Saturn IB (SA-205), less powerful and more economic than the rocket Saturn V. Schirra wanted to leave in Apollo 7 code name “ Phoenix ” — allusion to the bird which reappears of its ashes — in memory of the loss of the crew of Apollo 1. The idea was moved away by the direction from NASA.

The material functioned without main issue, the operations envisaged having been realized in awaited times. All the engines intended to place Apollo in lunar orbit, then to return, ignited as envisaged. Although the cabin of Apollo is more roomy and comfortable that of Gemini, the eleven days of the mission cost the astronauts. Food was bad, and all developed a cold. Schirra became irritable and all the crew answered with aggressiveness the capcoms . Nevertheless, the success of the mission confirmed the idea of viable a Apollo module able to carry out all the tasks necessary to go on the Moon, and to return from there.

One of the objectives of the mission was also to test the device of televised diffusion, which made it possible the crew to emit images on line. The operation of stowing of the lunar module was also checked.

The point of sea landing was 27°32' NR, 64°04' W, 370 km in the south-south-west of Bermuda and 13 km in the north of the boat intended to recover the module: WORN Essex.

The module of order

During nearly 30 years, the module of order and service was in hiring, renewable every two years, with the National Museum off Science and Technology of the Canada, with Ottawa. One could in the same way find there the behavior space carried by Schirra. In November 2003, the Smithsonian Institution of Washington D.C requisitioned them in order to expose them in new an appendix of the center Steven F. Udvar-Hazy.

Data

Data of the orbital flight;

Takeoff of Cap Canaveral (Florida), Launch Pad 34 (LC-34);
Launching on October 11th, 1968 with 15:02: 45 UTC on Saturn IB;
Sea landing on October 22nd, 1968 with 11:11: 48 UTC (27° 38 ' NR - 64° 09 ' W);
Time of flight: 10 days 20:9 min 3 S (163 revolutions).

Modulate of order and service:

Model: C/SM 101
Mass: 14,781 kg.

Orbital parameters:

Perigee: 231 km;
Apogee: 297 km;
Period: 89,78 min;
Slope: 31,63°

Badge of the mission

The badge of the mission, made up of five colors, depicts the module of order and service, its lit engine SPS and whose trail of fire girdles a sphere — who symbolizes the terrestrial orbit which the mission &mdash carries out; on which one can read the Roman numerals “VII” (in the Pacific Ocean southern). The name of the crew is registered in white on black bottom, on a circle which surrounds the sphere.

Photographs

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