#csm-017

"Dramatic view of the launch of Apollo 4, the first full-up test of the awesome Saturn V, 7:00:01 a.m. (EST), Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center."

Date: November 9, 1967

Apollo 4 Command Module (CM-017) stored onboard USS BENNINGTON (CV-20) following its splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

November 9, 1967

Apollo 4 Command Module (CM-017) shortly after its splashdown at the conclusion of its highly successful mission.

Date: November 9, 1967

Concept art of Apollo 4's 4-minute and 25-second burn of its service module engine during the third orbit. This was to simulate a translunar trajectory and re-entry, reach speeds of almost 25,500 miles an hour. This is the longest burn ever performed by the service module engine, building up a thrust of almost 21,500 pounds.

Date: November 9, 1967

Aerojet-General Corp Photo: C 167 071

Diagram illustrating the flight path of the Apollo 4 mission.

Date: November 9, 1967

Apollo 4 Command and Service Module (CSM-017) being prepared for its A-type mission at the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building in Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

"The Apollo spacecraft for this mission was CSM-017. With a fully fueled launch mass of 30.4 metric tons, this would be the most massive manned spacecraft prototype ever flown. Although it was a Block I type Apollo which would not be employed in subsequent manned flights (a decision which predated the Apollo 1 accident), CSM-017 carried a number of modifications to flight test upgrades for the Block II series spacecraft proposed in the wake of the Apollo 1 accident. These included the umbilical running along the rim of the heat shield from the CM to SM and an outer panel which simulated the new quick-release, outward-opening CM hatch to test its flexible thermal seal in flight. The hatch window was replaced with an instrumented test panel carrying simulations of the seals and gaps between the hatch and the surrounding heat shield. The arrangement of antennas emulated that of the Block II design and the CM used the same type of protective thermal coating that would be employed by the Block II spacecraft.

Diagram showing the interior of CM-017 for the Apollo 4 mission with the electromechanical command controller.

Since there would be no crew, the interior of CM-017 did not carry astronaut couches as well as some flight controls and instrumentation displays just like the earlier unmanned Apollo test flights. Fitted inside of the cabin was a 163-kilogram electromechanical command controller unit that would execute a preprogrammed sequence of commands or respond to ground commands to put the Apollo spacecraft through its paces during independent flight. This design had been successfully used in the earlier AS-202 unmanned test flight."

Date: January 5, 1967

Diagram illustrating the Apollo 4 mission from the second S-IVB burn to reentry.

Date: November 9, 1967

“Aerojet-General Corporation artist’s concept shows how the Apollo spacecraft’s Service Module engine will look firing during night flight. Coloration of the Service Propulsion System thrust chamber and skirt shows temperature ranging from 5000°F. at the chamber throat to 1200°F. at the skirt extension after a few seconds of engine operation. Glass filament is used in the thrust chamber area. The engine skirt is formed of titanium and columbium. Aerojet’s SPS develops in excess of 20,000 pounds of thrust, making it America’s largest and most powerful spacecraft rocket engine. The Service Propulsion System, produced for NASA’s Apollo spacecraft under contract to North American Rockwell Space Division, is capable of providing more than 35 separate firings of varying duration.”

Date: November 9, 1967