#sa-206

Mobile Service Structure moved from its parksite to LC-39B and mate to Skylab II (SA-206).

Date: November 16, 1972

Skylab II Saturn IB (CSM-116/SA-206) rollout from VAB to LC-39B.

Date: February 26, 1973

NASA ID: 73-HC-160, KSC-73C-0309

View from the Perimeter Road of Skylab 2 Saturn IB (CSM-116/SA-206) on LC-37B as the sun sets. SL-2 was launched the next day.

Date: May 24, 1973

Rollout of the Skylab II Saturn IB (M-11/SA-206) to LC-39B, for testing the new modification to Mobile Launcher-1 and the launch pad.

Date: February 26, 1973

The S-IVB stage originally intended for Apollo/Saturn IB (SA-206) unmanned lunar module test mission is seen during mating at Complex 37. Its intended mission was AS-206, the test flight of the first production Lunar Module (LM-1) and scheduled to launch shortly after Apollo AS-204 (Apollo 1) in late February 1967. However, due to delays from Grumman in getting LM-1 finished in time and the tragedy of Apollo 1, caused this mission to be put on hold. The first and second stages were put into storage at Mather Air Force Base. When NASA started to relaunch the Apollo test missions, it was decided to use Apollo 1's Saturn IB (SA-204), since it was undamaged in the fire, to launch LM-1, now renumbered Apollo 5. NASA intended SA-206 to launch LM-2 on a follow-up mission, and pulled it out of storage to be refurbished. When LM-1 was successfully tested during Apollo 5, the follow-up mission was cancelled and SA-206 was placed back into storage. It finally flew five years later on the Skylab II mission.

Date: January 23, 1967

Skylab II Saturn IB (CSM-116/SA-206) rollout from VAB to LC-39B.

Date: February 26, 1973

"On March 15, 1968, NASA announced that the planned second unmanned test flight of the Lunar Module (LM) was not needed given the success of the LM-1 flight during Apollo 5 in January. The decision to not fly LM-2 resulted in a significant cost and schedule savings to achieve the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. And while LM-2 never got to fly in space, it’s use as an important ground test vehicle helped clear the way for the first Moon landing. Because LM-2 was configured for an unmanned flight, it would have been too costly to reconfigure it for a manned flight, primarily to fireproof the cabin. As a result, the first manned test would utilize LM-3, then planned to be launched aboard a Saturn V in late 1968.

The Lunar Module (LM-2) Ascent Stage during vibration tests.

The decision at first put LM-2 and its Saturn IB rocket into storage, but NASA managers decided to use LM-2 as a high-fidelity ground-test vehicle since it contained flight-like systems. After a short time in storage, LM-2 was shipped to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, where engineers used it for dynamic testing in the Vibration and Acoustic Test Facility (VATF) to better understand the effects of the Saturn V pogo oscillations seen during the Apollo 6 mission in April 1968. The results of those tests contributed to NASA engineers clearing the next Saturn 5 to carry a crew. After the attachment of landing gear, between March and May 1969 engineers in the VATF used LM-2 to conduct drop tests to verify the structural integrity of the vehicle and its subsystems. Because LM-2 contained flight-like vehicle systems, the results of these high-fidelity tests helped clear the Apollo 11 LM-5 to land on the Moon just two months later.

LM-2 ascent stage on display at the 1970 World’s Fair in Osaka, Japan.

After its ground testing days were over, LM-2 continued to be useful. In 1970, its ascent stage spent several months on display at the US Pavillion at 'Expo ’70' in Osaka, Japan, mated to the descent stage of Lunar Test Article-8. When it returned to the United States, it was reunited with its descent stage, modified to appear like the Apollo 11 Lunar Module 'Eagle,' and transferred to the Smithsonian in 1971 for display. In 2016, curators restored and relocated it to the new Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall in the National Air and Space Museum. The Saturn IB rocket that was planned to launch LM-2 came out of storage in May 1973, when it launched the first crew to the Skylab space station."

LM-2 modified to appear like the Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle," on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

NASA ID: link, LM-NOID-09

Skylab II Saturn IB (SL-2/SA-206) rollout from VAB to Pad 39B.

Date: January 9, 1973