Apollo 4

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Apollo 4
Apollo 4, the first flight of a Saturn V launch vehicle, rises from Launch Pad 39A
Mission type Test flight
Operator NASA [1]
COSPAR ID 1967-113A
SATCAT no. 3032
Mission duration 8 hours, 36 minutes, 59 seconds
Orbits completed 3
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft Apollo CSM -017
Apollo LTA-10R
Manufacturer North American Rockwell
Launch mass 36,856 kilograms (81,253 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date November 9, 1967, 12:00:01  ( 1967-11-09UTC12:00:01Z )  UTC
Rocket Saturn V SA-501
Launch site Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Recovered by USS  Bennington
Landing date November 9, 1967, 20:37:00  ( 1967-11-09UTC20:38Z )  UTC
Landing site North Pacific Ocean
30°06′N 172°32′W  /  30.100°N 172.533°W  / 30.100; -172.533  ( Apollo 4 splashdown )
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Highly elliptical orbit
Perigee ?204 kilometers (?110 nmi) [2]
Apogee 18,092 kilometers (9,769 nmi)
Inclination 31.9 degrees
Period 314.58 minutes (initial)
Epoch November 9, 1967 [3]
←  Apollo 1
Apollo 5  →
 

Apollo 4 was the first unmanned test flight mission of the Saturn V launch vehicle. This was the rocket used in the Apollo program to send the first men to the Moon. The rocket was launched on November 9, 1967 from the Kennedy Space Center . NASA said that the mission was a complete success, and it helped the Apollo program very much.

References [ change | change source ]

  1. Saturn V Launch Vehicle Flight Evaluation Report - AS-501 Apollo 4 Mission (PDF) . George C. Marshall Space Flight Center : NASA . January 15, 1968. MPR-SAT-FE-68-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016 . Retrieved July 8, 2013 .
  2. Orbit to landing entry path would have taken it below the Earth's surface to simulate a high-energy lunar re-entry.
  3. McDowell, Jonathan. "SATCAT" . Jonathan's Space Pages . Retrieved March 23, 2014 .