The Role of the S-IVB in the Apollo and Post Apollo Programs

8/3/2019 The Role of the S-IVB in the Apollo and Post Apollo Programs

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DOUGLAS PAPER NO. 4396

SATURN HISTORY DOCUMENTUniversity of Alabama Research I n s t i c u ~History of Science C- Technology GroupDa- --,,,---,-oc. No. --------

THE ROLE O F THE S-IVB I N TH EAPOLLO A N D POST APOLLO PROGRAMS

P R E P A R E 0 B Y :LUDWIG R06HD I R EC TO R , SA J U R N / A PO LLO PR O G R A M E X T E N S I O N

D O U G LA S A I R C R A F T C O M P AN Y

PRESENTED TO:16TH A N N U A L CO NFERENCE O F T H E H E R M A NN O BERTH S O C I E T Y

B E R L I N , G E R M A N YA U G U S T 30, 1967

DOUGLAS MISSILE &:SPACE SYSTEMS D/V/S /ONSPACE SYSTEMS CENTER - HUNTIN67ON BEACH. CALIFORNIA


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THE ROLE OF THE S-IVB IN THE APOLLO AND POST APOLLO PROGRAMS

Two years ago at the annual meeting of the Hermann Oberth Society I had theprivilege to report on the development of one of the large launch vehicles inthe Saturn Program, the S-IV. I mentioned that the next generation, the S-IVB,was well along in the development and today I am proud to be able to state thatthis vehicle seems to continue the success we had with the S-IV. ~ i r e e -IVB'shave been launched in the meantime and all three fully fulfilled their mission.To refresh your memory permit me to show you where the S-IVB belongs in theSaturn/Apollo Program. The development of the Saturn rockets is being carriedout under the supervision of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.


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The upra ted Sa turn I whic h f o r m e r ly was c a l l e d th e S a tu r n I B i s a two s tageboo s te r w i th a pa y loa d of 17,000kg i n a 195 k i lom e te r e a r t h o r b i t . I t u s e sth e S-IVB a s a se cond and f i n a l s t a ge . Twelve of the se ve h i c l e s a r e i n p roduc-t i o n a t t h i s tim e . Thre e of them have a l r e a dy f lown a s I s t a t e d b e f o r e.S e ve r a l ha ve be en de l iv e r e d t o NASA and a r e a wa i t ing l a unc h , a nd th e r e s t a r ei n f i n a l a sse mb ly . T he re a r e p l a n s t o p r o vi d e f o r more v e h i c l e s of t h i s t y pe .

The Saturn V i s a th r e e s t a ge "moon boo s te r , " c on s i s t in g of th e S-IC, th e S -I 1and t h e S-IVB. Se ve ra l of th e se S - I VB 1 s have a l rea dy been d e l iv er ed and morea r e u n de r c o n s t r u c ti o n . P r e p a r a t i o n s f o r n i n e a d d i t i o n a l s t a g e s a r e b e in g made.

Lan din g man on t h e moon w i l l b e i n t h e f o cu s of p u b l i c i n t e r e s t f o r t h e r e s tof t h i s d e c ad e u n t i l we h av e r ea c he d t h i s g o a l . But e ve ryone invo lve d i n th i sprogram i s al re ad y aski ng "What a f t e r Apollo?" NASA has es ta bl is he d a s one ofth e major "pos t" programs t he Apol lo Appl ica t ion s Program, The ba s i c c on te n t


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of this program is the scientific exploration of space in its broadest sensebut based on hardware which was developed for the Apollo Program.

I personally believe that this program will finally surpass all other programs. with respect to the interest and participation of the general public and

especially the scientists of the whole world,

What is the present Apollo Applications Program? It is of course relativelydifficult to precisely describe an emerging program when the existing primeprogram is as dominating as the Apollo Program. But the Apollo ApplicationsProgram has already established a list of numerous desirable experiments,large and small, and has defined its first mission, a very ambitious one assuch. Let me show you some of the planning for this first mission since theS-IVB stage plays a major role in its accomplishment.


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APOLLO APPLICATIONS PROGRAMMISSION PROFILE

REACTIVATE WORKSHOP

TIME - DAYSFour upra ted Saturn I ve hi c l es had been p lanned . A s I e xp la in ed e a r l i e r t h eup ra ted Sa tu rn I has two s t ages and can ca r ry a va r i e t y of pay loads . In ou rca se t he payload of Vehic le No. 1 c o n s i s t s of a Command and S er vi ce Module(CSM) a s used i n th e Apollo Program. This veh ic le w i l l be l aunched in to ac i r c u l a r e a r t h o r b i t of a p pr o xi m a te l y 1 40 m i l e s a nd an i n c l i n a t i o n o f 29degree s . The launch ope ra t i on i s i d e n t i c a l t o t h e s t a n d ar d S a t u r n pr oc ed ur e.The launch escape system w i l l be d is ca rd ed s h o r t l y a f t e r f i r s t s t a g e cu t o f f.The S-IVB then w i l l i n s e r t t h e s y st em i n t o o r b i t a f t e r w hich t h e cre w d e t a c he st h e CSM. A day l a t e r Vehic le No. 2 w i l l be launched. I t i s an unmannedupra ted Sa tu rn I w hi ch c a r r i e s a s a p a yl oa d a n a i r l o c k an d m u l t i p l e d o ck in gadapter (MDA). I t provides a sp ec ia l S-IVB st age wh ich can be conver ted i n toa workshop a f t e r second s t ag e cu tof f . There i s also a nose cone shroud whichw i l l b e d i s c a rd e d a f t e r l e a vi n g t h e s e n s i b l e at mo sp he re . The v e h i c l e w i l l bei n s e r t e d i n t o a 260N m i l e o r b i t i n which th e b rak ing fo rc e of th e a tmospher icr e s i s t a n c e h a s a r e l a t i v e l y l ow v a l u e and w i l l g i v e i t a l i f e time of a t l e a s ta yea r .


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A f t e r r e a c h i n g i t s p r es c r ib e d o r b i t t h e r e w i l l b e c e r t a i n a u t o m at i cop er a t io ns which w i l l change th e S-IVB f rom a l i q u i d oxygen and hydrogen con-t a i n e r i n t o a n oxygen g a s c o n t a i n e r . I w i l l e xp la in t h i s l a t e r on. I n th em eantime, t h e f i r s t s p a c e c r a f t , a sc e nd s t o t h e s ec on d v e h i c l e o r b i t w i t h t h eh e l p o f t h e CSM p ro p u l s i o n s y s t em and d ock s t o t h e MDA. The a s t r o n a u t s e n t e rt h e workshop th rough t h e MDA a n d a i r l o c k , comple te th e con vers io n o f t he S-IVBi n t o a l ab o ra t o ry and co n du c t ex p e r imen t s f o r abo u t 2 6 d ay s , At t h e end o ft h i s p e r i o d t h e y r e t u r n t o t h e CSM, u nd oc k, a nd r e t u r n t o e a r t h i n t h e n o rm a lp r oc e d ur e . Workshop, a i r l o c k , MDA r em ai n i n o r b i t f o r t h r e e t o s i x m on th sb e f o r e t h e n e xt m i s s io n i s s t a r t e d .


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A t t h e p r e s e n t t im e , d i s c u s s i o n s a r e b e in g h e l d t o d e c i d e i f t h e r e s h o ul d b ean in sp ec t i on and resup ply of th e workshop between th e two miss ions .

Vehicle No. 3 i s a manned "Uprated Sa tu rn I" co ns is t in g of a second CSM payloadwhich w i l l deta ch from t he second s t ag e and rendezvous wi t h th e workshop.Th i s w i l l then rendezvous wi th Vehicle No. 4 which i s an unmanned Lunar Module(LM) and Apo ll o Tel es co pe Module (ATM). The V eh ic le No. 3 CSM w i l l a t t a c hi t s e l f t o t h e LM/ATM and ca rr y them to th e workshop where the y j o i n wi th th eMDA. The as t ona u t s aga i n w i l l e n t e r t hr ou gh t h e a i r l o c k i n t o t h e w orkshopand co n t i n u e t h e i r s c i e n t i f i c ex p e ri men ts , a t t h e same t ime manning an do p e r a t i n g t h e ATM. Aft er an opera t ion o f approx imate ly 56 days the crew w i l lt h e n r e t u r n t o e a r t h u s i n g s t a n d a r d p ro c ed u re s . The whole workshop c l u s t e rw i l l r em ai n i n s p a c e f o r a n i n d e f i n i t e t i me .

A t f i r s t g l a n ce t h i s p l a n l o o k s e xt re m el y complex f o r a f i r s t m is s io n b u t o nes h o u ld co n s i d e r t h a t we have p ro ven t h e f e a s i b i l i t y of r en dezv ou s i n t h eGemini f l i g h t s and we ar e conf iden t th a t we w i l l not encounter many obstacles .We a r e aware t h a t a la r ge amount of new knowledge w i l l b e g a t h e red d u r i n g t h el i fe t i m e of t h i s program which w i l l en ab l e u s t o make b e t t e r u s e o f s p acef l i g h t i n o r b i t and beyond t o t h e p l a n e t s .

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BASIC LAUNCH

S-IVB ORBITAL WORKSHOP PROJECTCONFIGURATION

DEPLOYED

o/w-254-45-6-67

When the suggestion was first made to keep on using a depleted fuel containerin space for other missions, reception was not too enthusiastic. These firstproposals go back several years to the time when neither the S-IV or S-IVBhad ever flown. The many unknowns scared most people who were then lookinginto the possibility of converting such a large vehicle into a workable labora-tory. We have since accumulated much knowledge about the behavior of suchsystems in orbit, controlled and uncontrolled.

Now, let me give you some of these details. First of all assume the S-IVBstage has completed its delivery operation. It will be necessary to prepareit for ingress of the astronauts. This means that we will have to depressurizeour pneumatic systems, the cold and ambient helium spheres which assist ourpropulsion system, the pressure systems in the auxiliary propulsion system andnaturally to empty the liquid oxygen and hydrogen containers of residual


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p r o p e l l a n t s . We w i l l a t t e mp t t o d e f u e l t h ro ug h t h e e n g in e s i n c e t h i s c a n bea c c o mpl i s he d i n a r e l a t i v e l y s h o r t t i m e . W e a l s o ha ve t o d i s c on n e c t t h ee l e c t r i c a l power sy st em . We c a l l t h i s a c t i v i t y " pa ss iv at io n" . I n o r d er t oe n a b l e t h e a s t r o n a u t s t o e n t e r t h e l i q u i d hy dr og en c o n t a i n e r we ha v e p r o vi d e dc e r t a i n m in or m o d i f i c a t i o n s t o o u r b a s i c s t a g e . We h av e, f o r i n s t a n c e , c ha ng edt h e man h o l e i n d i a m e t e r t o a l a r g e r s i z e , a nd de s ig n ed a man hole cover ore n t r y h a t c h wh ic h c an b e e a s i l y a nd q u i c k l y o pe ne d by t h e a s t r o n a u t s a nd s t o r e di n s i d e t h e c o n t a i n e r . We h av e a l s o p ro vi de d i n t h e g r i d p a t t e r n of t h e t a n kw a l l , a t t a c h p o i n t s whic h e n ab l e u s t o i n s t a l l a v a r i e t y o f i t e ms . T he sea t t a c h p o i n t s e n a bl e u s t o i n s t a l l t h e s k e l e t o n o f t h e c rew q u a r t e r s and al a b o r a t o r y a r ra ng em e nt w i t h i n t h e s t a g e . T he se w a l l s a nd f l o o r s n a t u r a l l yh av e t o be d e s i g ne d i n a way t h a t t h e y do n o t a f f e c t t h e f l o w of t h e l i q u i dh y dr o ge n t o t h e e n g in e s y st e m. T h i s means a l l w a l l s , d oo rs , e t c . , a r e d es ig ne das o pe n g r i d work. The a s t r o n a u t s w i l l e i t h e r u n f u r l , o r c a r r y i n , s o l i dco ver s f o r th es e wa ll s . Some of t h e exper im ents , t h e normal demands of humanb e i ng s f o r p ri v a c y d u r i n g res t p e r i o d s , a nd t h e s p e c i a l r e q u i re m e n ts of f o odp r e p a r a t i o n a nd p e r s o n a l h y g ie n e , demand c lo s e d q u a r t e r s . Co n s id e r in g t h a t t h ea c t i v i t y i n t h e s e l a b o r a t o r i e s h a ve t o b e co nd uc te d u nd er z ero -g c o n d i t i o n s ,


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0.435 0.44 4 DIA. HOLEINSIDE OF TANK INSULATION f AT EACH INTER

S-IVB ORBITAL WORKSHOP PROJECTFLOOR SURFACE ASSEMBLY

m o b i l i t y a i d s f o r t h e a s t r o n a u t s h av e t o b e p r ov id ed . There w i l l b e fu rn i s h eda f i r eman ' s p o l e l ead i n g f ro m t h e e n t r y h a t ch down t o t h e l ab o ra t o ry a r ea andt h e r e w i l l a l s o b e hand r a i l s a ro un d t h e c i r cu mferen ce of t h e co n t a i n e r t oe na bl e t h e a s tr o n a ut s t o a t t a c h e l e c t r i c a l l i g h t i n g f i x t u r e s a n d v e n t i l a t o r s .T he se v e n t i l a t o r s h av e p a r t i c u l a r i mp or ta nc e s i n c e i t i s n eces s ary t o keep t h eope ra t i ng t empera tu re wi th in to l e r ab le boundar ies . The a tmosphere i n th e con-t a i n e r h as t o be co n s t an t l y c i r cu l a t ed and mixed s i n ce on e s i d e of t h e s t a g ew i l l b e exp os ed t o t h e r a d i a t i o n of t h e s un when t h e o t h e r s i d e i s exposed t oth e tempe rature of space. This temperature co nt ro l of th e workshop sys tem i sone of th e most impor tant sys tems t o be developed.

O /W - E ~x56-67

A no th er i n s t a l l a t i o n wh ich i s equal ly impor tan t i s t h e p r o t e c t i o n a g a i n s tp o s s i b l e me t eo ro id p en e t r a t i o n . Our p r e s en t ex p e ri en ce i n d i ca t e s t h a t o v e rth e perio d of one ye ar we might have th re e pe ne tra t io ns by meteoroids throught h e t an k w a l l . S i n ce t h i s co n s t i t u t e s n o t o n l y a p o s s i b l e d ang er o f deco mpres-s i o n b u t a l s o a f i r e ha z a rd , s t e p s had t o b e t a ke n t o a vo id a ny s uc h p e n e t r a t i o n .The chosen so lu t i on was a meteoroid bumper t o be arranged wi th in a d is ta nc e of12 cen t im eters f rom the con ta in er w a l l . Such an aluminum shield w i l l d i s i n t e -g r a t e in co mi ng me t eo roi d s s o t h a t t h e mass of t h e f r ac t u red p a r t i c l e s i s n o ts u f f i c i e n t l y h i g h t o p e n e t r a t e t h e t an k w a ll .

9


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METEOROID BUMPER

EMPTY EQUIPMENTPACKAGES STOWEDON HARD CEILING---- AND ON RAILSBETWEEN THERMALCURTAIN "HAT"

SLEEP RESTRAINTSAND CLOTHINGSTORAGE INSLEEPING QUARTERS

FOOD LOCKERS AND SANITARY EQUIPME NTRELATED EQUIPMENT IN WASTE MGMTCOMPARTMENTPREPARATIONCOMPARTMENT

T MODULES ON WALL PANELS,FLOOR AND BETWEEN THERMAL CURTAIN HATSECTIONS IN EXPERIMENT WORKSHOP COMPARTMENT

S-IVB ORBITAL WORKSHOP PROJECT o/w-119 - xEQUIPME NT/ EXPERIMENT MOUNTING 5-6 7


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S-IVB ORBITAL WORKSHOP PROJECT I O h - 1 1 85-6-67METEOR OID BUMPER-PARTIALLY DEPLOYED


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As y ou know, t h e r e ha d b e e n a n a c c id e n t a t t h e b e g in n in g of t h i s y e a r i n t h eA p o l lo P ro gr am b e c a u s e of t h e p r e s e n c e of o xy ge n. We th e r e f o r e , t r y t o a v o idf la mm ab le m a t e r i a l s i n t h e O r b i t a l Workshop. The i n t e r n a l i n s u l a t i o n of t h eh y dr o ge n c o n ta in e r , t ho ug h f la mma b le , c o u ld n o t b e c h an ge d , t h e r e f o r e a newmethod was deve loped t o p rev en t t h e development and spread ing of f i r e . Overt h e e x i s t i n g i n s u l a t i o n a t h in a luminu m f o i l i s bonded t o a v oi d f i r e g e n e r a t i o na nd p r o p ag a t i o n. T h i s f o i l i s e qu ip pe d w i t h l i t t l e h o l e s s o t h a t any e n tr ap pe dh y dr o ge n g a s c a n e v o lv e d u r in g p a s s iv a t i o n .

A no th er c h a l l e n g e f o r t h e d e s i g n e r i s t h e f a c t t h a t a l l o p e ra t i on s are conductedu n d e r z e ro -g c o n d i t i o n s . W e h a v e t o d e ve lo p a " f e e l " f o r t h i s new e n v ir o nme n t.N e u t r a l - b u o y a n c y - f a c i l i t i e s a re be ing used a s des ign and development to o l s .A l s o s p e c i a l s u s p e n s io n s y s t e ms h a ve be e n de s ig n e d t o s im u la t e z e ro -g c o n d i -t i o n s , b u t u n d e r wa t er o p e r a t i o n s seem t o be s t i l l t h e b e s t s i m u la t i o n .


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LH2 FEED DUCT PLUG

At the present time we intend to enter the tank while it is in unpressurizedcondition, but the astronaut will still be in his pressure suit. He willenter the tank, make certain electrical and mechanical connections, and inspectand seal the existing outlets. Maximum simplicity is therefore a must forthese activities and constitute quite a challenge to the designer. Takefor instance the main tank outlet which has a diameter of 25 .24 cm with parti-cularly close tolerances. There is a closed valve sealing the line but wehave to assume that there might be some leakage after the operation of thepropulsion system has ceased. A tight seal will be needed considering anoperating period of one year for the workshop.As we have seen this first primitive space station consists basically of theOWS, the Airlock, and the MDA. It is supposed to be in active operation for28 and 56 days during the first year in orbit. The power requirements forthese periods are naturally much higher than in the Mercury and Gemini space-crafts. We therefore will use solar energy for the power system. As you knowthe efficiency of solar cells is very much dependent on the orientation towardthe sun, so an attitude control will be needed. We will use the solar energyto recharge the batteries which are located in the Airlock. One of thepresently planned configurations is shown in this picture. Several experiments


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will have their own orientation requirements in addition to those of the solarpanels. Two systems are being considered, a passive system based on the grav-ity gradients, which would orient the axis of the Cluster toward earth and anactive system, using some type of mass expulsion like small rockets, gas jets,or something similar.I hope that these few details give you an impression of the developmentof the orbital workshop in which we are engaged. The scientific and techni-cal experiments which will be conducted by the three astronauts are largelyconnected with the investigation of human behavior in this particular environ-ment. Some are intended to establish requirements for the accommodation ofscientific space workers and still others will give us answers as to how tomaintain such a system in space. I will refrain from going through the detailsof these experiments, since it would take too much time, and naturally theestablished list will see many changes before we have our laboratory inoperation.I have spent most of my time acquainting you with the use of the S-IVB as anorbital workshop, since this is presently in the focus of our attention. Butlet me shortly mention a few other possible uses of the S-IVB which aresimilarly exciting.

SOLAR PANEL DEPLOYMENT SEQUENCE


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There i s f o r in s ta nc e t he use of t he S-IVB f o r synchronous miss ion s . You knowth a t i n a synchronous o r b i t t he ve h ic l e t a ke s a per ma ne nt " loc a l " pos i t i onabove t h e e ar th . Many mis sion s can make use of such a system. Sin ce th eS a t u r n V i s capa ble of p lac in g a payload of f rom 29,000 to 35 ,000 kg i n t o suchan or b i t , we can p la ce an o r b i t a l workshop i n t o a synchronous or b i t which woulde n ab l e s c i e n t i s t s t o pe rf or m l on g t er m co n ti n uo u s o b se r v at i o n of t h e e a r t h .We have made s t ud ie s t o de te r m ine th e ne c e ssa r y a l t e r a t i on s t o t he S-IVB andwe know t h a t i t can be accomplished re l a t iv e l y ea s i ly . Another program whichi s be ing s tud ie d i s t h e so c a l l e d a dvance d o r b i t a l workshop . I t s c o n f i g u r a t i o nw i l l e na b le u s t o s p i n t h e c l u s t e r a roun d i t s mass-center and so c r ea te acce l -e r a t i o n s i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y a r e a of t h e o r b i t a l workshop.

With t h i s system we could e xp lor e phenomena i n a one-sixth-g environment overlong e r pe r iods o f t im e tha n ha s bee n poss ib le so f a r . The ne x t s t e p i n us ing


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the S-IVB in the form of the orbital workshop could be the establishment of alunar orbital laboratory. This would enable us to study the moon in detailwithout exposing the explorers to the hazards of lunar environment and ofcourse we could as well land a stage on the lunar surface and use it as aprotective shelter. All these missions obviously involve multiple launchings.One more study we are presently engaged in is the potential use of the S-IVBin planetary fly-by. Here we are using as a final assembly a train of threeS-IVB's, which you can see here in this artist's conception. With such asystem we could conduct a Venus or Mars fly-by with performance as shown inthis last figure.In conclusion I would like to emphasize again that these possible missions Ihave mentioned are developed from a basic design of the S-IVB with the intentto reduce as much as possible new development costs by using existing and wellproven hardware. The orbital workshop is a typical example of introducingsuch economic thinking into a seemingly uneconomical venture. We believe thatthe ambitious goals our planners are setting themselves can be achieved with-out always starting from scratch and have proven very recently that good resultsare obtainable in a much shorter time than otherwise is possible.


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DACO MARS FLYBY SPACECRAFT CONFIGURATION

ORBIT SUPPOR T EQUIPMEN T. OSE7

ORBIT RENDEZVOUSCONFIGURATION

CREW TRANSFER IN ORBITTO MISSION MODULE/ ENDEZV OUS STAGE, IU. ANDEXTRANEOUS SPENT APS MODULESREMOVED (OR JETTISONED] AFTERSPACECRAFTDOCKEDTOOLVEARTHLAUNCHCONFIGURATION OLV.S/C ASSEMBLED IN EARTH ORBITIUNMANNEDI

ORBITAL LAUNCH VEHICLE

NOTE: SPACECRAFT WEIGHTS AREBASIC ON A 3% VELOCITY RESERVEf 400 AN D 50 FPS FOR PLANE CHANGE0 ASSEMBLY ORBIT0sg 300!2s

200efxYCI2 100V)

012 13 14 15 16 17 18IMPULSIVE VELOCITY, AV (1,000PS)

Documents

The Role of the S-IVB in the Apollo and Post Apollo Programs