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AdamSmith

'For All Mankind -- Vintage NASA Photographs 1964-1983'

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LIkewise.

Think I've posted this before but again: http://history.nasa.gov/ap11fj/

...NASA's transcript of the broadcast/recorded words of the Public Affairs Officers and mission participants from start to finish of the Apollo 11 mission.

Similar is available for other Apollo missions including 13: http://history.nasa.gov/afj/

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One of my regrets is that I never took the time to actually be there in Canaveral for a Saturn 5 lift off and feel the earth shake beneath my feet.

I did and I'll never forget it. It roared and the ground shook and low frequency compression (sound) waves too long to hear pounded my body and I was ten miles away across water and marshes.

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I still recall the vivid crackling noise that came through the TV transmission at launch. And that Cronkite said what TY said.

To bone up MsGuy with hardcore tech speak :D herewith a bit of the launch journal linked above...

PAO: This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control. We've passed the 6 minute mark in our countdown for Apollo 11. Now 5 minutes, 52 seconds and counting. We're on time at the present time for our planned lift-off of 32 minutes past the hour. Spacecraft Test Conductor, Skip Chauvin, now has completed the status check of his personnel in the control room. All report they are Go for the mission, and this has been reported to the Test Supervisor, Bill Schick. The test supervisor now going through some status checks. Launch Operations Manager Paul Donnelly reports Go for launch. Launch Director Rocco Petrone now gives a Go. We're 5 minutes, 20 seconds and counting. Coming up shortly, that swing arm up at the spacecraft level will come back to its fully retracted position. This should occur at the 5-minute mark in the count. In the meantime the Lunar Module telemetry has been powered down. We took a good look at Eagle, and it looks good. The Spacecraft Test Conductor for the Lunar Module reported that Eagle was Go. The swing arm now coming back to its fully retracted position as our countdown continues. T minus 4 minutes, 50 seconds and counting. Skip Chauvin informing the astronauts that the swing arm now coming back. The astronauts will have a few more reports coming up in the countdown. The last business report will be from Neil Armstrong at the 45-second mark in the count when he gives the status on the final alignment of the Stabilization and Control System. We're now passing the 4 minute, 30 second mark in the countdown - still Go at this time.

[
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PAO: Four minutes, 15 seconds - the Test Supervisor now has informed Launch Vehicle Test Conductor Norm Carlson, you are Go for launch. From this time down, Carlson handles the countdown as the launch vehicle begins to build up. We're now hitting the 4-minute mark. Four minutes and counting. We are Go for Apollo 11. We'll go on an automatic sequence as standing at 3 minutes and 7 seconds.

PAO: Three minutes, 45 seconds and counting. In the final abort checks between several key members of the crew here in the control center and the astronauts, Launch Operations Manager Paul Donnelly wished the crew, on the launch teams' behalf, "Good luck and Godspeed."

PAO: Three minutes, 25 seconds and counting; we're still Go at this time. We'll be coming up on the automatic sequence about 10 or 15 seconds from this time. All still Go at this time. Neil Armstrong reported back when he received the good wishes: "Thank you very much. We know it will be a good flight." Firing command coming in now. We are on the automatic sequence. We're approaching the 3 minute mark in the count. T minus 3 minutes and counting. T minus 3 - we are Go with all elements of the mission at this time. We're on an automatic sequence as the master computer supervises hundreds of events occurring over these last few minutes.

PAO: T minus 2 minutes, 45 seconds and counting. The members of the launch team here in the control center monitoring a number of what we call red-line values. These are tolerances we don't want to go above and below in temperatures and pressures. They're standing by to call out any deviations from our plans. Two minutes, 30 seconds and counting; we're still Go on Apollo 11 at this time. The vehicle starting to pressurize as far as the propellant tanks are concerned, and all is still Go as we monitor our status board. Two minutes, 10 seconds and counting. The target for the Apollo 11 astronauts, the Moon, at lift-off, will be at a distance of 218,096 miles away. We just passed the 2-minute mark in the countdown. T minus 1 minute, 54 seconds and counting. Our status board indicates that the oxidizer tanks in the second and third stages now have pressurized. We continue to build up pressure in all three stages here at the last minute to prepare it for lift-off.

[
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PAO: T minus 1 minute, 35 seconds on the Apollo mission, the flight to land the first men on the Moon. All indications coming in to the control center at this time indicate we are Go. One minute, 25 seconds and counting. Our status board indicates the third stage completely pressurized. Eighty-second mark has now been passed. We'll go on full internal power at the 50-second mark in the countdown. Guidance system goes on internal at 17 seconds leading up to the ignition sequence at 8.9 seconds. We're approaching the 60-second mark on the Apollo 11 mission.

PAO: T minus 60 seconds and counting. We have passed T minus 60. 55 seconds and counting. Neil Armstrong just reported back: "It's been a real smooth countdown". We've passed the 50-second mark. Power transfer is complete - we're on internal power with the launch vehicle at this time. 40 seconds away from the Apollo 11 lift-off. All the second stage tanks now pressurized. 35 seconds and counting. We are still Go with Apollo 11. 30 seconds and counting. Astronauts report, "It feels good". T minus 25 seconds.

PAO: Twenty seconds and counting. T minus 15 seconds, guidance is internal. Twelve, 11, 10, 9, ignition sequence starts...

[The F-1 engine has a complex ignition sequence which will be described here. First, a description of the engine.]

f-1_small.jpg

[
A large combustion chamber and bell have an injector plate at the top, through which RP-1 fuel and LOX are injected at high pressure. Above the injector is the LOX dome which also transmits the force of the thrust from the engine to the rocket's structure. A single-shaft turbopump is mounted beside the combustion chamber. The turbine is at the bottom and is driven by the exhaust gas from burning RP-1 and LOX in a fuel-rich mixture in a gas generator. After powering the turbine, the exhaust gases pass through a heat exchanger, then to a wrap-around exhaust manifold which feeds it into the periphery of the engine bell. The final task for these hot gases is to cool and protect the nozzle extension from the far hotter exhaust of the main engine itself. Above the turbine, on the same shaft, is the fuel pump with two inlets from the fuel tank and two outlets going, via shut-off valves, to the injector plate. A line from one of these 'feeds' supplies the gas generator with fuel. Fuel is also used within the engine as a lubricant and as a hydraulic working fluid, though before launch, RJ-1 ramjet fuel is supplied from the ground for this purpose. At the top of the turbopump shaft is the LOX pump with a single, large inlet in-line with the turboshaft axis. This pump also has two outlet lines, with valves, to feed the injector plate. One line also supplies LOX to the gas generator. The interior lining of the combustion chamber and engine bell consists of a myriad of pipework through which a large portion of the fuel supply is fed. This cools the chamber and bell structure while also pre-warming the fuel. Lastly, an igniter, containing a cartridge of hypergolic fluid with burst diaphragms at either end, is in the high pressure fuel circuit and has its own inject point in the combustion chamber. This fluid is triethylboron with 10-15% triethylaluminium.]

[
At T minus 8.9 seconds, a signal from the automatic sequencer fires four pyrotechnic devices. Two of them cause the fuel-rich turbine exhaust gas to ignite when it enters the engine bell. Another begins combustion within the gas generator while the fourth ignites the exhaust from the turbine. Links are burned away by these igniters to generate an electrical signal to move the start solenoid. The start solenoid directs hydraulic pressure from the ground supply to open the main LOX valves. LOX begins to flow through the LOX pump, starting it to rotate, then into the combustion chamber. The opening of both LOX valves also causes a valve to allow fuel and LOX into the gas generator, where they ignite and accelerate the turbine. Fuel and LOX pressures rise as the turbine gains speed. The fuel-rich exhaust from the gas generator ignites in the engine bell to prevent backfiring and burping of the engine. The increasing pressure in the fuel lines opens a valve, the igniter fuel valve, letting fuel pressure reach the hypergol cartridge which promptly ruptures. Hypergolic fluid, followed by fuel, enters the chamber through its port where it spontaneously ignites on contact with the LOX already in the chamber.]

PAO: ...6, 5, 4...

[Rising combustion-induced pressure on the injector plate actuates the ignition monitor valve, directing hydraulic fluid to open the main fuel valves. These are the valves in the fuel lines between the turbopump and the injector plate. The fuel flushes out ethylene glycol which had been preloaded into the cooling pipework around the combustion chamber and nozzle. The heavy load of ethylene glycol mixed with the first injection of fuel slows the build-up of thrust, giving a gentler start. Fluid pressure through calibrated orifices completes the opening of the fuel valves and fuel enters the combustion chamber where it burns in the already flaming gases. The exact time that the main fuel valves open is sequenced across the five engines to spread the rise in applied force that the structure of the rocket must withstand.]

PAO: ...3...

buildup.gif

[This diagram shows how the thrust rose during the start-up of each engine. It takes two seconds for full performance to be attained on all engines once the first has begun increasing. The engines are started in a staggered 1-2-2 sequence so that the rocket's structure would be spared a single large load increase, with the centre engine being the first to start. The outboard engines exhibit a hiccup in their build-up due to the ingestion of helium from the pogo suppression system installed in each one. The centre engine does not have this installed.]

[As the flow of fuel and LOX rises to maximum, the chamber pressure, and therefore thrust, is monitored to confirm that the required force has been achieved. With the turbopump at full speed, fuel pressure exceeds hydraulic pressure supplied from ground equipment. Check valves switch the engine's hydraulic supply to be fed from the rocket's fuel instead of from the ground.]

PAO: ...2, 1, zero, all engine running, LIFT-OFF!

[Public Affairs Officer Jack King, whose coolness is legendary, finally succumbs to the tension and is clearly heard to say "all engine running" instead of "all engines running".]

PAO: We have a lift-off, 32 minutes past the hour. Lift-off on Apollo 11.

[
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[
of the entire air/ground audio during ascent to orbit, but without the PAO's commentary.]

000:00:04 Armstrong: Roger. Clock.

PAO: Tower cleared.

[As planned, control of the flight now passes from the Launch Control Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida to the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas. There, communication with the crew is handled by an astronaut sitting at the CapCom console; in this case, Bruce McCandless. The PAO also switches, and Jack King relinquishes the commentary to the Houston PAO, whose voice is heard from now on.]

000:00:13 Armstrong: Roger. We got a roll program.

000:00:15 McCandless: Roger. Roll. [Long pause.]

PAO: Neil Armstrong reporting their roll and pitch program which puts Apollo 11 on a proper heading. Plus 30 seconds.

[When it sat on the launch pad, the space vehicle's coordinate system matched the cardinal points of Earth's geograpic system. Its X-axis pointed straight up and its Y-axis pointed to true north. The third component of this system, the Z-axis, therefore was pointed directly west. Before it begins to tilt over, the vehicle needs to roll 18° so that the minus X-axis, previously facing east, faces along the planned heading, in this case 72° east of north. Then the tilt motion will be a simple pitch motion around the Y-axis.]

[Prior to the roll maneuver, the vehicle executed a small yaw maneuver to deliberately lean away from the launch tower during its first few seconds of ascent.]

[20.6 seconds after launch, the Saturn's guidance system aims the four outboard engines slightly away from the centreline of the vehicle. This is in case an outboard engine fails whereupon the resultant off-centre thrust vector would be nearer to acting through the centre-of-mass of the rocket.]

000:00:34 Armstrong: Roll's complete and the pitch is programming. [Pause.]

000:00:44 Armstrong: One Bravo. [Long pause.]

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Guest Hoover42

I lived in the area while growing up, and I used to watch the launches up close whenever I had the chance.

Folks used to line up along the Indian River to the southwest of the launch pad and watch the launch from there. You could just drive up and stop anywhere along US-1 and have an almost unobstructed view.

The region schools staged regular field trips to NASA, and I fondly remember one of my fellow students grabbing my hand and forcing it down on his crotch during one especially interesting ride.

I always think of him when I hear the word NASA. ^_^

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