M2-F3 Lifting Body

78.The SovietSoyuzatop a three-stage launch vehicle lifts off July 15, 1975, to begin the joint US-USSR space mission.

79.Overhead view ofSoyuzin orbit, photographed from theApollospacecraft during the joint mission. The three major components of theSoyuzare the spherical Orbital Module, the bell-shaped Descent Vehicle, and the cylindrical Instrument-Assembly Module from which two solar panels protrude.

80.View ofApollospacecraft as seen in Earth-orbit fromSoyuz. The Command/Service Module and Docking Module are contrasted against a black-sky background and the horizon of the Earth is below.

The docking module, 3 meters long and 1.5 meters in diameter (10 feet long and 5 feet in diameter), also solved the problem of incompatible docking mechanisms by carrying the new docking system on one end and a system compatible withApolloon the other.

Prime contractor for Apollo Command Module, Service Module, and Docking Module was Rockwell International.

TheApollohardware is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and theSoyuzspacecraft is on loan from the USSR Academy of Sciences.

81.Three chase planes salute the M2-F3 wingless lifting body following one of its rocket-powered flights. The blunt-nosed M2-F3 achieves its aerodynamic lift from the shape of its body.

This wingless craft is called a lifting body, because it derives its lift from the fuselage rather than from wings. Removing the wings reduces the weight of the craft, but adds significant control problems. The lifting body concept was developed early in the last decade to explore the problems of aerodynamic heating and vehicle control during reentry from earth orbit. These are the problems that will be especially critical in the space shuttle of the 1980s.

The M2-F3 tested flight behavior of wingless craft over a wide range of speeds.

The M2-F3’s forerunner, the M2-F2, made 16 flights—all unpowered—between July 1966 and May 1967. On May 10, it crashed on landing, partly due to control instability. The craft was rebuilt, and the center fin was added. This modification effectively solved the control problem, and the new craft, designated M2-F3, logged 27 more flights by December 1972. Some of the M2-F3’s flights were powered by a 3630-kilogram (8000-pound) thrust rocket which boosted the craft to a higher altitude.

The M2-F3 was launched from a B-52 bomber at a height of about 13,300 meters (45,000 feet) and a usual speed of 730 kilometers (450 miles) per hour. The maximum altitude achieved was 21,800 meters (71,500 feet). The M2-F3’s record speed was 1718 kilometers (1066 miles) per hour. The M2-F3 was built by Northrop.

The craft on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

82.Marine helicopter hovers overFreedom 7after the spacecraft carried the first American into space. Astronaut Shepard dangles in body harness as he is hoisted to helicopter.

On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., became the first American in space. He flew this Mercury spacecraft,Freedom 7, through a 15-minute, 22-second sub-orbital, or ballistic, space flight.

A Redstone booster, burning liquid oxygen and hydrazine-base fuel, liftedFreedom 7from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The vehicle’s single engine developed 35,380 kilograms (78,000 pounds) of thrust.

The structure of the Mercury is titanium, covered with steel and beryllium shingles. The heat shield at the base of the spacecraft is of beryllium.

The heat shield served as a “heat sink” by storing the heat created by the spacecraft’s reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft reached the ocean before the heat could penetrate the interior of the craft. (Later flights used ablative heat shields, which protected the spacecraft by vaporizing and burning away during reentry.)

Freedom 7traveled at a maximum speed of 8335 kilometers (5180 miles) per hour, going 485 kilometers (302 miles) downrange. The maximum altitude was 187 kilometers (116 miles).

Prime contractor for Mercury was the McDonnell Aircraft Company.

TheFreedom 7is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

83.This photo ofGemini 7was taken through the hatch window of theGemini 6spacecraft during rendezvous maneuvers 260 kilometers (160 miles) above Earth.

Gemini 7was launched on December 4, 1965, carrying astronauts Frank Borman and James Lovell, Jr., into a two-week flight.Gemini 6and7accomplished the first manned rendezvous in space. It was an historic flight for the United States’ manned space program and an important step in the preparation for the Apollo lunar flights.

The story of theGemini 7/6mission had begun two months earlier. The October launch ofGemini 6had to be delayed whenGemini 6’s Agena target vehicle failed to reach orbit. It was then decided thatGemini 6would attempt to rendezvous withGemini 7. Eight days after the launch ofGemini 7,Gemini 6was ready. But once again, the launch had to be delayed—this time an electrical plug became detached from the Titan booster prematurely, shutting down the engines. Finally, on December 15,Gemini 6’s Titan II launch vehicle lifted off.Gemini 6began a 6-hour chase to catchGemini 7, which was in a near-circular orbit 300 kilometers (186 miles) high.

Gemini 6’s launch put it 1175 kilometers (730 miles) behindGemini 7in an orbit which varied from 161 to 272 kilometers (100 to 169 miles) in height. By flying in a lower altitude orbit,Gemini 6astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford circled the Earth at a higher velocity, slowing down as they moved to match speed withGemini 7at the higher orbit. Finally, Schirra jockeyed theGemini 6spacecraft to within 30 centimeters (1 foot) fromGemini 7.

They stayed in formation for four revolutions while all four pilots practiced maneuvering. ThenGemini 6broke off and reentered, splashing down on December 16, 1965.

Gemini 7went on to complete its 14-day mission which set a record for the longest U.S.-manned space flight which stood until the first Skylab mission.Gemini 7splashed down on December 18.

Prime contractor for Gemini was the McDonnell Aircraft Company.

Gemini 7is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

84.The Gemini spacecraft.

85.Thrust chambers of the F-1 rocket engine on the manufacturing line.

Five F-1 engines powered the first stage of the Saturn 5 launch vehicle that launched the manned Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. These engines developed a total thrust of 3.5 million kilograms (7.6 million pounds). They burn liquid oxygen and a form of kerosene at a rate of 13,475 liters (3560 gallons) per second.

The propellants are supplied to the thrust chambers by turbopumps driven by gas generators that use a fuel-rich mixture ratio of the same propellants used in the engine.

The F-l was developed and produced by Rocketdyne, a division of Rockwell International, under the technical direction of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville. Alabama.

The engine on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

86.The first Apollo/Saturn 5 space vehicle on its way to the launch pad.

87.TheApollo 15Lunar Roving Vehicle was the first motor vehicle on the Moon.

The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is a spacecraft designed to carry two astronauts, their life-support systems, scientific equipment, and lunar samples on the airless, low-gravity surface of the Moon.

Lunar Roving Vehicles were used on Apollo missions15,16, and17and were driven a total of 90 kilometers (56 miles) on the Moon.

The crew ofApollo 15, the first to use an LRV, drove their vehicle 27.9 kilometers (17.3 miles) at speeds up to 19-21 kilometers (12-13 miles) per hour. In comparison theApollo 14astronauts traveled only 4.2 kilometers (2.6 miles) on foot.

LRVs enabled the astronauts to carry heavy, bulky equipment and to place scientific instruments at considerable distances from the lunar module.

An LRV could carry two astronauts as far as 91.5 kilometers (57 miles) across the lunar surface or operate for up to 78 hours.

Each LRV was transported to the Moon in a compartment of the descent stage of a lunar module.

Four LRVs were built by the Boeing Company. Three were used on the Moon; the LRV on display was used in tests.

The LRV on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

88.The Apollo Lunar Hand Tool Carrier holds 32 kilograms (70 pounds) of equipment, including a trenching tool, two geology scoops, four rock bags, a portable magnetometer, and five cameras.

Most tools and other pieces of equipment used by Apollo astronauts on the Moon were left behind as the astronauts departed to return to the Earth. This was done to conserve weight in the lunar module ascent stage so that the maximum quantity of samples of lunar soil and rocks could be brought back to the Earth.

Some tools and pieces of equipment, however, were returned to the Earth. These include such items as a lunar hammer, a 16-mm camera, film cassettes, lunar sample return containers, parts of a lunar roving vehicle fender, and parts of the unmanned spacecraftSurveyor 3visited byApollo 12astronauts.

In addition, astronauts carried small mementos with them when they landed on the Moon.

Other lunar tools and instruments on exhibit were backup, prototype, or used by the astronauts in pre-flight training.

The lunar hammer is on loan from Alan L. Bean; other tools and instruments are from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

89.An Apollo lunar sample return container. In this view, the rock box contains sample material and core tubes.

90.Skylab 4Command Module is hoisted aboard the U.S.S.New Orleansafter completing 1214 orbits.

TheSkylab 4command module ferried the crew of the last Skylab mission—astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue. TheSkylab 4crew lived in the Skylab for 84 days, from November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974.

In flight, the Apollo command module operated with a service module—an equipment section, 7.4 meters (24 feet) long and 4 meters (13 feet) in diameter—attached to the command module. The service module provided electrical power, oxygen, and water for the command module for most of a typical flight.

In addition, the service module contained the 9300-kilogram (20,500-pound) thrust Service Propulsion System, an engine capable of being throttled and restarted. During Apollo lunar flights, the engine provided thrust for mid-course trajectory changes and boosted the command/service module combination out of lunar orbit and back to Earth. The service module was jettisoned just before reentry into the earth’s atmosphere.

During reentry, the command module’s exterior was subjected to temperatures of around 2800°C (5000°F). The command module is covered with an ablative heat shield composed of a phenolic epoxy resin in a fiberglass honeycomb structure. As friction with the earth’s atmosphere caused the heat shield to char and vaporize, the heat was carried away from the spacecraft. The heat shield varies in thickness from 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) at the base to .6 centimeter (.25 inch) at the forward section. Total weight of the heat shield is about 1400 kilograms (3000 pounds).

The prime contractor for the Apollo Command Module was North American Rockwell Corporation.

The command module is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

91.A sample of vesicular basalt, produced by lunar volcanism 3.7 billion years ago, in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory. Devices record size and orientation of the rock. The cavities in this sample were formed by gases escaping from the still-molten rock. This sample is 13.5 centimeters (5.5 inches) long. A fragment of this lunar rock is on display in the “Apollo to the Moon” gallery.

During the six Apollo program moon landings, astronauts collected and returned to Earth samples of the lunar surface. The samples were collected both from the flat maria regions—great basins created by ancient meteoric impacts and later filled with lava from the moon’s interior—and from the highland regions.

Subsequent analysis of the samples has indicated that the moon’s surface is largely composed of three kinds of rock.

Basalt, the rock of the maria regions, was formed as lavas from the interior of the Moon welled to the surface, filled the great meteoric impact basins, and then cooled.

Anorthosite, the highland rock, is believed by many scientists to have formed when the original crust of the Moon cooled and solidified. According to this theory, a light mineral, plagioclase, floated to the surface of the Moon and formed the anorthosite.

Breccia, the shocked rock, is composed of large and small fragments of rocks which were shattered and redistributed on the lunar surface by meteoric impacts. Subsequently, the fragments were recombined into new rocks by heat and pressure.

Lunar soils are largely composed of fragments of the three types of rocks and their minerals, and glass produced by meteoric impacts and volcanic eruptions.

Lunar rock samples are on loan from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

92.Astronaut Schmitt collects samples with the lunar rake, a hand tool used to collect rocks and rock chips ranging in size from 1.3 centimeter (½ inch) to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch).

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

Lift-off of an Atlas Centaur carrying INTELSAT payload, August 23, 1973.

Earth from space photographed by theApollo 16crew.

Astronaut White performs first spacewalk fromGemini 4.

Apollo 12astronaut with United States flag on lunar surface.

Main parachutes lower theSkylab 3command module to the Pacific Ocean.

Solid rocket motors being jettisoned during launch of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-1.

View from right-hand seat ofGemini 8spacecraft when docked with Agena target vehicle.

Artist’s conception of Viking Mars lander as it heads for touch down.

Agena target vehicle seen fromGemini 11after tether drop.

View of Skylab Orbital Workshop photographed bySkylab 2crew.

Viking 2—bound for Mars—is launched aboard Titan Centaur on September 9, 1975.

Paul Calle’s interpretation ofSaturn 5launch.

New York to Norfolk composite photo from the Earth Resources Technology Satellite-1.

Photomicrograph of thin section of lunar rock.

Color enhancement of far ultraviolet photo of the Earth taken from space.

NASA’s Wallops Island Test Station in Virginia.

(All photographs from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.)

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