A-101

Mission emblem
Mission dates
Mission:	A-101 (Saturn SA-6)
COSPAR-ID :	1964-025A
Launcher:	Saturn I serial number SA-6
Begin:	May 28, 1964 5:07:00 PM UTC
Starting place:	Cape Canaveral Air Force Station LC-37B
Landing:	June 2. 1964 burns up
Flight duration:	3 days and about 8 hours
Earth orbits:	54
Apogee :	204 km
Perigee :	179 km
Covered track:	2,184,630 km
◄ Before / After ►
SA-5 A-102

A-101 (also called SA-6 ) was the first test flight of a Saturn I rocket with a dummy of the Apollo spacecraft . The name A-101 was chosen to emphasize the beginning of the Apollo tests.

aims

After all five test flights of the Saturn I rocket so far were satisfactory, the task now was to develop the necessary technologies to be able to build the more powerful Saturn IB and Saturn V models.

The tip of a Jupiter rocket previously used was replaced for the first time by a dummy from the Apollo spacecraft.

Apollo dummy (BP-13)

The realistic model (called boilerplate) consisted of:

• Rescue rocket with a height of 4.64 m.
• Escape tower, a 3.05 m high support structure for the rescue rocket. Together they formed the Launch Escape System (LES).
• Command module (CM), a conical aluminum construction with a base diameter of 3.91 m and 3.4 m height.
• Service module (SM), an aluminum construction with a diameter of 3.91 m and 3.15 m in height. It was mounted on the second stage by means of an adapter section and the instrument unit.

This unit corresponded in dimensions, weight and center of gravity to a functioning, manned Apollo spacecraft. It was equipped with instruments that made 116 measurement data such as load, pressure and acceleration available to the three telemetry systems. Measured from the second stage, the structure had a mass of 16,900 kg and a height of 24.4 m.

preparation

Preparations for launching the A-101 mission

The steps were delivered to the Kennedy Space Center between February 18 and February 22, and were installed on Launch Complex 37B . There were some delays. Liquid oxygen damaged a cable cover during a test, the flight management system overheated as a compressor of the air conditioning failed, and during the countdown oxygen steam fogged the window of a combination meter, so that the theodolite , a normally required instrument was no longer visible. The engineers took the necessary data from the computers to enable the start.

Flight history

The launch took place on May 28, 1964 at 17:07:00  UTC . After 77 seconds, one of the eight first stage H-1 engines switched off 24 seconds too early. The lack of thrust could, however, be compensated for by the fact that the remaining engines burned 2.7 seconds longer and the autopilot corrected the course deviation.

The first stage was disconnected and the second ignited. This was filmed by eight cameras, which were then dropped and later recovered. Ten seconds later, the LES was also blown off as planned.

The engines could be switched off 6 minutes, 24.5 seconds after take-off. The second stage with the Apollo dummy reached Earth orbit and transmitted telemetry data for four orbits until the batteries were empty. The actual trajectory almost reached the expected parameters. Only the rocket's own rotation was faster than desired at 28 ° per second due to the loss of fuel residues.

On its 54th orbit around the world, the rocket fell into the atmosphere and burned up on June 1 near the Canton Islands over the southern Pacific .

Impact on the Apollo program

The Saturn I worked mostly satisfactorily and coped with the Apollo spacecraft in terms of weight, structure, and aerodynamics. The failure of an engine meant no delay for the following mission A-102 .

Web links

Commons : A-101  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• NASA: Mission Overview (English)
• NASA: National Space Science Data Center (English)