Apollo Artifacts

Apollo Saturn S-IVB (third stage) liquid hydrogen vent and relief valve

This Apollo Saturn S-IVB (third stage) Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) dual function tank Vent and Relief Valve was manufactured by Wallace O. Leonard Inc. under subcontract to Douglas Corporation (prime for the S-IVB). The valve was produced in 1966.

The LH2 Vent-Relief valve, used as part of the single Rocketdyne J-2 engine system which powered the stage, was situated at the top/forward portion of the S-IVB LH2 tank. It was commanded via the Pneumatic Control System (helium gas driven). The Vent-Relief valve opened during ground fill/drain of the propellants and closed prior to pressurization. Additionally, the valve enabled venting while in flight if either of the tanks experienced overpressurization. The Vent-Relief valve output was applied to a nonpropulsive vent system (expelled gas was routed to two ducts positioned at 180 degrees on either side of the stage resulting in total thrust cancellation).

When in flight, the LH2 Vent-Relief valve also fed the continuous vent system used to provide a thrust force required to position propellants at the aft end of each tank during coast. The system consisted of a vent line originating at the LH2 Vent-Relief valve, terminating at two low thrust nozzles located 180 degrees apart, and facing aft on the forward skirt. Venting was regulated by a pneumatically operated continuous propulsive vent module. The LH2 propulsive vents opened approximately 49 seconds after insertion (into circular Earth parking orbit) as well as during the pre-ignition Translunar Injection (TLI) Boost phase; and provided a sustained, low level thrust to keep the S-IVB propellant seated against the aft bulkheads of their cryogenic storage tanks. Supplemented by the APS (Auxillary Propulsion System) ullage engines, these actions were critical to inhibiting J2 propellant line cavitation upon engine restart.

The valve is 21" tall and 12.5" in diameter at the widest point. It weighs 45 pounds.

Thanks to Scott Schneeweis for the technical description of this artifact.

Weekend with Apollo astronauts and a shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center

This past weekend I had a chance to attend an Apollo astronaut event and to see the launch of STS-117 (Space Shuttle Atlantis). What a cool weekend to meet and chat with Apollo astronauts, mission control specialists, and others from the original American space programs.

I saw the launch (7:38PM) from the causeway. This photo is with a cheap digital camera with very little zoom applied. It is basically how I saw the launch.

About an hour later, the contrails mixing with the sunset created a terrific image behind the KSC rocket garden. I’ve never seen anything quite like those white swirling contrails against a blue black sky.

The dinner on Saturday night was terrific. The Saturn V center at KSC was an ideal venue. Ran into real and virtual friends including Larry, Noah, Jason, Mike & Miranda, Robert, Steve, Mark, and others.

I was lucky to sit at Gene Cernan’s table and enjoyed his stories of landing on the moon and his thoughts at being “the Last Man on the Moon.”

Apollo Saturn V guidance and control computer logic circuit board

This artifact, a flight ready spare, was a critical part of the Saturn V guidance navigation and control computer system. The computer was housed in the Saturn V Instrument Unit, designed and built by IBM.

The computer and this board is of unusually light weight and was achieved by the use of magnesium-lithium alloy chassis, the first use of this alloy in structural fabrication for an electronics application and the lightest structural metal used in the aerospace industry.

The unit logic devices were produced as a wafers and a total of 8918 such wafers were mounted on dozens of pages in the computer. There is a green insulated connector that has gold pins.  This artifact is labeled: 6111774 SERIAL NUMBER 3 and the back side reads: 6112680 35-2 B SIDE.

Saturn V 1/200 scale model by Nick Proach

This model is a very accurate, hand carved (from mahogany) and painted representation of the Saturn V rocket. The vehicle model stands 23.5" tall including the base.  This exquisite model, made by Nick Proach Models, is fully licensed by Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas and North American Aviation.

Saturn V Instrument Unit directional CCS PCM antenna

This funky looking item is a Saturn V Instrument Unit directional CCS/PCM Antenna array. The basic structure was fabricated by Metal Research and Mr. Chris Argus of Calumet Fiberglass under subcontract to IBM (NASA Contract NAS 8-1400) and measures approximately 8 X 5 X 23 inches. The antenna cover is made of RF transparent epoxy impregnated fiberglass. The antenna and cover was recovered by a NASA engineer from a Marshall Space Flight Center dumpster after disposal. Because it is likely a test article, it lacks the final white titanium dioxide paint coating which would have been applied after installation on the launch vehicle.

This antenna was a transmit only high gain directional antenna fixed on the IU with the radiation pattern was directed toward the earth by controlling the attitude of the spacecraft. The antenna contained 5 helical elements, 4 in quadrapole arrangement for high gain UHF S-BAND (2282.5 MHZ @ 20 watts) and 1 monopole element. It assumed responsibility for the Omnidirectional antenna pair once the launch vehicle exited their range (approximately 6700 nm above the earth's surface) and provided the Command and Communications System (CCS) downlink and Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)/Frequency Modulated (FM) telemetry signals to ground stations while also acting as a backup tracking transponder. Two antennas were installed for redundancy onboard the Saturn V Instrument Unit in the +Z / Position "I" quadrant.

Thanks to Scott Schneeweis for the technical description of this artifact.

Apollo Saturn V Launch Vehicle Electronic Analog Control Circuit Board

This artifact, a flight ready spare, was designed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama for the Saturn V flight control system.

It consists of 10 Texas Instruments gold base metal hermetically sealed transistors, 20 glass Zener diodes, and 20 Allen Bradley carbon composition resistors. The back of the circuit board contains electrical connector pins using gold in their construction. The high strength fiberglass circuit board is coated to protect the components from the environment.

The multipin interface connector has a triangular NASA certification stamp and 50M65845-1 designates the original designer as MSFC for the Apollo Saturn moon program. The dimensions are about 4.125 inches by 3.45 inches.

KSC Apollo 3B3 Time Base Delayed Sweep Triggering Panel

With fun dials, knobs and vacuum tubes, this equipment was made by Tektronix for NASA and used at Kennedy Space Center during Apollo launches.  This is a plug-in for a standard Tektronix oscilloscope and was probably a diagnostic tool as opposed to a monitoring tool.

Apollo Saturn S-IVB Pneumatic Propellant Control Valve

This magnificent work of art is a Saturn third stage (S-IVB) Pneumatic Propellant Control Valve. The craftsmanship is just unbelievable.

A uni-directional Pneumatic Control Valve used to regulate the flow of Liquid Hydrogen Propellant (LH2) onboard the Saturn V (S-IVB) third stage, manufactured by Subcontractor Snaptite Inc (AERVALCO Co) Dec 1967 on behalf of Douglas Aircraft Company (Prime S-IVB) for NASA contact NAS7-101. This component was part of the pneumatic control system, which provided gaseous Helium (Ghe) pressure to actuate all S-IVB stage pneumatically operated valves with the exception of those provided as components of the J-2 engine.

Contract: NAS 7-101 (Douglas Corp S-IVB Contract), Manufacturer: Snaptite Inc (AERVALCO Co), Assy no. 527517. D.A.C spec 1859010-503. Date of Production: Dec 1967

Thanks to Scott Schneeweis for the technical description of this artifact.

KSC launch badges

These interesting plastic launch badges denoted various levels of access to Kennedy Space Center locations during the launch of the Apollo Saturn I and Saturn V vehicles.

Apollo Pad Range Safety Communications Box

This Apollo Pad Range Safety Communications Box is weird and wonderful. The face bears two volume control buttons, a station selector, and an admonition to "use blue microphone headsets only." The right side bears four identification tags which read S/N 23, N-29712, Four Wire Modification GE 63A102135, Rev G, NASA Property General Electric Apollo Support Department, No 11470, Contract No 10-410, and Four Wire Modification GE 63A102508, Rev 0.