NASA Apollo Series: Stages to Saturn, A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles by Bilstein Roger E

Author:Bilstein, Roger E. [Bilstein, Roger E.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Cia Publishing
Published: 2013-08-19T04:00:00+00:00

Ripples of the S-II-T's destruction were felt in the launch schedule for AS-501; slippage in the S-II-1 flight stage had led to plans to use the S-II-T at Cape Kennedy to stack the AS-501 vehicle for systems tests and replace it later with the flight stage. Investigation of the S-II-T uncovered the presence of tiny cracks in the LH2 cylinders near the rupture area. Inspection of other manufactured stages and cylinders in production [230] revealed more minute cracks, leading to considerable delays in repair and modification work.59 Now, the successful launch of AS-501 depended even more heavily on successful testing of the first of the S-II-1 flight stages; the latter left Seal Beach on 31 July for a critical series of static firing and acceptance tests at MTF. By mid-August, the S-II was set up in Test Stand A-2 for checkout prior to static firing, which did not occur until the first of December. The intervening time was filled with a series of nettling problems-"the continuous surprises that keep occurring after the stages arrive on deck at MTF," as Rees complained to Storms during one of his weekly teleconferences.60 MSFC listed complaints on workmanship and quality control, including leaks around supposedly impervious seals; this situation led to the postponement of the first static test scheduled in late October.61

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