Usuari:Miquel Guillamon Granell/proves

Apollo 7

Apollo 7 durant la primera transmissió televisiva en directe des de l'espai.
Tipus de missió	Missió de prova tripulada
Operador	NASA
NSSDCA ID	1968-089A
Núm. SATCAT	3486
Durada de la missió	10 dies, 20 hores, 9 minuts, 3 segons
Propietats de la nau
Nau espacial	Apollo CSM-101
Fabricant	North American Rockwell
Massa de llançament	16.519 kg.
Massa d'aterratge	5.175 kg.
Tripulació
D'esquerra a dreta: Eisele, Schirra, Cunningham
Walter Schirra Donn F. Eisele R. Walter Cunningham
Tripulants	3
Indicatiu	Apollo 7
Inici de la missió
Data de llançament	11 octubre, 1968, 15:02:45
Vehicle de llançament	Saturn IB SA-205
Fi de la missió
Data d'aterratge	22 octubre, 1968, 11:11:48
Lloc d'aterratge	Nord de l'oceà Atlàntic 27° 32′ N, 64° 04′ O
Recuperat per	USS Essex (CV-9)
Activitat orbital  Tipus d'òrbita Geocèntrica Règim Òrbita terrestre baixa Periàpside 227 quilometres (123 nmi) Apoàpside 301 quilometres (163 nmi) Inclinació 31.6 graus Període 89.79 minuts Època 13 octubre, 1968 Òrbites realitzades 163
Programa Apollo ← Apollo 6 Apollo 8 →

Apollo 7 va ser una missió espacial tripulada duta a terme pels EE.UU. l'octubre de 1968. Va ser la primera missió tripulada del Programa Apollo. També va ser el primer vol espacial tripulat des del Gemini 12, en novembre de 1966. La missió AS-204, també coneguda com a "Apollo 1", havia d'haver estat la primera missió tripulada del programa Apollo. El seu llançament estava programat pel febrer de 1967, però un incendi a la cabina durant una proba al gener de 1967 va matar la tripulació. Aleshores, els vols tripulats van ser suspesos durant 21 mesos, mentre s'investigava les causes de l'accident i es duien a terme millores a la nau i en els procediments de seguretat. L'Apollo 7 va completar els objectius de l'Apollo 1 a l'hora de provar el Mòdul de comandament i servei Apollo (CSM) en una òrbita terrestre baixa.

La tripulació del Apollo 7 estava comandada per Walter Schirra, amb el pilot / navegant Donn F. Eisele, i el pilot / enginyer de sistemes Walter Cunningham. Els càrrecs oficials de la tripulació es van fer compatibles amb els que serien emprats en les missions d'aterratge lunar: Eisele era pilot del mòdul de comandament i Cunningham pilot del mòdul lunar. La seva missió consistia en un vol de prova orbital d'onze dies per tal de testar el redissenyat CSM amb una tripulació a bord. Va ser la primera vegada en què un coet Saturn IB llançava una tripulació a l'espai; l'Apollo 7 va ser la primera missió espacial americana de tres persones, i la primera en incloure una transmissió televisiva en directe. Va ser llançada l'11 d'octubre de 1968, des del en aquell moment coneguda com a Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida. Tot i les tensions entre la tripulació i els controladors de terra, la missió va ser un complet èxit tècnic, proporcionant a la NASA la confiança necessària per enviar, dos mesos després, l'Apollo 8 en una òrbita circunlunar. Aquest vol seria el darrer per als tres membres de la tripulació, i l'únic per a Cunningham i Eisele. També va ser 'únic vol tripulat llançat des de l'Estació de la força aèria de Cap Canaveral, així com el darrer llançament efectuat des d'aquell complex.

Tripulació

Posició	Astronauta
Comandant	Walter Schirra Tercer i darrer vol espacial
Pilot de mòdul	Donn F. Eisele Únic vol espacial
Pilot de mòdul lunar	R. Walter Cunningham Únic vol espacial

Tripulació de reserva

Posició	Astronauta
Comandant	Thomas P. Stafford
Pilot de mòdul	John W. Young
Pilot de mòdul lunar	Eugene A. Cernan
La tripulació de reserva va convertir-se en la tripulació oficial de l'Apollo 10.

Equip de suport

Ronald E. Evans, John L. 'Jack' Swigert, i Ed Givens van ser designats com a equip de suport de la missió. Givens va morir en un accident de cotxe el 6 de juny de 1967, i William R. Pogue va ser designat en el seu lloc. Evans va participar a les proves de hardware al Kennedy Space Center. Swigert era l'encarregat de les comunicacions amb la càpsula de llançament (CAPCOM) i va treballar en aspectes operacionals de la missió. Pogue es va dedicar a la modificació de determinats procediments.

Antecedents

Apollo 7's liftoff

Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham van ser designats per primera vegada com a tripulació d'Apollo el 29 de setembre de 1966. La seva missió original consistia en efectuar un segon vol orbital de prova del primer mòdul de comandament i servei (no dissenyat encara per acoblar-se al mòdul lunar), després de l'Apollo 1. El primer vol de prova l'havien d'efectuar Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White, i Roger Chaffee. El desembre de 1966, aquest segon vol va ser considerat redundant i va ser cancel·lat. La tripulació de Schirra va ser reassignada com a tripulació de reserva de l'equip de Grissom.

Els plans per a un primer vol tripulat, però, van quedar completament interromputs el 27 de gener de 1967 degut a l'incendi de cabina que va matar Grissom, White, i Chaffee. Aleshores, Schirra, Eisele, i Cunningham van ser designats com a tripulació principal del primer vol tripulat. Tant el mòdul de comandament (CM) com els vestits d'astronauta havien estat completament redissenyats per reduir i eliminar qualsevol possibilitat d'un accident com el que havia matat la primera tripulació. Schirra, doncs, va esdevenir l'únic astronauta en volar amb el Programa Mercury, el Gemini i Apollo. Durant aquesta missió amb "final obert" (la fi de la missió venia donada segons el temps emprat en cada prova), l'equip provaria els sistemes de suport vital, propulsió i guia i control. Tot i així la duració va ser limitada a 11 dies. Com que el vol s'havia d'efectuar en una òrbita terrestre baixa i no incloïa el mòdul lunar (LM), l'Apollo 7 va ser llançat amb el coet Saturn IB en comptes de amb el molt més gran i potent Saturn V.

Durant els programes Mercury i Gemini, l'enginyer de la McDonnell Aircraft, Guenter Wendt havia estat director dels equips de plataforma de llançament, tenint la responsabilitat final sobre les condicions de la nau i el seu llançament. Durant aquest període, es va guanyar el respecte i l'admiració dels astronautes, inclòs Schirra. Però ara, el contractista espacial havia canviat a la Rockwell International, i per tant Wendt ja no era director.

Schirra va convèncer al seu cap Deke Slayton per a que pressionés la gerència i Wendt fos contractat al marge de la McDonnell, i ell mateix personalment va aconseguir que el gerent de les operacions de llançament canviés el torn de Wendt, de la nit al dia, per aconseguir que fos el director de plataforma de l'Apollo 7. Wendt va romandre com a director de plataforma durant tot el programa Apollo.

La missió

Operacions orbitals

Close-up of the S-IVB stage during rendezvous maneuvers. Note the docking target inside the spacecraft adapter, and how the right-hand panel is not fully opened to the same angle as the others

El primer vol tripulat americà en 22 mesos va partit de l'Estació de la força aèria de Cap Canaveral a les 15:02:45 UTC del divendres 11 d'octubre de 1968. L'enlairament va ser impecable; el Saturn IB va funcionar perfectament en el seu primer llançament tripulat i no hi va haver cap anomalia significativa durant la fase d'impuls. Els astronautes ho van descriure com a molt suau en comparació amb l'aspre i accidentat Titan II emprat en els llançaments del Programa Gemini.

Durant el compte enrere, el vent bufava de l'est. El llançament sota aquestes condicions climàtiques violava els regles de seguretat, ja què en cas d'avortament de la missió el mòdul de comandament podia tocar terra sobre Florida, cosa que podia posar en seriós pèrill la tripulació. L'Apollo 7 encara estava equipat amb els seients de l'antic Apollo 1, que no oferien l'adequada protecció contra cops en cas d'aterratge terrestre. Els nous seients havien estat redissenyats, però les unitats no havien arribat a temps per al llançament. Des de dins del mòdul, Schirra es va queixar de que aquell llançament amb vent de lest era perillós, però aquestes protestes van ser ignorades.

Una vegada en òrbita, i separats del S-IVB, la tripulació va girar el CSM emprant els seus propulsors del sistema de control de reacció, i Eisele va practicar una simulació d'acoblament amb el mòdul lunar utilitzant una referència visual instalada dins l'adaptador del mòdul lunar, en la mateixa posició radial que havia d'ocupar en el mòdul lunar. Un dels panels de l'adaptador del S-IVB no es va desplegar completament fins als 45 graus, fent recordar al controlador de vol (CAPCOM) Tom Stafford una experiència similar prèvia amb la Gemini 9A, quan no es va poder completar un acoblament per causes similars. Si aquella hagués estat una missió lunar real, pels astronautes hagués estat molt més difícil l'extracció del mòdul lunar de l'adaptador, arriscant-se a possibles danyse. Això va reforçar la decissió d'afegir un sistema que assegurés la separació completa i l'expulsió dels panels en tots els subseqüents vols Apollo-Saturn V.

The Apollo hardware and all mission operations worked without any significant problems, and the service propulsion system (SPS), the all-important engine that would place Apollo into and out of lunar orbit, made eight firings, performing within 1% of the engine acceptance test thrust and specific impulse values. As the Saturn IB itself had performed very smoothly during launch, the astronauts were unprepared for the sudden violent jolt they received upon first activating the SPS, leading to Schirra yelling "Yabbadabbadoo!" in reference to The Flintstones cartoon. Don Eisele called it "a real boot in the rear."

An assortment of minor hardware problems occurred over the flight; these included the drinking water hose trigger sticking during the final two days, a momentary undervoltage of the main AC buses caused by the automatic cryo fan switch in the service module LOX and LH2 tanks, and a loss of telemetry due to a malfunctioning electrical commutator following SM jettison at the end of the mission, meaning that the final 15 minutes of data transmission were lost. Aside from the last event, which remained a mystery despite postflight testing of the commutator, all of the problems on Apollo 7 were quickly resolved and some of them also involved equipment or procedures that would not be used on subsequent missions.

Apollo promised the best food ever eaten in space. For the first time, astronauts had both hot and cold water to prepare meals with (the food came in freeze-dried vacuum packs that would be injected with water or else eaten dry followed by a sip of water) and Wally Schirra, who had had only toothpaste-like tubes for food on his Mercury flight, described the food as "Still does not match home cooking, but it comes a lot closer than space food used to." Thirty-three meals were provided for the three crewmen, allowing them three meals a day for each of the 11 days in space. Even so, the astronauts complained that there was more food than they could eat and that most of it was too sweet, although the menus had been prepared based on their personal preferences.

Early fears that the movement of the astronauts inside the CM would make it hard for the spacecraft's attitude control system to stabilize it proved unfounded, and they reported that motion was "incredibly easy" with no gravity to work against. As sleeping in the fetal position was cramping and painful, a stretching device called the Exer-Genie was provided for relaxing aching muscles.

Another mission goal was the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft (Gordon Cooper had transmitted slow scan television pictures from Faith 7 in 1963, which were never broadcast). It was initially scheduled for midday on day two, but Schirra was concerned with the broadcast interfering with the rendezvous test.

"Mutiny" in space

Even though Apollo's larger cabin was more comfortable than Gemini's, 11 days in orbit took its toll on the astronauts. Tension with Schirra began with the launch decision, when flight managers decided to launch with a less-than-ideal abort option for the early part of the ascent. Once in orbit, the spacious cabin may have induced some crew motion sickness, which had not been an issue in the earlier, smaller spacecraft. The crew were unhappy with their food selections, especially the high energy sweets. They also found the waste collection system cumbersome (requiring 30 minutes to use) and smelly. But the worst problem occurred when Schirra developed a severe head cold. As a result, he became irritable with requests from Mission Control and all three astronauts began "talking back" to the CAPCOM. An early example was this exchange after Mission Control requested that a TV camera be turned on in the spacecraft:

Walter Schirra looks out the rendezvous window in front of the commander's station on the ninth day of the mission

SCHIRRA: You've added two burns to this flight schedule, and you've added a urine water dump; and we have a new vehicle up here, and I can tell you at this point TV will be delayed without any further discussion until after the rendezvous.
CAPCOM (Jack Swigert): Roger. Copy.
SCHIRRA: Roger.
CAPCOM 1 (Deke Slayton): Apollo 7, this is CAPCOM number 1.
SCHIRRA: Roger.
CAPCOM 1: All we've agreed to do on this is flip it.
SCHIRRA: ... with two commanders, Apollo 7
CAPCOM 1: All we have agreed to on this particular pass is to flip the switch on. No other activity is associated with TV; I think we are still obligated to do that.
SCHIRRA: We do not have the equipment out; we have not had an opportunity to follow setting; we have not eaten at this point. At this point, I have a cold. I refuse to foul up our time lines this way.

A further source of tension between Mission Control and the crew was that Schirra repeatedly expressed the view that the reentry should be conducted with their helmets off, contrary to previous Project Mercury and Gemini experience. They perceived a risk that their eardrums might burst due to the sinus pressure from their colds, and they wanted to be able to pinch their noses and blow to equalize the pressure as it increased during reentry. This would have been impossible wearing the helmets, as the new Apollo helmets were a continuous "fishbowl" type without a moveable visor, unlike previous helmets. However, on repeated occasions over the course of the mission, Schirra was instructed that the helmets should be worn for safety reasons. In the final exchange on the subject, Mission Control made it clear to Schirra that he would be expected to account for flouting instructions:

CAPCOM 1 (Deke Slayton): Okay. I think you ought to clearly understand that there is absolutely no experience at all with landing without the helmet on.
SCHIRRA: And there is no experience with the helmet either on that one.
CAPCOM 1: That one we've got a lot of experience with, yes.
SCHIRRA: If we had an open visor, I might go along with that.
CAPCOM 1: Okay. I guess you better be prepared to discuss in some detail when we land why we haven't got them on. I think you're too late now to do much about it.
SCHIRRA: That's affirmative. I don't think anybody down there has worn the helmets as much as we have.
CAPCOM 1: Yes.
SCHIRRA: We tried them on this morning.
CAPCOM 1: Understand that. The only thing we're concerned about is the landing. We couldn't care less about the reentry. But it's your neck, and I hope you don't break it.
SCHIRRA: Thank you, babe.
CAPCOM 1: Over and out.

Exchanges such as this led to Eisele and Cunningham being rejected for future missions (Schirra had already announced his impending retirement from NASA).

Reentry and post-flight evaluation

The splashdown point was 27° 32′ N, 64° 04′ O, 200 milles nàutiques (370 km) SSW of Bermuda and 7 nmi (13 km) north of the recovery ship USS Essex.

Despite the difficulties between the crew and Mission Control, the mission successfully met its objectives to verify the Apollo command and service module's flight worthiness, allowing Apollo 8's flight to the Moon to proceed just two months later. Apollo 7 was Project Apollo's only human spaceflight mission to launch from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station's Launch Complex 34. All subsequent Apollo and Skylab spacecraft flights (including Apollo–Soyuz) were launched from Launch Complex 39 at the nearby Kennedy Space Center. Launch Complex 34 was declared redundant and decommissioned in 1969, making Apollo 7 the last human spaceflight mission to launch from the Cape Air Force Station in the 20th century. As of January 2019, Cunningham is the only surviving member of the crew. Eisele died in 1987 and Schirra in 2007.

Mission insignia

Apollo 7 Flown Robbins medallion

The insignia for the flight shows a command and service module with its SPS engine firing, the trail from that fire encircling a globe and extending past the edges of the patch symbolizing the Earth-orbital nature of the mission. The Roman numeral VII appears in the South Pacific Ocean and the crew's names appear on a wide black arc at the bottom. The patch was designed by Allen Stevens of Rockwell International.

Crew honors

After the mission, NASA awarded Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham its Exceptional Service Medal in recognition of their success. On November 2, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson held a ceremony at the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City, Texas, to present the astronauts with the medals. He also presented NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, to recently retired NASA administrator James E. Webb, for his "outstanding leadership of America's space program" since the beginning of Apollo.

Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham were the only crew, of all the Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project missions, who had not been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal immediately following their missions (though Schirra had received the medal twice before, for his Mercury and Gemini missions). Therefore, NASA administrator Michael D. Griffin decided to belatedly award the medals to the crew in October 2008, "[f]or exemplary performance in meeting all the Apollo 7 mission objectives and more on the first crewed Apollo mission, paving the way for the first flight to the Moon on Apollo 8 and the first crewed lunar landing on Apollo 11." Only Cunningham was still alive at the time; Eisele's widow accepted his medal, and Apollo 8 crew member Bill Anders accepted Schirra's. Other Apollo astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Alan Bean, were present at the award ceremony. Former Flight Director Christopher C. Kraft Jr., who had been in conflict with the crew during the mission, sent a conciliatory video message of congratulations, saying: "We gave you a hard time once but you certainly survived that and have done extremely well since ... I am frankly, very proud to call you a friend."

Spacecraft location

The Apollo 7 command module on display

In January 1969, the Apollo 7 command module was displayed on a NASA float in the inauguration parade of President Richard M. Nixon. For nearly 30 years the command module was on loan (renewable every two years) to the National Museum of Science and Technology, in Ottawa, Ontario, along with the space suit worn by Wally Schirra. In November 2003, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., requested them back for display at their new annex at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Currently, the Apollo 7 CM is on loan to the Frontiers of Flight Museum located next to Love Field in Dallas, Texas.

Depiction in media

Barbara Eden, Bob Hope, Eisele, Cunningham, Schirra, and "voice of Mission Control" Paul Haney, on The Bob Hope Show

On November 6, 1968, comedian Bob Hope broadcast one of his variety television specials from NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston to honor the Apollo 7 crew. Barbara Eden, star of the popular comedy series I Dream of Jeannie, which featured two fictional astronauts among its regular characters, appeared with Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham.

Schirra parlayed the head cold he contracted during Apollo 7 into a television advertising contract as a spokesman for Actifed, an over the counter version of the medicine he took in space.

The Apollo 7 mission is dramatized in the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon episode "We Have Cleared the Tower", with Mark Harmon as Schirra, John Mese as Eisele, Fredric Lehne as Cunningham, and Max Wright as Wendt.

A documentary produced by George Van Valkenburg, The Log of Apollo 7, has been restored from 16 mm film and posted online.

Gallery

• 
  The crew during water egress training
• 
  Apollo 7 in flight
• 
  Apollo 7 S-IVB rocket stage in orbit
• 
  Distant view of the S-IVB stage
• 
  View of Florida from Apollo 7
• 
  A crewmember being hoisted into the recovery helicopter
• 
  The crew is welcomed aboard the USS Essex
• 
  Crew after recovery aboard USS Essex

See also

• List of Apollo missions
• Timeline of longest spaceflights

Bibliography

• Burgess, Colin; Doolan, Kate. Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon. Bibson Books, October 1, 2003. ISBN 978-0803262126. 
• Farmer, Gene; Hamblin, Dora Jane; Armstrong, Neil [et al.].. First on the Moon: A Voyage with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.. Epilogue by Arthur C. Clarke. 1st. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1970. ISBN 0-71-810736-5. OCLC 71625. 
• Steven-Boniecki, Dwight. Live TV From the Moon. Burlington, Ontario: Apogee Books, 2010. ISBN 978-1-926592-16-9. OCLC 489010199. 

Further reading

• Lattimer, Dick. All We Did Was Fly to the Moon. Foreword by James A. Michener. 1. 1st. Alachua, FL: Whispering Eagle Press, 1985 (History-alive series). ISBN 0-9611228-0-3. 
• Schirra, Wally; Billings, Richard N. Schirra's Space. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988 (Blujacket Books). ISBN 1-55750-792-9. 

External links

• Master catalog entry at NASA/NSSDC
• Apollo 7 Press Kit (PDF) NASA, Release No. 68-168K, October 6, 1968
• The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology NASA, NASA SP-4009
• "Apollo Program Summary Report" (PDF), NASA, JSC-09423, April 1975

Multimedia

• The Flight of Apollo 7 NASA documentary film at the Internet Archive