This historic NASA film profiles the Apollo 4 mission (also known as
AS-501). This was the first, unmanned test flight of the Saturn V
launch vehicle, which was used by the U.S. Apollo program to send the
first astronauts to the Moon. The space vehicle was assembled in the
Vehicle Assembly Building, and was the first to be launched from Launch
Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island,
Florida, facilities built specially for the Saturn V.
Apollo 4 was an "all-up" test, meaning all rocket stages and spacecraft
were fully functional on the initial flight, a first for NASA. It was
the first time the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage flew. It also
demonstrated the S-IVB third stage's first in-flight restart. The
mission used a Block I Command Service Module (CSM) modified to test
several key Block II revisions, including its heat shield at simulated
lunar-return velocity and angle.
Originally planned for late 1966, the flight was delayed to November 9,
1967, largely due to development problems of the S-II stage encountered
by North American Aviation, the manufacturer of the stage. Delay was
also caused, to a lesser extent, by a large number of wiring defects
found by NASA in the Apollo spacecraft, also built by North American.
The mission was the first Apollo flight after the stand-down imposed
after the Apollo 1 fire which killed the first Apollo crew. It was the
first to use NASA's official Apollo numbering scheme established in
April 1967, designated Apollo 4 because there had been three previous
unmanned Apollo/Saturn flights in 1966, using the Saturn IB launch
vehicle.
The mission lasted almost nine hours, splashing down in the Pacific
Ocean, achieving all mission goals. NASA deemed the mission a complete
success, because it proved the Saturn V worked, an important step
towards achieving the Apollo program's objective of landing astronauts
on the Moon and bringing them back safely, before the end of the decade.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest
historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage
collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available
for licensing in 24p HD and 2K. For more information visit
http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
