Moon Race - 1965

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<==1964 1966==> USA USSR   During 1965 - N1 development issues - There were two camps on the N1-L3 control systems. One group was within OKB-1, and had developed the systems for the Vostok and Zenit spacecraft, under the personal oversight of Korolev. They stressed the maximum quality and reliability in their syst... 5 January - Study of manual control of the Apollo LEM - MSC's Guidance and Control Division conducted a pilot simulation study to determine whether a pilot could take over manual control of the LEM between 4,572 and 3,048 m (15,000 and 10,000 ft) above the lunar surface and satisfactorily land the vehicle...   1965 January 6-8 - Preliminary Design Review of the Apollo Block II CM - The Preliminary Design Review of the Block II CM was held at North American's Downey, Calif., plant. Ten working groups evaluated the spacecraft design and resolved numerous minor details. They then reported to a review board of NASA and North Americ...   7 January - Revised Apollo launch schedule - William A. Lee, chief of ASPO's Operations Planning Division, announced a revised Apollo launch schedule for 1966 and 1967. In 1968, a week-long earth orbital flight would be a dress rehearsal for the lunar mission. "Then the moon," Lee pre...     9 January - Cosmonaut recruitment - Kamanin would like to get going with the training of 40 additional cosmonauts from many disciplines in order to 'storm space'. Korolev is opposed. Kamanin is also trying to get new flights scheduled for his female cosmonauts. This is never mentioned ... 11 January - Dalmo-Victor to supply antennas for Apollo CSM's - North American selected Dalmo-Victor to supply S-band high-gain antennas for Apollo CSM's. (The deployable antenna would be used beyond 14,816 km (8,000 nm) from the earth.) Dalmo-Victor would complete the antenna design and carry out the development...   11 January - LC 16 to be converted to test stands for Apollo - NASA announced that Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 16, a Titan missile facility, would be converted into static test stands for Apollo spacecraft. This decision eliminated the need for such a facility originally planned on Merritt Island and, ...   12 January - Various designs for the extravehicular mobility unit - Grumman and Hamilton Standard were exploring various designs for the extravehicular mobility unit. On the basis of some early conclusions, the MSC Crew Systems Division (CSD) recommended that meteoroid and thermal protection be provided by a single g...     13 January - OKB-1 program review - All systems development is complete, and the two boosters for Vykhod are ready. The launch of the pathfinder spacecraft with mannequins aboard will take place at the end of January, with the manned mission scheduled for March. Leonov's spacesuit is c... 14 January - Apollo CM/SM umbilical cutter caused damage to the heatshield - During testing, it was found that blast effects of the linear charge for the CM/SM umbilical cutter caused considerable damage to the heatshield. To circumvent this problem, North American designed a vastly improved pyrotechnic-driven, guillotine-typ...   1965 January 14-21 - Development firings of the Apollo parachute mortars completed - Development firings of the launch escape system's drogue and pilot parachute mortars were completed, and the units were slated for qualification trials the following month....   18 January - Qualification testing completed of the tanks for the Apollo service propulsion system - General Motors' Allison Division completed qualification testing of the propellant tanks for the service propulsion system....   21 January - Apollo dual drogue parachutes in drop test - Northrop-Ventura verified the strength of the dual drogue parachutes in a drop test at El Centro, Calif. This was also the first airborne test of the new mortar by which the drogues were deployed and of the new pilot parachute risers, made of steel c...   21 January - Requirements for Apollo spacecraft launched by Saturn IB assessed - At the request of Maj. Gen. Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Program Director, ASPO reexamined the performance requirements for spacecraft slated for launch with Saturn IBs. MSC currently assessed that the launch vehicle was able to put 16,102 kg (35,500 l...   1965 January 21-28 - STL sole contractor for the Apollo LEM descent engine - Parallel development of the LEM descent engine was halted. Space Technology Laboratories was named the sole contractor; the Rocketdyne contract was canceled. Grumman estimated that the cost of Rocketdyne's program would be about $25 million at termin...   25 January - Backup Apollo Block II space suit development program - MSC negotiated a backup Block II space suit development program with David Clark Company, which paralleled the Hamilton Standard program, at a cost of $176,000. Criteria for selecting the suit for ultimate development for Block II would be taken from...   25 January - Optimism permeated Apollo program - The optimism that permeated the Apollo program was reflected in statements by NASA's Associate Administrator, Robert C. Seamans, Jr., during budget briefings for the forthcoming year. He was "greatly encouraged" by recent design freezes and...   26 January - Apollo Lunar Landing Research Vehicle results - Warren J. North, Chairman of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) Coordination Panel, reported to MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth that the LLRV had been flown 10 times by Flight Research Center pilots - eight times by Joe Walker and twice by Don ...   28 January - First major Saturn V flight component delivered - The first major Saturn V flight component, a 10-m (33-ft) diameter, 27,215 kg (60,000 lb corrugated tail section which would support the booster's 6,672 kilonewtons (1.5-million-lb) thrust engines, arrived at MSFC from NASA's Michoud Operations near ...   29 January - Emergency defecation capability added to the Apollo LEM - ASPO concurred with the requirement to provide an emergency defecation capability aboard the LEM as established by MSC's Center Medical Programs Office. The addition of a Gemini-type defecation glove appeared to present a satisfactory solution. Crew ...   29 January - Apollo boilerplate 28 second water impact test - Apollo boilerplate 28 underwent its second water impact test. Despite its strengthened aft structure, in this and a subsequent drop on February 9 the vehicle again suffered damage to the aft heatshield and bulkhead, though far less severe than that e...     29 January - Manned Vykhod airlock test fails. - The first manned test of the airlock fails before an audience of 60 government and industry leaders. A VVS pilot in a spacesuit was to demonstrate the entire sequence involved in exiting into space. (release of the forward ring, inflation of the airl... 1965 January - Grumman modified the Apollo LEM's forward hatch - To make it easier to get in and out of the spacecraft, Grumman modified the LEM's forward hatch. During mobility tests on the company's mockup, a hinged, trapezoidal-shaped door had proved superior to the original circular hatch, so the earlier desig...     2 February - Cosmonaut organisation - Kamanin will organise the cosmonauts into two groups: the first group will be commanded by Nikolayev, and the latest group by Beregovoi. They will be assigned to support and train seven missions: military space (reconnaissance, interceptor, and comba...   3 February - Vykhod airlock experiments - At Chkalovskiy Airfield, the Vykhod airlock experiments are repeated, this time to an altitude of 37 km. This time the tests, run at up to 37 km equivalent altitude, are successful. The cosmonaut's pulse reached 90-108 per minute during the effort to... 5 February - Apollo SM 001's service propulsion engine static-fired - SM 001's service propulsion engine was static-fired for 10 sec at White Sands. The firing was the first in a program to verify the mission profiles for later flight tests of the module. (SM 001 was the first major piece of flight-weight Apollo hardwa...     5 February - Vykhod redesignated Voskhod 2 - The 3KD spacecraft will be known as Voskhod-2 rather than Vykhod. It was felt that 'Vykhod' ('exit') would reveal the purpose of the flight, which should not be revealed unless the experiment succeeds. The cosmonauts are training very hard in the zer... 8 February - Requirement deleted for a rendezvous radar in the Apollo CSM - MSC deleted the requirement for a rendezvous radar in the CSM....   8 February - Scientists invited to a conference on the Gemini and Apollo missions - NASA invited 113 scientists and 23 national space organizations to a conference at MSC to brief them on the Gemini and Apollo missions. As a result of the conference, NASA hoped to receive proposals for biomedical experiments to be performed in Gemin...     8 February - Voskhod 2 crew vacuum chamber tests - Belyayev and Leonov practice deploying and exiting the airlock at 37 km equivalent altitude in the TBK-60 chamber. The Vega system for keeping track of the spacewalking cosmonaut's life signs fails again. Kamanin is infuriated. Later he discusses fut... 9 February - First ground test model of the S-II stage completed - North American completed the first ground test model of the S-II stage of the Saturn V....     9 February - Voskhod 2 crew selection. - The State Commission meets to consider Voskhod 2 crew assignments. Belyayev and Leonov are named the prime crew, with Zaikin and Khrunov as their back-ups. ...   10 February - L3 single-launch spacecraft draft project approved. - Interdepartmental Scientific-Technical Council on Space Research (MNTS-KI) Decree 'On approval of the L3 draft project' was issued. The decree followed a review by a Keldysh-led Academy of Sciences state commission the previous December. The decree m... 11 February - Drogue parachutes tested to ultimate load - A drop test at EI Centro, Calif., demonstrated the ability of the drogue parachutes to sustain the ultimate disreefed load that would be imposed upon them during reentry. (For the current CM weight, that maximum load would be 7,711 kg (17,000 lbs) pe...   1965 February 11-18 - Use of the Apollo LEM as a backup for the service propulsion system - To make room for a rendezvous study, MSC was forced to end, prematurely, its simulations of employing the LEM as a backup for the service propulsion system. Nonetheless, the LEM was evaluated in both manual and automatic operation. Although some siza...   1965 February 11-18 - Three-foot probes on the Apollo LEM landing gear - Evaluations of the three-foot probes on the LEM landing gear showed that the task of shutting off the engine prior to actual touchdown was even more difficult than controlling the vehicle's rate of descent. During simulated landings, about 70 percent...     12 February - Cosmos 57 delayed - Once again the primary Tral system aboard the spacecraft has failed, and it will take 7 to 8 days to replace. Korolev, Kamanin, and the other leaders return to Moscow.... 16 February - Apollo-Model 3 - ...   16 February - Pegasus 1 - A Saturn I vehicle SA-9 launched a multiple payload into a high 744 by 496 km (462 by 308 mi) earth orbit. The rocket carried a boilerplate (BP) CSM (BP-16) and, fitted inside the SM, the ...   16 February - Apollo hardware delivery schedules changed - In a memorandum to ASPO, Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Program Director, inquired about realigning the schedules of contractors to meet revised delivery and launch timetables for Apollo. Phillips tentatively set forth deliveries of six spacecraft (CSM/L...   16 February - Specialty areas for 13 astronauts not assigned to Gemini - MSC announced a realignment of specialty areas for the 13 astronauts not assigned to forthcoming Gemini missions (GT 3 through 5) or to strictly administrative positions:...   17 February - Ranger 8 - Returned 7137 photos before lunar impact. The Atlas- Agena B booster injected the Agena and Ranger 8 into an Earth parking orbit at 185 km altitude 7 minutes after launch. Fourteen minutes later a 90 second burn of the Agena put the spacecraft into l...   17 February - Increase in the Apollo CM's land landing capability - North American proposed an idea for increasing the CM's land landing capability. This could be done, the company asserted, by raising the water impact limits (thus exceeding normal tolerances) and stiffening the shock struts....   18 February - Apollo LEM Test Article 2 shipped - LEM Test Article 2 was shipped to Marshall Space Flight Center to undergo a series of Saturn booster vibration tests....     22 February - Cosmos 57 - Unsuccessful mission. Voskhod 2 test. Immediately after orbital insertion airlock and spacesuit inflated normally. Then two ground control stations sent commands to the spacecraft simultaneously. The combined signals accidentally set off the retr... 25 February - David Clark contracted for Apollo Block I space suits - MSC and the David Clark Company reached an agreement on a contract for Apollo Block I space suits. The first suits, expected by July 1, would go to North American for testing....     27 February - State Commission on Cosmos 57 - The final conclusion is as before, that simultaneous transmission of the air release command from IP-6 and IP-7 started the chain of events leading to the self-destruction of the spacecraft. It is decided that a Zenit planned for 4-8 March will fly w...   Spring 1965 - Guidance system for N1 cannot support planned schedule - By the second quarter of 1965 Pilyugin was already notifying OKB-1 that he could never have the booster guidance system ready for the planned first launch in 1968 - not to even mention the systems for the LOK and LK....   2 March - Babakin takes over Lavochkin OKB - Former Lavochkin bureau, part of Chelomei, regained status of a separate design bureau with former Korolev deputy GN Babakin as its head. By the end of 1965 all materials on the E-6, Ye-8, and planetary probes were passed by Korolev to the Lavochkin ... 2 March - All-battery Apollo LEM decision - replaces fuel cells - MSC decided in favor of an "all-battery" LEM (i.e., batteries rather than fuel cells in both stages of the vehicle) and notified Grumman accordingly. Pratt and Whitney's subcontract for fuel cells would be terminated on April 1; also, Grumm...   4 March - Apollo Boilerplate 28 third water drop test - North American gave boilerplate 28 its third water drop test. Upon impact, the spacecraft again suffered some structural damage to the heatshield and the core, though much less than it had experienced on its initial drop. Conditions in this test were...     5 March - Voskhod plans - Only on this day does Kamanin receive a copy of Korolev's "Preliminary Plan for Voskhod spacecraft (3KV and 3KD) series in 1965", issued in February. His plan is:... 8 March - No serious weight problems with the Apollo spacecraft - ...   11 March - Kit-type mapping and survey system in the basic Apollo Block II - MSC directed North American to incorporate the capability for storing a kit-type mapping and survey system into the basic Block II configuration. The actual hardware, which would be installed in the equipment bay of certain SMs (designated by MSC), w...   1965 March 11-18 - Apollo boilerplate (BP) 23 failure analysis - During the flight of boilerplate (BP) 23, the Little Joe II's control system had coupled with the first lateral bending mode of the vehicle. To ensure against any recurrence of this problem on the forthcoming flight of BP-22, MSC asked North American...     12 March - Cosmos 60 - The stage with the payload remained in Earth orbit as Kosmos-60....   15 March - Cosmos 57 lands. - The Zenit-4 fitted with the airlock attachment ring successfully lands at 12:09, 170 km south of Kustanin (and 50 km north of the aim point). Later procedures for emergency landing on the first, second, and third orbits are discussed. The cosmonauts ... 1965 March 16-April 15 - Apollo high-angle water impact tests - North American dropped boilerplate 1 twice to measure the maximum pressures the CM would generate during a high-angle water impact. These figures agreed quite well with those obtained from similar tests with a one-tenth scale model of the spacecraft,...     18 March - Voskhod 2 - First spacewalk, with a two man crew of Colonel Pavel Belyayev and Lt. Colonel Aleksey Leonov. During ...   18 March - EVA Voskhod 2-1 - First walk in space.... 1965 March 18-25 - Isotope generator for the Surveyor Apollo lunar roving vehicle - The Atomic Energy Commission evaluated proposals by Radio Corporation of America and General Electric (GE) for an isotope generator for the Surveyor lunar roving vehicle, and assigned follow-on work to the latter firm. GE's concept, it was felt, was ...     19 March - Landing of Voskhod 2 - On re-entry the primary automatic retrorocket system failed. A manually controlled retrofire was accomplished one orbit later (evidently using the primary engine, not the backup solid rocket retropack on the nose of spacecraft). The service module...   20 March - Voskhod 2 crew contacted - The crew spent the night in the forest. Only at dawn can a helicopter fly over the landing point again. He reports he sees the two crew, one felling wood, the other building a bonfire. During the night, neither the two crew from the helicopter that l... 21 March - Ranger 9 - Ranger 9, last of the series, returned 5814 images before lunar impact. The target was Alphonsus, a large crater about 12 degrees south of the lunar equator. The probe was timed to arrive when lighting conditions would be at their best. The Atlas- Ag...     21 March - Voskhod 2 crew recovered - By the next morning, two clearing suitable for helicopter operations have been cleared - a small zone 1.7 km from the capsule, and a larger zone 5 km from the capsule. At 6:50 the cosmonauts and their rescuers - seven in all - ski away from the capsu... 23 March - Gemini 3 - First manned test flight of Gemini. Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young entered an elliptical orbit about the earth. After three orbits, the pair manually landed their spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean, thus performing the first controlled reentry. Un...   1965 March 23-24 - Critical Design Review of the Apollo CM Block II - Part I of the Critical Design Review of the crew compartment and the docking system in the Block II CM was held at North American. Systems Engineering (SED) and Structures and Mechanics (SMD) divisions, respectively, evaluated the two areas....   1965 March 25-April 1 - Boarding ladder on Apollo LEM reconfigured - After further design studies following the M-5 mockup review (October 5-8, 1964), Grumman reconfigured the boarding ladder on the forward gear leg of the LEM. The structure was flattened, to fit closer to the strut. Two stirrup-type steps were being ...   26 March - Water impact tests with Apollo CM boilerplate - North American began a series of water impact tests with boilerplate 1 to obtain pressure data on the upper portions of the CM. Data on the side walls and tunnel agreed fairly well with those obtained from 1/10 scale model drops; this was not the cas...   27 March - Test Series I on Apollo spacecraft 001 completed - Test Series I on spacecraft 001 was completed at WSTF Propulsion Systems Development Facility. Vehicle and facility updating in progress consisted of activating the gimbal subsystem and installing a baffled injector and pneumatic engine propellant va...   1965 March - Apollo LEM descent engine problems - Space Technology Laboratories' major problems with the LEM descent engine, Grumman reported, were attaining high performance and good erosion characteristics over the entire throttling range....   1965 March - Three flights with the Apollo Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) - Three flights were made with the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) for the purpose of checking the automatic systems that control the attitude of the jet engine and adjusting the throttle so the jet engine would support five-sixths of the vehicle...   1965 April 1-8 - Backup mode of entering and leaving the Apollo LEM while on the moon - MSC and Grumman reviewed the requirement for a backup mode of entering and leaving the LEM while on the moon. The new rectangular hatch was deemed "inherently highly reliable," and the only failure that was even "remotely possible"...   1 April - First stage of the Saturn IB first static firing at MSFC - The first stage of the Saturn IB booster (the S-IB-1) underwent its first static firing at Huntsville, Alabama. The stage's eight uprated H-1 engines produced about 71,168-kilonewtons (1.6 million lbs) thrust. On April 23, Marshall and Rocketdyne ann...   1 April - All-battery electrical power system for the Apollo LEM - Grumman presented to MSC its recommendations for an all-battery electrical power system for the LEM:...   1965 April 5-11 - Qualification tests completed on two Apollo CM reaction control engines - Rocketdyne completed qualification tests on two CM reaction control engines. These were successful. One of the nozzle extensions failed to seat, however, and was rejected. Its failure was being analyzed....   9 April - Manned space flight control transferred to Houston - George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, announced the transfer of control over manned space flights from Cape Kennedy, Fla., to Houston, Texas. MSC's Mission Control Center would direct the flights from end of liftoff thro...     10 April - Luna failure - stage 3 engine failure. - The upper stages fell apart on re-entry into the atmosphere..... 14 April - Final beam in the structural skeleton of the Vertical Assembly Building - Construction workers emplaced the final beam in the structural skeleton of the Vertical Assembly Building at Merritt Island (KSC), Florida. Scheduled for completion in 1966, the cavernous structure (160 m (525 ft) tall and comprising 10,968,476 cu m ...   15 April - First ground test firing of S-II stage - ...   15 April - First firing of the Apollo LEM ascent engine test rig - The first firing of the LEM ascent engine test rig (HA-3) was successfully conducted at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. A second firing on April 23 lasted 14.45 sec instead of 10 sec as planned. A third firing, lasting 30 sec, completed the te...   1965 April 16-May 15 - Qualification testing completed on the fuel tanks for the Apollo SM's reaction control system - North American completed qualification testing on the fuel tanks for the SM's reaction control system....   16 April - First clustered firing of Saturn V's first stage - MSFC conducted the first clustered firing of the Saturn V's first stage (the S-IC). The booster's five F-1 engines burned for about 6½ seconds and produced 33,360 kilonewtons (7.5 million lbs) thrust. ...   1965 April 16-May 15 - Two Apollo CSM fuel cells failed qualification testing - Two CSM fuel cells failed qualification testing, the first failing after 101.75 hrs of the vacuum endurance test. Pratt and Whitney Aircraft determined that the failure was caused by a cleaning fluid which contaminated and plugged the oxygen lines an...     16 April - Voskhod female crew opposition - Gagarin and the rest of the male cosmonauts, as many as other VVS officers, are opposed to Kamanin's plan for a female Voskhod flight. The first cosmonaut group are also opposed to appointment of Beregovoi and Shatalov to flight crews. Tereshkova has...   17 April - Voskhod plans - Despite opposition, Kamanin goes ahead with his plans. The 10-day duration artificial gravity flight is planned for October 1965, with Volynov and Katys as the crew. In the first half of 1966 Beregovoi and Demin will fly the long-duration mission, an... 1965 April 22-23 - Final zero-g trials of the Apollo CM waste management system - North American conducted the final zero-g trials (part of developmental testing on the CM's waste management system) and reported good results for both urine and feces apparatus....   1965 April 26-May 2 - Apollo boilerplate 14 simulated the mission for spacecraft 009 - Using boilerplate 14, North American simulated the mission for spacecraft 009. The test was conducted in two phases, with the vehicle on external and then internal power. All data showed satisfactory performance....   26 April - First Apollo CM heatshields - North American received CM 009 forward and crew compartment heatshields from Avco Corporation. These heatshields were the first CM heatshields received by the contractor with complete ablative application....   1965 April 27-30 - Apollo CM Block II Critical Design Review Part II - Part II of the Critical Design Review of the crew compartment and docking system for the Block II CM was held at Downey, California, using mockups 28 and 27 A. (Part I had been held on March 23-24.)...   28 April - Shirtsleeve environment in the Apollo CM - Joseph F. Shea, ASPO Manager, approved Crew Systems Division's recommendation to retain the "shirtsleeve" environment for the CM. The design was simpler and promised greater overall mission reliability; also, it would be more comfortable fo...   1965 April 28-May 3 - Proton irradiation tests conducted for Apollo project - Under NASA contract, proton irradiation of primates tests were conducted on the Oak Ridge cyclotron by a team from Brooks AFB and Crew Systems Division. During this period, 136 monkeys and 900 mice were irradiated....   6 May - Apollo earth landing system tested - The Apollo earth landing system (ELS) was tested in a drop of boilerplate (BP) 19 at El Centro, Calif. The drop removed constraints on the ELS for BP-22; also, it was a "prequalification" trial of the main parachutes before the start of the...   1965 May 6-13 - Apollo SLA would not survive a service propulsion system abort - Structures and Mechanics Division engineers determined that the spacecraft-LEM-adapter would not survive a service propulsion system abort immediately after jettisoning of the launch escape tower. North American planned to strengthen the upper hinges...   7 May - First Apollo launch escape system completion - Launch escape system (LES) installation for CSM 009 was completed, marking the first LES completion....     8 May - Voskhod-2 design review - A meeting between the cosmonauts and OKB-1 becomes heated on the question of the Voskhod design. Korolev and his specialists attempt to minimise the design approach that made manual re-entry for Voskhod-2 so difficult. In fact the state commission co...   9 May - Luna 5 - Soft lunar landing attempt. The retrorocket system failed, and the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface at the Sea of Clouds. Western observers, among them England's Sir Bernard Lovell, correctly speculated that the craft's mission was a soft landin... 12 May - Testing begins on rockets that would allow soft landing for Apollo CM - Developmental testing began on a new landing device for the CM, one using rockets (mounted on the heatshield) that would be ignited immediately before impact. The current method for ensuring the integrity of the spacecraft during a landing in rough w...   12 May - Thrust of the H-1 engine uprated - MSFC informed MSC that the thrust of the H-1 engine was being uprated to 1,000 kilonewtons (205,000 lbs), thus increasing the Saturn IB's payload capability....   1965 May 16-June 15 - Third series of Apollo water impact tests - North American conducted the third in a series of water impact tests on boilerplate 1 to measure pressures on forward portions of the spacecraft. Data from the series supported those from tests with one- tenth scale models of the CM. The manufacturer...   19 May - Apollo mission A-003 - Apollo mission A-003, a planned high-altitude abort test, was flown at WSMR. About 25 seconds after launch, and at an altitude of about three miles, the Little Joe II booster disintegrated as a result of violent - and unprogrammed - roll. The launch ...   21 May - Preliminary flight rating tests on the Apollo reaction control engine - Marquardt Corporation completed preliminary flight rating tests on the reaction control engine for the SM....   23 May - American Apollo astronauts returning from the moon to be quarantined - The Life Sciences Committee of the National Academy of Sciences' Space Science Board recommended to NASA that American astronauts returning from the moon and planets be kept in quarantine for at least three weeks to prevent possible contamination of ...   25 May - Apollo-Model 4 - ...   25 May - Pegasus 2 - Pegasus 2 was a meteoroid detection satellite. The Saturn I launch vehicle (SA-8) placed the spacecraft, protected by a boilerplate CSM (BP-26), into a 740-by-509-km (460-by-316-mi) orbit. Once in orbit, the dummy CSM was jettisoned. Pegasus 2, still...   26 May - Apollo LEM control weight revised - ASPO requested the Apollo Program Director to revise the LEM control weight at translunar injection as follows:...   1965 May - Three flights made with Apollo LLRV - Three flights were made with the lunar landing research vehicle (LLRV) by FRC pilot Don Mallick for the purpose of checking the initial weighing, the thrust-to-weight, and the automatic throttle systems....   1965 May - Qualification testing on the Apollo tower jettison motor completed - Thiokol Chemical Company completed qualification testing on the tower jettison motor. An ignition delay on February 22 had necessitated a redesign of the igniter cartridge. Subsequently, Thiokol developed a modified pyrogen seal, which the firm teste...   3 June - Gemini 4 - The second manned and first long-duration mission in the Gemini program. Major objectives of the four-day mission were demonstrating and evaluating the performance of spacecraft systems in a long-duration flight and evaluating effects on the crew of ...   3 June - EVA Gemini 4-1 - First American walk in space; tested spacesuit and ability to manoeuvre....   3 June - Qualification testing of the earth landing system for Apollo - Northrop-Ventura began qualification testing of the earth landing system for Apollo with a drop of boilerplate 19 at El Centro, Calif. The entire landing sequence took place as planned; all parachutes performed well....   1965 June 7-13 - Qualification testing on the Apollo CM's reaction control system engines - North American's Rocketdyne Division began qualification testing on the CM's reaction control system engines....   7 June - Procurement of Apollo lunar surface experiments package authorized - George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, approved procurement of the lunar surface experiments package (LSEP). The package, to be deployed on the moon by each LEM crew that landed there, would transmit geophysical and other...   7 June - Rocket landing system for the Block II Apollo CM - MSC directed NAA to make a "predesign" study of a rocket landing system for the Block II CM. (The Center had already studied the system's feasibility and had conducted full-scale drop tests.)...   7 June - Landing of Gemini 4 - Gemini 4 landed at 17:11 GMT in the Atlantic Ocean about 725 km east of Cape Kennedy - some 65 km from its nominal landing point due to failure of its guidance computer. The crew boarded a helicopter 34 minutes after landing and was transported to th...     8 June - Luna 6 - Attempted unmanned lunar soft lander. Tass reported that all onboard equipment was functioning normally. Two days into the flight, however, the spacecraft's engine failed to shut down following a midcourse correction. This failure caused ... 15 June - Reduced Apollo Block II service propulsion system for Saturn IB missions - Independent studies were made at MSC and North American to determine effects and impact of off-loading certain Block II service propulsion system components for Saturn IB missions. The contractor was requested to determine the weight change involved ...   1965 June 16-July 15 - Apollo service propulsion engine failures - North American reported two service propulsion engine failures at AEDC and a third at WSMR. At the first location, both failures were attributed to separation of the thrust chamber from the injector assembly; in the latter instance, weld deficiencies...   1965 June 17-24 - Space suits for the Apollo program evaluated - Crew Systems Division began evaluating space suits for the Apollo program (submitted by Hamilton Standard, David Clark, and International Latex)....   21 June - 1,000th test firing of the F-1 engine - North American's Rocketdyne Division conducted the 1,000th test firing of the Saturn V's first-stage engine, the F-1....   25 June - Nine additional S-IVB stages for the Saturn V - NASA announced negotiations with Douglas Aircraft Company for nine additional S-IVB stages to be used as the third stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle being developed at Marshall Space Flight Center. Work was to include related spares and launch sup...   29 June - Apollo PA-2 launch escape system test - NASA launched Apollo mission PA-2, a test of the launch escape system (LES) simulating a pad abort at WSMR. All test objectives were met. The escape rocket lifted the spacecraft (boilerplate 23A) more than 1,524 m (5,000 ft) above the pad. The earth ...   30 June - Apollo Lunar Landing Research Facility into operation - Langley Research Center put into operation its 3.5 million Lunar Landing Research Facility. The huge structure (76.2 m (250 ft) high and 121.9 m (400 ft) long) would be used to explore techniques and to forecast various problems of landing on the moo...   1 July - Apollo Site Selection Board - Within its Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA organized an Apollo Site Selection Board. As an advisory body to the Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, George E. Mueller, the group would recommend landing sites for Apollo....     6 July - Soyuz hot mock-up - Chertok argues for the necessity of adding one Soyuz to production and using it as an iron bird - a hot mock-up on which avionics and electrical systems can be integrated and tested. Gherman Semenov and Turkov convince Korolev that this cannot be don... 11 July - Apollo RCS oxidizer tank failed during test - An RCS oxidizer tank failed during a test to demonstrate propellant compatibility with titanium tanks. This was the first of seven tanks to fail from a group of ten tanks put into test to investigate a failure that occurred during February 1965. Thes...   15 July - Redesign of the side hatch in the Block II Apollo CM - North American began redesigning the side hatch mechanism in the CM to satisfy the requirement for extravehicular transfer from Block II spacecraft. Two basic modifications to the Block I mechanism were required: (1) enlarging it to overcome thermal ...     16 July - Proton 1 - The first launch of the Proton launch vehicle was not without problems. A leak in the oxidiser pipeline resulted in nitrogen tetroxide spilling on electrical wires. The question was: proceed with the launch or abort? Chelomei decided to go ahead, and... 1965 July 16-August 15 - Apollo LEM as backup for the service propulsion system - In order to use the LEM as a backup for the service propulsion system (SPS) to abort the mission during the 15-hour period following translunar injection, Grumman informed North American that some redesign of the spacecraft's helium system would like...   16 July - Passive water landing for Apollo - North American recommended to MSC that, for the time being, the present method for landing the CM (i.e., a passive water landing) be maintained. However, on the basis of a recent feasibility study, the contractor urged that a rocket landing system be...   19 July - Apollo Block II CSM fuel cells from Pratt and Whitney - NASA Headquarters authorized North American to subcontract the Block II CSM fuel cells to Pratt and Whitney. Estimates placed the cost at $30 million....   19 July - Total Apollo LEM weight 14,515 kg - MSC directed Grumman to implement changes in weights of the LEM:...   19 July - Eight KC-135 aircraft and three ships for communications during Apollo flights - NASA was acquiring eight KC-135 aircraft and three ships to help maintain communications during Apollo moon flights. In addition, two ships of the existing DOD instrumentation fleet were being remodeled for support of the Apollo lunar mission's reent...   21 July - Apollo Lunar Flying Vehicle (LFV) - Bell Aerosystems Company announced that it had designed a rocket-propelled Lunar Flying Vehicle (LFV) to aid Apollo astronauts in their exploration of the moon. This work was the result of a year-long study that the company had conducted for MSFC. Th...   21 July - Surveyor small rover cancelled - Several lunar surface vehicles received national attention:...   21 July - Apollo Manned Flying System - Bell Aerosystems Company announced that it had received additional funds from NASA (almost a half million dollars) to continue work on another lunar vehicle, the so-called Manned Flying System. This latter craft, also primarily a tool for exploration...   26 July - Circumlunar flight using Gemini seriously studied - During a news conference, Kenneth S. Kleinknecht, Deputy Manager of the Gemini Project Office at MSC, affirmed that, although no firm decisions had yet been made, the concept of a circumlunar flight using a Gemini spacecraft was being seriously studi...   26 July - Malfunction caused Apollo boilerplate 1 to impact on land - At North American's drop facility, a malfunction in the release mechanism caused boilerplate 1 to impact on land rather than water. After a recurrence of this accident on August 6, a team of investigators began looking into the problem. Drops were su...     28 July - Voskhod production - The All-Soviet national economic commission on Military-Industrial Matters issues resolution 145, "On completion of the Voskhod spacecraft". Voskhod s/n 5, 6, and 7 are to be completed in October, November, and December 1965; and s/n 8 and 9 in Febru... 30 July - Pegasus 3 - NASA launched ...   30 July - Apollo-Model 5 - ...   31 July - NASA / Public Health Service agreements on Apollo back contamination - At a meeting between representatives of NASA and Public Health Service representatives, it was agreed:...   1965 July - Three competing Apollo Block II space suits evaluated - Crew Systems Division completed evaluation of the three Block II space suits submitted by Hamilton Standard, David Clark, and International Latex....     1 August - Development of military versions of Voskhod and Soyuz approved. - Military-Industrial Commission (VPK) Decree 'On creation of military Voskhod and Soyuz spacecraft' was issued. Eight days later, Kamanin receives the resolution, signed by Marshal Zharkov, countersigned by Smirnov. Krylov, Vershinin, Sudts, and Gorsh... 2 August - Marquardt to build Apollo Block II SM reaction control system engines - NASA's office at Downey, Calif., approved the contract with the Marquardt Corporation for the procurement of Block II SM reaction control system engines. Estimated cost of the fixed price contract would be $6.5 million. Marquardt was supplying the Bl...   2 August - First prototype Apollo portable life support system - Hamilton Standard shipped the first prototype portable life support system to Houston, where it would undergo testing by the Crew Systems Division....   3 August - ALSEP Prototypes to be built by three firms. - NASA named three firms, Bendix Systems Division, TRW Systems Group, and Space-General Corporation to design prototypes of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). Each company received a $500,000, six-month contract. After delivery of th...   5 August - Apollo boilerplate (BP) 6A sustained considerable damage - During tests of the Apollo earth landing system (ELS) at El Centro, Calif., boilerplate (BP) 6A sustained considerable damage in a drop that was to have demonstrated ELS performance during a simulated apex-forward pad abort. Oscillating severely at t...   5 August - First ground test firing of Saturn S-IC stage - The Saturn V's booster, the S-IC stage, made a "perfect" full-duration static firing by burning for the programmed 2.5 minutes at its full 33,360-kilonewton (7.5-million-lbs) thrust in a test conducted at MSFC. The test model demonstrated i...   9 August - Saturn V stages tested - Two Saturn milestones occurred on the same day. At Santa Susana, Calif., North American conducted the first full-duration captive firing of an S-II, second stage of the Saturn V. And at Sacramento, Douglas static-tested the first flight-model S-IVB, ...   12 August - Six key checkpoints in development of Apollo hardware listed - Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Program Director, listed the six key checkpoints in the development of Apollo hardware:...   15 August - First ground test firing of S-IVB stage - ...     16 August - Chelomei's lunar spacecraft attacked - Korolev discusses Chelomei's manned lunar flyby spacecraft with Kamanin. The Party ordered Chelomei to have 12 manned circumlunar spacecraft completed during 1966 and the first quarter of 1967. Chelomei has worked on the he project for many years, bu...   18 August - Soyuz development program reoriented; Soyuz 7K-OK earth orbit version to be built in lieu of Soyuz A. - Military-Industrial Commission (VPK) Decree 180 'On the Order of Work on the Soyuz Complex--approval of the schedule of work for Soyuz spacecraft' was issued. It set the following schedule for the new Soyuz 7K-OK version: two spacecraft to be complet... 18 August - Operation Scrape to lighten the Apollo LEM - At a third status meeting on LEM-1, Grumman put into effect "Operation Scrape," an effort to lighten that spacecraft by about 57 kg (125 lbs). "Scrape" involved an exchange of parts between LEM-1 and LTA-3. The former vehicle thus...   1965 August 19-26 - Two Apollo LEM test articles to be used - MSC assigned two LEM test articles (numbers 10 and 2, respectively) to the SA-501 and SA-502 missions. Prior to flight, the spacecraft would be refurbished by Grumman, which would require four to five months' work on each vehicle....   20 August - Apollo S-IVB static-fired simulating a lunar mission - Douglas Aircraft Company static-fired the S-IVB in a test at Sacramento, Calif., simulating the workload of a lunar mission. The stage was run for three minutes, shut down for half an hour, then reignited for almost six minutes....   21 August - Gemini 5 - Major objectives of the eight-day mission were evaluating the performance of the rendezvous guidance and navigation system, using a rendezvous evaluation pod (REP), and evaluating the effects of prolonged exposure to the space environment on the flig...     28 August - Korolev secretly puts Voskhod production on back burner. - It is becoming clear that in order to ever get Soyuz into space it is necessary to clear all decks at OKB-1. After Voskhod-2 the Soviet manned space plans are in confusion. The Americans have flown Gemini 5, setting a new 8-day manned space endurance... 29 August - Landing of Gemini 5 - The crew had to use the re-entry thrusters to orient the spacecraft due to OAMS system failures. The retrofire and re-entry were conducted in darkness by the spacecraft computer. However the computer had been misprogrammed with an erroneous rotation ...     30 August - Soviet space plans - Kamanin continues to fume that the Americans have surpassed the Soviets with their Mariner, Gemini, and Ranger spacecraft. This was totally unnecessary, but lack of support by the leadership has crippled the Soviet program. He has been asked to put t... 1965 August - Explosion damaged Apollo LEM reaction control system - An explosion damaged a LEM reaction control system thruster being fired in an up attitude in altitude tests at MSC....   1965 August - Radiation levels predicted for Apollo LEM-3 crew - Grumman completed an analysis of radiation levels that would be encountered by the LEM-3 crew during their earth orbital mission. Grumman advised that doses would not be harmful. To lessen these levels even further, the contractor recommended that du...   1965 September - Webb sees time as right to begin serious study of a Saturn V space station. - During several visits to MSC, NASA Administrator James E. Webb raised a number of technical and policy questions relating to programs and management practices. Webb seemed particularly concerned about the difficulty of getting the program offices at ...   1965 September-October - Apollo LEM's descent engine problems - Grumman advised MSC of major troubles plaguing development of the LEM's descent engine. These included problems of weight, chamber erosion, mixtures, valves, combustion instability, and throttle mechanisms (which Grumman said could delay delivery of ...   1965 September - 13 flights made in the Apollo LLRV - A total of 13 flights were made in the LLRV, including one in which the lunar simulation mode was flown for the first time....   1 September - Apollo LEM ascent engine exploded during firings - A LEM ascent engine exploded during altitude firings at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC). In subsequent investigations, Bell Aerosystems researchers concluded that the failure probably resulted from raw propellants being accidentally forc...   1 September - Impact tests with Apollo boilerplate 28 - North American conducted another in their series of impact tests with boilerplate 28. This drop tested the toroidal section of the spacecraft (heatshield and equipment bay structure) in impact at high angle and maximum horizontal velocity. The spacec...     4 September - E-6 Launch Postponement - The launch was delayed due to malfunction of the RKS system of the Stages 1/2's control system during pre-launch service....   6 September - Problems in lunar projects addressed. - Ministry of General Machine Building (MOM) Decree 'On delays in work on piloted lunar programs' was issued....   8 September - Development of four stage version of the Proton proposed. - The design was proposed by Korolev as an alternate to Chelomei's LK-1 circumlunar mission. It combined the Proton 8K82K booster for the LK-1 with the N1 lunar Block D stage to boost a stripped-down Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft around the moon.... 1965 September 16-23 - Radioisotope thermoelectric generators for Apollo ALSEP - NASA and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) agreed that AEC would provide radioisotope thermoelectric generators which would power each Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package for an operating period of one year on the lunar surface....   1965 September 16-October 15 - Apollo CSM 012 considered for the first manned Apollo flight - North American evaluated the compatibility of spacecraft 012 with its mission, AS-204, the first manned Apollo flight. The manufacturer determined that, by using roll-stabilized attitude during most of the flight, the vehicle could remain aloft for a...     18 September - Lunokhod - The cosmonauts visit Lyapin's institute to view progress in developing a lunar rover. During the day Kamanin has a series of unpleasant conversations with Korolev. The military want the second Voskhod flight changed from a 15-day mission with a crew ...   23 September - Voskhod 3 plans - Korolev is charging ahead with the plan to fly Voskhod 3 for 20 days. Kamanin is doubtful - the life support system is rated for only 12-15 days, and testing to certify it for 25 days cannot be done in time. Korolev is also planning for a 15 November...   27 September - Voskhod ECS - Kamanin discusses the environmental control system for the 20-day Voskhod fight. Chief Constructor Voronin tells him that to develop such a system to support two crew for 20 days is fully possible; but it will take months of development and testing t... 1965 September - Thirteen flights made with the Apollo lunar landing research vehicle - Thirteen flights were made with the lunar landing research vehicle. Two of those flights were devoted to mulling the lunar simulation system; the remaining 11 flights were devoted to research with the attitude control system in the rate command mode....   1 October - NASA formally accepted Apollo spacecraft 002 - At a Customer Acceptance Readiness Review at North American, NASA formally accepted spacecraft 002. The vehicle was then demated and shipped to White Sands....   1965 October 3-9 - Testing of Apollo extravehicular mobility unit at Flagstaff - The U.S. Geological Survey cooperated with Crew Systems Division (CSD) in testing the extravehicular mobility unit under simulated lunar conditions at Flagstaff, Arizona. As a result, CSD technicians determined a number of deficiencies in the thermal...     4 October - Luna 7 - Lunar soft landing attempt. The Luna 7 spacecraft was intended to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. However, due to premature retrofire and cutoff of the retrorockets, the spacecraft impacted the lunar surface in the Sea of Storms....   4 October - Voskhod 3 - A major programme review is held on plans for Voskhod s/n 5, 6, and 7. Tsybin insists that to conduct all of the experiments requested by the Ministry of Defence will take ten spacecraft and missions, but only five have been authorised. Spacecraft s/... 8 October - Failed drop of Apollo boilerplate 6A due to braking parachute - A drop in the boilerplate 6A series, using flight-qualifiable earth landing system (ELS) components, failed because the braking parachute (not a part of the ELS) did not adequately stabilize the vehicle. MSC invited North American and Northrop-Ventur...   8 October - Apollo Lunar Landing Research Vehicle flown to 91 m - A test model of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, designed to simulate lunar landings, was flown by former NASA X-15 pilot Joseph Walker to an altitude of 91 m (300 ft). Built by Bell Aerosystems Company under contract to NASA, the research craft h...   12 October - Parachute mortar failed during static testing - On August 26, the attachments for the pilot parachute mortar had failed during static testing on CM 006. The fittings had been redesigned and the test was not repeated. This test, the final one in the limit load series for the earth landing system, c...   20 October - NASA accepted first flight Apollo spacecraft 009 - Apollo spacecraft 009, first of the type that would carry three astronauts to the moon and back, was accepted by NASA during informal ceremonies at North American. Spacecraft 009 included a CM, SM, launch escape system, and adapter. It went to Cape C...     20 October - Leonov and Belyayev accused - Representatives from the Central Committee believe that, when Leonov and Belyayev discussed their spacewalk with US representatives visiting Moscow, this was used by the Americans to accelerate preparations for their own spacewalk from Gemini 4.... 21 October - Bubble-type helmet for the Apollo extravehicular mobility unit - MSC announced that the bubble-type helmet, designed by Crew Systems Division (CSD) engineers Robert L. Jones and James O'Kane, had been adopted for use in the Apollo extravehicular mobility unit. The new helmet was smaller and lighter than earlier ty...   21 October - Launch schedule for Apollo-Saturn IB flights revised - Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Program Director, notified the Center directors and Apollo program managers in Houston, Huntsville, and Cape Kennedy that OMSF's launch schedule for Apollo-Saturn IB flights had been revised, based on delivery of CSMs 009 a...     22 October - Gagarin writes a letter to Brezhnev - Gagarin has sent a letter to Brezhnev, complaining of the poor organisation of the Soviet space program. The Kremlin has received it... reaction is awaited. The letter specifically cites the multitude of space projects and de-emphasis of manned effor... 22 October - 10 areas on the moon selected as subjects for Lunar Orbiter - NASA announced that it had selected 10 areas on the moon as subjects for Lunar Orbiter's cameras during 1966. These areas encompassed most major types of lunar terrain. Most were suitable - and potential - landing sites for Surveyor and Apollo spacec...   25 October - Gemini 6 Agena Target - The Agena target vehicle failed to reach orbit. Gemini 6, awaiting launch, was cancelled. In the ashes of this setback, the idea of launching Gemini 6 to rendezvous with Gemini 7 was born....     25 October - L1 manned circumlunar mission taken from Chelomei, given to Korolev. - Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Concentration of Forces of Industrial Design Organisations for the Creation of Rocket-Space Complex Means for Circling the Moon--work on the UR-500K-L1 program' w...   26 October - Thoughts on Gemini 6 - Kamanin notes the aborted first launch attempt of Gemini 6, but expects the Americans to achieve the first space docking, using the crew as pilots to fly the spacecraft. He curses Korolev and Keldysh for wasting three years trying to develop a fully ... 1965 October - Seven flights were made with the Apollo Lunar Landing Research Vehicle - Seven flights were made with the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle at Flight Research Center during October. The first three were in support of X-15 conference activities, and the last four were for attitude control research. Five of the landings were m...     1 November - OKB-1 learns of Gagarin letter - Tsybin has learned through his Ministry of Defence contacts of Gagarin's letter to Brezhnev. He hears that they have criticized the space policy of the Minister of Defence and proposed that the VVS manage Soviet manned spaceflight. The letter also re...   2 November - Proton 2 - High energy physics laboratory. Investigation of ultra-high-energy cosmic particles. ... 5 November - International Latex to build Apollo space suit, and Hamilton Standard portable life support system - NASA announced that it would negotiate with International Latex Corporation for an estimated $10 million contract to fabricate the Apollo space suit consisting of the liquid-cooled undergarment, constant wear garment, pressure garment assembly, and t...   11 November - Apollo Block I SPS engine altitude qualification test - The Block I service propulsion system engine successfully completed the first altitude qualification tests at AEDC....   12 November - Apollo portable life support system Preliminary Design Review - The portable life support system Preliminary Design Review was completed. The design was essentially complete and no major discrepancies were noted during the review....     13 November - Industrial orders to cancel LK-1 spacecraft and implement L1. - Ministry of General Machine Building (MOM) Decree 'On work on the UR-500K-L1 program' was issued.... 23 November - Fire during Apollo CM RCS test for spacecraft 009 - North American informed MSC of a fire in the reaction control system (RCS) test cell during a CM RCS test for spacecraft 009. The fire was suspected to have been caused by overheating the test cell when the 10 engines were activated, approximately 30...     24 November - Kamanin and Korolev - Kamanin has his first face-to-face meeting with Korolev in 3 months - the longest delay in three years of working together. Their relationship is at low ebb. Despite having last talked about the next Voskhod flight by the end of November, Korolev now... 1965 November - Ten flights were made with the Apollo lunar landing research vehicle - Ten flights were made with the lunar landing research vehicle. All flights were for attitude control and handling qualities research. Landings on all flights were made in the lunar landing mode....   30 November - Apollo Mission Simulator No 1 shipped - Apollo Mission Simulator No. 1 was shipped from Link Group, General Precision, Binghamton, New York, to MSC....     30 November - Problems with the Igla system for Soyuz - After a meeting with Kamanin, Korolev tells Chertok in confidence that Gagarin is training for a flight on a Soyuz mission. Chertok responds that it will take him at least a year to complete training, but that doesn't matter, since Mnatsakanian's Igl... 2 December - Apollo LEM TM-5 cancelled - Maj. Gen. Samuel C. Phillips, NASA Apollo Program Director, approved the deletion of the LEM TM-5 from the ground test program....     3 December - Luna 8 - Lunar soft landing attempt failed. Luna 8's objectives were to test a soft lunar landing system and scientific research. Weighing 1,552 kg (3,422 lbs), the spacecraft was following a trajectory close to the calculated one and the equipment was functi... 4 December - Gemini 7 - Primary objectives of the mission were demonstrating manned orbital flight for approximately 14 days and evaluating the physiological effects of a long-duration flight on the crew. Among the secondary objectives were providing a rendezvous target for...   1965 December 6-17 - Block II Apollo CSM Critical Design - The Block II CSM Critical Design Review (CDR) was held at North American, Downey, Calif. The specifications and drawings were reviewed and the CSM mockup inspected. Review Item Dispositions were written against the design where it failed to meet the ...   8 December - Apollo J-2 engine captive-fired for 388 sec - An 889-kilonewton (200,000-lb) thrust J-2 engine was captive-fired for 388 sec on a new test stand at MSFC. The J-2 engine would be used to power the Saturn S-IVB stage for the Saturn V. Ten tests of the liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen powered rocket e...   1965 December 9-16 - Apollo Block II critical design review on the earth landing system - Nine review item dispositions were submitted at the Block II critical design review concerning the earth landing system and shock attenuation system (struts). Six were on specifications, one on installation drawings, and two on capability. The two mo...   1965 December 9-16 - Fire-till-touchdown not feasible for the Apollo LEM - Preliminary results of the "fire-till-touchdown" study by Grumman indicated that this maneuver was not feasible. The engine might be exploded by driving the shock wave into the nozzles....     9 December - Voskhod 3 ECS trials - The 15-day trial of the oxygen regeneration system for the long-duration Voskhod flights began at IMBP on 3 December. On 8 December Korolev ordered the test run extended to 20 days. The system has to maintain cabin temperature at 21 deg C, within a m... 10 December - Apollo at-sea operational qualification tests completed - At-sea operational qualification tests, using boilerplate 29 to simulate spacecraft 009, were completed. All mechanical system components performed satisfactorily, except for the recovery flashing light....   12 December - Gemini 6 pad abort - The Titan 2 engines shut down a moment after ignition. The fault that caused the Titan to shut down saved the astronaut's lives; the quick thinking of the astronauts in not pulling the abort handles saved the mission....   15 December - Gemini 6 - The primary objective of the mission, crewed by command pilot Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and pilot Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, was to rendezvous with spacecraft No. 7. Among the secondary objectives were stationkeeping with spacecraft No. 7,...   15 December - Apollo CSM ultimate static testing began - CSM ultimate static testing began. A failure occurred at 140 percent of the limit load test which simulated the end of the first-stage Saturn V boost....   15 December - Proposal for four additional Apollo LEMs - Grumman was invited to provide NASA with a cost-plus-incentive-fee proposal to provide four LEMs subsequent to LEM-11, with the proposal due at MSC by the close of business on the following day. The proposal should be based on a vehicular configurati...   15 December - First Apollo manned lunar landing experiment selected - NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications Homer E. Newell informed MSC that an experiment proposed by Ames Research Center had been selected as a space science investigation for, if possible, the first manned lunar landing as a ...     16 December - Space race - Gemini 7 has the space flight duration record, and Gemini 6 has achieved the first rendezvous in orbit. Yesterday Pashkov sent a letter to Smirnov, asking that new series of Voskhod spacecraft be ordered as insurance in case of further delays in deve... 16 December - Landing of Gemini 6 - Gemini 6 splashed down near the aircraft carrier Wasp at 15:28 GMT. The capsule was lifted to the carrier deck with the crew aboard. When the hatch doors were opened, the spacemen gave the thumbs-up while the Navy band crashed in with 'Anchors Aweigh...     18 December - VPK Emergency Meeting - Smirnov calls the Military Industrial Commission and the Chief Designers together to consider Pashkov's letter and how to respond to the American Gemini successes. Korolev is ill and unable to attend. His deputies are unable to provide any firm sched... 18 December - Landing of Gemini 7 - Gemini 7 landed at 14:05 GMT only 11.8 km from the target point after a record 14 day mission.....     20 December - Decision to use analogue guidance in early N1 launches - Pilyugin called Keldysh to tell him he had heard that Keldysh again wanted to form an expert commission to study guidance system development problems with the N1, with Bushuyev as the head....   20 December - Falling behind - Gemini 7 has landed. The Americans achieved every manned spaceflight objective they had set for themselves in 1965, and made 50% more launches than the Soviet Union. On the other side, the Russians have only been able to fly Voskhod 2. Korolev promis... 21 December - Robert C Seamans, Jr becomes Deputy Administrator of NASA - Robert C. Seamans, Jr., was sworn in as Deputy Administrator of NASA, succeeding Hugh L. Dryden who died December 2. Seamans would also retain his present position as Associate Administrator for an indefinite period of time....     22 December - Kamanin and Korolev clash - The two have a difficult discussion over crewing for Voskhod 3. Korolev has found that Katys has been taken out of training for the mission. He does not agree with Kamanin's all-military pilot crew of Volynov and Gorbatko. Kamanin is tired of Korolev... 31 December - Apollo SM reaction control system engine qualification completed - The SM reaction control system engine qualification was completed with no apparent failures....   1965 December - 16 flights made in the Apollo LLRV - During the month 16 flights were made in the LLRV. Of these, 11 were devoted to concluding the handling qualities evaluation of the rate- command vehicle attitude control system. The other five flights were required to check out a new pilot, Lt. Col....     31 December - Daunting year ahead - Kamanin looks ahead to the very difficult tasks scheduled for 1966. There are to be 5 to 6 Soyuz flights, the first tests of the N1 heavy booster, the first docking in space. Preparations will have to intensify for the first manned flyby of the moon ... Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments. Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site.. 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