From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Saturn I SA-4
Saturn I SA-4
Saturn-Apollo 4 The major addition to this flight was that, in order to
test the rocket’s ability to deal with an engine failure dur-
Mission insignia ing the flight, one of the engines would be programmed
to shut down about 100 seconds after launch. If all went
well the rocket would reroute the fuel for this engine
to the other engines and have the rocket burn longer to
compensate for the loss of acceleration. This was used
successfully on the later Apollo 6 and Apollo 13 flights.
Also on this flight, the dummy second stage was out-
fitted with the aerodynamic design of the real second
stage. This included vent ducts, fairings and dummy cam-
era pods. The rocket also flew with antennae designed for
the Block II version of the rocket.
Mission statistics
Flight
Mission name Saturn-Apollo 4
Spacecraft mass 52,480 kg
Call sign SA-4
Launch pad Cape Canaveral
Complex 34
Launch date March 28, 1963
20:11:55 UTC
Landing March 28, 1963
20:26:55 UTC
Mission duration 15 min 0 s
Number of orbits Suborbital
Apogee 80.2 mi (129 km)
Distance traveled 248.5 mi (400 km)
Related missions
Previous mission Subsequent mission
SA-3 SA-5
SA-4 was the fourth launch of a Saturn I launch vehicle SA-4 on Pad 34
and the last of the initial test phase of the first stage. It
was part of the Apollo Program. After the shortest checkout time of any rocket at 54
days,[citation needed] SA-4 went on to experience the longest
series of holds of any mission at 120 minutes.[citation need-
Objectives ed] The SA-4 launch would be the final single-stage flight.
SA-4 was the last flight to test only the S-I first stage of The rocket operated perfectly through the first 100
the Saturn I rocket. As with the first three launches this seconds of the flight, when the Number 5 engine shut off
would be a suborbital flight and would test the structural as planned. The rocket then continued to operate prop-
integrity of the rocket. erly, the propellant system rerouting the fuel to the oth-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Saturn I SA-4
er engines. The Number 5 engine didn’t disintegrate be-
cause of heat caused by the lack of cooling propellant as
External links
some had predicted. This was an important test proving • The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology
an important feature of the clustered engine design. • http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/
The rocket reached a maximum height of 129 km and MasterCatalog?sc=SATURNSA4
a peak velocity of 5906 km per hour. At this stage it also • Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and
fired retrorockets that would be used on later missions Operations
to separate the rocket stages. On SA-4 the stages weren’t • http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/sa-4/
designed to separate but tested the retrorockets to make sa-4.html
sure they would fire. • Stages to Saturn
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Categories:
• Apollo program
• 1963 in spaceflight
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