Аполлон ғарыш кемесінің үшінші сынақ ұшырылымы және Пегаз спутнигінің бірінші ұшырылымы (1965)

Third orbital flight test of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, February 16, 1965

AS 103 was the third orbital flight test of a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft, and the first flight of a Pegasus micrometeoroid detection satellite. Also known as SA 9, it was the third operational launch of a two stage Saturn I launch vehicle.

Of 12 flight objectives assigned, two were concerned with the operation of the Pegasus satellite, eight with launch vehicle systems performance, one with jettisoning the launch escape system, and one with separation of the boilerplate spacecraft. The satellite objectives were (1) demonstration of the functional operations of the mechanical, structural, and electronic systems and (2) evaluation of meteoroid data sampling in near Earth orbit. Since the launch trajectory was designed to insert the Pegasus satellite into the proper orbit, it differed substantially from the trajectory used in missions AS 101 and AS 102.

The launch vehicle consisted of an S I first stage, an S IV second stage, and an instrument unit. The spacecraft consisted of a boilerplate command and service module, a launch escape system, and a service module/launch vehicle adapter (BP 16). The Pegasus 1 satellite was enclosed within the service module, attached to the S IV stage. The orbital configuration consisted of the satellite mounted on the adapter, which remained attached to the instrument unit and the expended S IV stage. The vehicle was launched from Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 37B at 9:37:03 a. m. EST (14:37:03 GMT) on February 16, 1965. A hold of 1 hour and 7 minutes was caused by a power failure in the Eastern Test Range flight safety computer. A built in hold of 30 minutes was also used to discharge and recharge a battery in the Pegasus satellite as a check that it was functioning properly. The launch was normal, and the spacecraft was inserted into orbit approximately 10.5 minutes after launch. The launch escape system was jettisoned during launch and the command module was jettisoned after orbital insertion. The Pegasus satellite weighed approximately and was The width of the deployed wings was 96 feet (29 m). The total mass placed in orbit was The perigee was 307.8 mile (495 km), the apogee was 461.9 mile (743 km), and the orbital inclination was 31.76°.