Apollo 7

  1968-089A

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Apollo 7 Crew

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• Commander: Walter Schirra, Capt. USN

• Senior Pilot: Donn Eisele, Maj. USAF

• Pilot: Walter Cunningham, Ph.D., NASA

Apollo CSM 101 was launched on the first piloted Apollo flight, Apollo 7, on 1968 Oct 11 at 1502. The launch vehicle was SA-205, a Saturn IB. The AS-205 mission would test out the Command and Service Module in Earth orbit. Apollo 7 reached a 227 x 284 km orbit at 1513, remaining attached to the SLA (Spacecraft LM Adapter) and the S-IVB stage. Over the next orbit they carried out tests in controlling the rocket stage. Apollo 7 separated from the stage at 1757, and three of the four panels of the SLA opened wide. A fourth panel stuck in an intermediate position. (On this mission, they were attached to the Saturn by hinges; on later missions they would be jettisoned.) At 1800 the Apollo completed a simulated transposition and docking maneuver - but no Lunar Module was carried on the flight, so there was nothing to actually dock with.

Over the next day, the crew tested the RCS and SPS engines with a separation and re-rendezvous with the Saturn S-IVB stage. Rendezvous was complete at 2100 on Oct 12. After 20 minutes the Apollo moved away again to begin the next phase of the mission.

From Oct 14 to Oct 21, 5 more burns of the large SPS engine were made to test out the system. A final burn at 1042 on Oct 22 brought Apollo 7 out of orbit for splashdown in the Atlantic at 1111 on Oct 22.

CSM 101 Mission Log
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1968 Oct 11	1502:45	AS-205 launch
1968 Oct 11	1505:06	S-IB inboard engine cutoff
1968 Oct 11	1505:09	Outboard engine cutoff
1968 Oct 11	1505:10	T+2:25 S-IB separation, 62 km altitude
1968 Oct 11	1505:31	T+2:46 LES separation
	1507:04	S1B apogee 119 km	-6145 x 119 x 33.3
	1512:05	S-IB impact 75.72W 29.76N
1968 Oct 11, 1513:02	S-IVB shutdown
1968 Oct 11, 1513:12	Earth orbit insertion	227 x 284 km x 31.64 deg,
			222 x 282 x 31.61 (Traj)
1968 Oct 11	1637:13	propellant dump begin	223 x 289 x 31.62
	1649:14	LOX dump complete	223 x 309 x 31.61
1968 Oct 11	1757:47	S-IVB-205 separation	232 x 309 km
			228 x 315 x 31.64
1968 Oct 11	1758?	SLA panels opened
1968 Oct 11	1800	Simulated Transposition and Docking
1968 Oct 11	1822:55	Phasing sep (RCS),	231 x 305 km
1968 Oct 11	1917		89.86 228 x 305 x 31.7
1968 Oct 12	0654:45	Phasing (RCS),	224 x 305 km
1968 Oct 12	1727:41	Corrective combination (SPS),	228 x 360 km
1968 Oct 12	1903:42	Coelliptic (SPS),	211 x 285 km
1968 Oct 12	2019:18	TPI (RCS),	225 x 285 km
1968 Oct 12	2059:28	TPF (RCS),	226 x 298 km
1968 Oct 12	2100	Rendezvous with S-IVB-205
1968 Oct 12	2122:45	Sep (RCS),	226 x 298 km
1968 Oct 13	2123		89.81 227 x 302 x 31.6
1968 Oct 14	1508		89.78 221 x 304 x 31.6
1968 Oct 14	1850:45	SPS-3 (SPS perigee lower)	166 x 296 km
1968 Oct 14	1926		89.12 161 x 300 x 31.2
1968 Oct 15	0650		89.04 163 x 290 x 31.2
1968 Oct 16	1500?		89.12 168 x 292 x 31.2
1968 Oct 16	1545	SPS-4 (SPS minimum firing),	165 x 290 km
	1820		89.02 169 x 282 x 31.2
1968 Oct 17	1632		88.94 166 x 277 x 31.2
1968 Oct 18	1202:45	SPS-5 (SPS phasing),	165 x 452 km
1968 Oct 19	0249		90.64 165 x 446 x 30.1
	0720		90.61 164 x 444 x 30.1
1968 Oct 20	0910:45	SPS-6 (SPS minimum firing)	, 163 x 434 km
1968 Oct 20	1457		90.50 164 x 434 x 30.1
1968 Oct 21	1408:57	SPS-7 (SPS burn),	164 x 426 km
1968 Oct 21	2144		90.52 162 x 437 x 29.9
1968 Oct 22			90.44 172 x 420 x 29.88 (SAO)
1968 Oct 22	1042:01	SPS-8 (deorbit) over Hawaii 12s at 376 km
1968 Oct 22	1046:19	SM-101 separation
	1053?	3.7m dia insulation disk separates
1968 Oct 22	1056:12	Entry interface	88.52 -47 x 450 x 30.0
	1106	SM-101 impact Atlantic at 29N 72W
1968 Oct 22	1111:48	Splashdown in Atlantic Ocean, 27 32 21.5N 64 04W
1968 Oct 22	1140?	Recovered by USS Essex