| UPce 09/13 0915 Omaha group seeks restoration of space capsule
LINCOLN, Neb. (UPI) -- The Apollo 009 space capsule, which soared
through space in the mid-1960s and now rests outside Morrill Hall at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has become an eyesore, an Omaha group
contends.
The group, Nebraskans for the Advancement of Space Development, wants
UNL to restore or remove the spacecraft, Craig Cleaver of Omaha said.
Cleaver, president of NASD, has presented to UNL administrators a petition
signed by about 100 Nebraskans seeking the restoration of the capsule.
The outer shell is a mass of chipped paint. There is a half-inch
crack between the front heatshield and the underside of the spacecraft.
The windows reveal rusted innards and tangeled wires.
The 27-year-old craft has deteriorated partly from 17 years of
exposure to weather and vandalism. The capsule also has become the
target of graffiti scribblers.
Cleaver estimated the cost of restoring the space capsule at between
$75,000 and $100,000.
University spokesman Herb Howe said UNL architect Bob Carpenter is
designing a structure to protect the capsule.
"It doesn't make sense to restore it unless we can do something to
protect (the capsule)," Howe said.
Several years ago the capsule was enclosed by a cage which protected
it from vandalism, but it could not easily be viewed. Howe said the new
structure probably will be made of plexiglass so the public can view the
capsule easily.
Howe said he assumes the university also will attempt to restore the
capsule, but it is not known where the money for restoration will come from.
Restoring the capsule will be difficult since it must look like it
did in its post-flight condition. The restored capsule must mirror
the damage it received when it re-entered Earth's atmosphere to
accurately represent its historical value.
There is no estimate on the cost of restoring the capsule, but UNL
has contacted a NASA representative for an estimate.
The Apollo 009 capsule was a forerunner to the manned Apollo
missions. It was the first test capsule launched to determine how well
the capsule design performed before manned flights were started.
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| Article: 56930
From: [email protected] (Curtis W. Roelle)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Apollo AS-201/Capsule 009 (was: Apollo 2 - Apollo 7?)
Date: 18 Apr 1994 22:17:09 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
>[email protected] (Howard Gluckman) writes
Re: Apollo 2 - Apollo 7? ...
>I'll try to add some information to this discussion, although I don't
>have any documentation in front of me.
>
[...]
>
>The Apollo naming and numbering was a little more complicated. As to
>naming, it seems as though someone decided that the first manned mission
>should be called Apollo 1, and of course this was to be the name of the
>mission that Grissom, White and Chaffee would have flown. After the
>fire, it seems as though someone decided to name the mission with a
>sequence number that started prior to "Apollo 1." As I recall, Apollo 4
>was the first Saturn V launch in Nov 67, and Apollo 6 was the second
>Saturn V, but those names were not widely used, and I don't recall any
>of the other intervening Apollo x names. Apollo numbering used a three
>digit number, with the first digit indicating launch vehicle (Saturn 1=1
>Saturn 1B = 2, and Saturn V = 5) and the second two digits indicating a
>sequence number for that launch vehicle (ah, I *love* intelligent
>codes!). So, Apollo 1, which was to be the fourth Saturn 1B mission was
>officially Apollo 204. Since launch vehicles and spececraft sometimes
>were linked, its possible that not all of the numbers are in sequence.
About two weeks ago I received a copy of several pages from a book (I
am currently trying to obtain the title and author of the book from
the person who mailed me the information). I know this information pre-
dates the subject of the Apollo 2-7 discussion, but here is an excerpt
from pp. 190-3 of the book regarding the AS-201 mission (I've added a
couple comments in braces)...
"After the last Little Joe flight, the scene shifted to Florida, where
a Saturn IB, the first of the uprated vehicles slated to boost manned
flights into earth orbit, was ready. AS-201 did not get a lot of
publicity, but Dale Myers, and his North American crew considered its
spacecraft CSM-009 their "teething" operation:
It...proved out our procedures, or checkout techniques, and
proved that this equipment [fitted] together...And we got lined
up so we [were] able to handle operations both at the Cape and
[in Downey]. Although spacecraft 009 had some problems in
flight...we got what we were looking for from the primary
objective, ...real good data on our heatshield, which we just
can't get any testing on any other way.
"[...]At 11:12 a.m. 26 February {1966}, AS-201's first stage ignited
and drove the combined {Chrysler Saturn IB first stage, Douglas S-IVB,
and Rockwell CSM 009} vehicles up to 57 kilometers where, after
sepration the S-IVB took over, propelling the payload up to 425
kilometers. The second stage then droped off, and the spacecraft
coasted in an arc, reaching a peak altitude of 488 kilometers. At the
zenith the service module fired for 184 seconds, hurtling the command
module into a steep descent. After a 10-second cutoff, the rocket
engine fired again, for 10 seconds, to prove it could restart. The
two modules then separated. The command module, traveling at 8300
meters per second, turned blunt end forward to meet the friction
caused by the growing density of atmosphere.
"Both booster and spacecraft performed adequately. From liftoff in
Florida to touchdown in the South Atlantic, the mission lasted only 37
minutes. The spacecraft was recovered by the U.S.S. Boxer two and a
half hours after splashdown. AS-201 proved that the spacecraft was
structurally sound and, most important, that the heatshield could
survive an atmospheric reentry."
Apollo mission AS-201 was serial number "009".
Even today the 009 capsule does "not get a lot of publicity."
According to the Sept 3, 1993 "Daily Nebraskan", student paper for the
University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the Apollo 009 capsule, which had
been displayed outside Morrill Hall since 1972, has been "moved to
East Campus, where it rests on sandbags in a rusting silver Quonset
hut that once stored surplus corn from Nebraska farmers. Cobwebs and
a layer of dust cover the weather-beaten, vandalized capsule that
zipped through space in 1966."
Curtis Roelle
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| Article: 2621
From: [email protected] (stonie cooper)
Newsgroups: sci.space.tech
Subject: Apollo CM - tragic story.
Date: 15 Jul 1994 17:03:46 GMT
Organization: University of Nebraska--Lincoln
I have been away from internet for awhile and realize that this dog
has probably been beat enough, but I thought readers might like to
know what happened to the Apollo 009 CM.
The Apollo 009 CM was given to the University of Nebraska/Lincoln many
years ago; the circumstances behind that transaction are unknown to
me. The University put the module on a concrete slab outside of their
palentology museum - exposed to the elements with absolutely no effert
to preserve.
A couple years ago, Kansas or Kansas State struck up a deal to trade
the CM for some articles that UNL wanted. Kansas was going to restore
the module and put it inside a museum. Well, the 'public' in Lincoln
didn't like the idea of the University giving away what some felt to
be part of the character of the UNL campus, even though the module was
decaying before everyones eyes. The University had a hot potatoe to
deal with; leave the module, and it will decay beyond repair, trade it
to Kansas and 'donations' to the schools other departments drops off
with public opinion.
So the University of nebraska put the module inside a maintenace shed
on the schools Ag campus - let the contraversy die, then trade the
module to someone who could take care of it.
It never was traded. The Apollo 009 CM sits in a shed with lawnrowers
and tractors in the middle of an Ag campus. No restoration plans are
being made. It just sits in the shed, rotting at a slower rate, but
decaying none-the-less. And it's still there - I just called to check.
Stonie Cooper
Meteorology
Univ of Nebr/Lincoln
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