Pad Abort Test 1

Pad Abort Test 1 launch.
Mission type	Abort test
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	2 minutes, 45.1 seconds
Distance travelled	2.51 kilometers (1.56 mi)
Apogee	2.82 kilometers (1.75 mi)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Apollo BP-06
Start of mission
Launch date	November 7, 1963, 16:00:01 (1963-11-07UTC16:00:01Z) UTC
Rocket	Apollo LES
Launch site	White SandsLC-36
End of mission
Landing date	November 7, 1963, 16:02:45 (1963-11-07UTC16:02:46Z) UTC
Project Apollo Abort tests ← QTV A-001 →

Pad Abort Test 1 was the firstabort test of theApollo spacecraft on November 7, 1963.

Pad Abort Test 1 was a mission to investigate the effects on the Apollo spacecraft during an abort from the pad. Thelaunch escape system (LES) had to be able to pull the spacecraft away from an exploding rocket on the launch pad. The LES then had to gain enough altitude to allow the command module's parachutes to open, preferably with the spacecraft over water and not land.

The flight featured a production model LES and aboilerplate (BP-06) Apollo spacecraft, the first mission to feature one. The spacecraft carried no instruments for measuring structural loads as the capsule's boilerplate structure did not represent that of a real spacecraft.

On November 7, 1963, an abort signal was sent to the LES at 09:00:01 local time. This began a sequence in which the main solid rockets fired to lift the spacecraft and smaller altitude rockets fired to move it laterally toward the ocean.

The LES separated after 15 seconds, allowing the spacecraft to take aballistictrajectory. The parachute system worked perfectly: the drogue chute stabilized the spacecraft, then the three main parachutes slowed the descent to a leisurely 26 kilometers per hour.

The only problems found with the flight were that the LES rockets leftsoot on the spacecraft exterior and the stability of the spacecraft was less than predicted.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPad Abort Test-1.

• The Apollo Spacecraft: A ChronologyArchived 2017-12-09 at theWayback Machine
• Apollo Program Summary Report
• Nasa support manual - Apollo description manual applicable to boilerplate 6 only
• Actual weight and balance report B P 6 at WSMR C M and LES for pad abort 1
• Post-launch memorandum report for Apollo pad abort 1

• Apollo program
• 1963 in spaceflight
• Test spaceflights
• Flight abort

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