An Illustrated Chronology of the NASA Marshall Center and MSFC ...

JULY -
SEPTEMBER1962
A new Saturn vehlclu was needed. NASA announced on July II that a new, two-step
Saturn-classvehlcle would be developed for manned earth orbital missions wlth fuIl._ide
Apollo spacecraft [801, The Saturn would be known as the Saturn C-IB, Simultaneously,
NASA annouuced selection of lunar orbit rendezvousas the method of performing the
manned lunar landing. This lunar rendezvousmode wouldrequirethe useof only one
Saturn C-S vehicle to Inject the spacecraftInto aJ_earth-lunartrajectory.The entire
Apollo spacecraftwould not land on the moon after Its separationfrom the launch
vehicle'sthird stage.Rather,one unit of the spacecraff,a lunar excursionmodule, or
"bug," wouldlandand laterrejoin tile restof the orbitingApollo [811.
On July 21 NASA Headquartersannouncedconstructionplansfor LaunchComplex39,
Saturn C-5 launch facilities,at Cape Canaveral.The 350-foot-highvehiclewould be
erected and checkedout verticallyIn a special48-story assemblybuilding. Following
checkout,a 2500-ton crawlervehiclewouldmovethe ;_atumC-5 to It_ launchpad (82.].
in July NASA announcedthat a computer center would be establishedat Slidell,
Louisiana,to servicethe Mlchoud Operations.The center, to be one of the nation's
largest,would perfJrm engineeringcalculationsnecessaryin the development,building,
andstatictestingof the SaturnC-I andC-5 boosters[83].
To test C-5 strength,MSFC awardeda designcontract in July for a 360-foot-high
dynamicstest tower at MSFC. The Saturn C-5launchvehiclewouldbe suspendedIn the
tower and vibrated by mechanicaland electricalmeans.This simulation of free-flight
conditionswoulddeterminethe vehicle'snaturaibendingmodes[84].
On August6 NAsA andChryslerCorporationsigneda contractfor productionof 21 C-I
boosters,to be deliveredbetween late 1964 and early 1966. The stageswould be
producedby Chryslerat the MlchoudPlant nearNew Orleans.On the samedate NASA
announcedthat the BooingCompanyhad receiveda supplementarycontractfrom MSFC
for workleadIngto design,development,fabrication,and testof the C-5 booster[85],
A C-5 secondstagecontract for design,development,fabrication,and testingof the
S-IVB stageswas awardedDouglason August8, The contractcalledfor I I of thestages:
five for groundtests(two or whichwouldbeusedlateras Inert flight stages)andsix for
poweredflight. Next, provisionwasmadefor C-5 guldanc.,,and control.On August 13
MSFC selectedthe C-5 instrumentunit design,The cylindricalunit wouldmeasure260
inchesin diameterand stand36 incheshigh.All vehicleguidanceandcontrolequipment
wouldbe mountedon panelsfastenedwithin thisstructure[86].
On August 15 NASA awardedRocketdyneDivision_ two-yearcontractto continueH-I
engineresearchand development.The first Saturnboosterengineswouldalsobeusedin
SaturnIB boosters.Meanwhile,the C,I secondstageprogresscontinued[87].
PresidentJohhlF. KennedyandVice-PresidentLyndonB. Johnson,with an officialparty
of key governmentofficials,IncludingNASA AdministratorJamesE. Webb,visitedthe
Centerfor a look at Saturnprogresson SeptemberI I, 1962 [88].
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