EntityQ236071· pop 45· linked from 224 articles

Apollo 4

uncrewed test flight of the United States Apollo program

Key facts

Mission type: Uncrewed Earth orbital CSM flight ( A )
Operator: NASA
Cospar id: 1967-113A (command and service modules), 1967-113B (S-IVB)
Mission duration: 8 hours, 36 minutes, 59 seconds
Spacecraft: Apollo CSM -017, Apollo LTA-10R
Manufacturer: North American Rockwell
Launch mass: 36,856 kilograms (81,253 lb)
Launch date: November 9, 1967, 12:00:01 ( 1967-11-09UTC12:00:01Z ) UTC
Rocket: Saturn V SA-501
Launch site: Kennedy LC-39 A
Recovered by: USS Bennington
Landing date: November 9, 1967, 20:37:00 ( 1967-11-09UTC20:38Z ) UTC
Landing site: North Pacific Ocean, 30°06′N 172°32′W / 30.100°N 172.533°W / 30.100; -172.533 ( Apollo 4 splashdown )
Reference system: Geocentric
Regime: Highly elliptical orbit
Perigee altitude: −204 kilometers (−110 nmi)
Apogee altitude: 18,092 kilometers (9,769 nmi)
Inclination: 31.9 degrees

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

Apollo 4 (November 9, 1967), also known as SA-501, was the uncrewed first test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the rocket that eventually took astronauts to the Moon. The space vehicle was assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building, and was the first to be launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, ascending from Launch Complex 39, where facilities built especially for the Saturn V had been constructed.

Apollo 4 was an "all-up" test, meaning all rocket stages and spacecraft were fully functional on the initial flight, a first for NASA. It was the first time the S-IC first stage and S-II second stage flew. It also demonstrated the S-IVB third stage's first in-flight restart. The mission used a Block I command and service module modified to test several key Block II revisions, including its heat shield at simulated lunar-return velocity and angle.