AS-103 was the third orbital flight test of a boilerplate

Apollo spacecraft The Apollo spacecraft was composed of three parts designed to accomplish the American Apollo program's goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by the end of the 1960s and returning them safely to Earth. The expendable (single-use) spacecraft ...

, and the first flight of a Pegasus micrometeoroid detection satellite. Also known as ''SA-9'', it was the third operational launch of a two-stage

Saturn I The Saturn I was a rocket designed as the United States' first medium lift launch vehicle for up to low Earth orbit Payload (air and space craft), payloads.Terminology has changed since the 1960s; back then, 20,000 pounds was considered "heavy l ...

launch vehicle.

Objectives

Of 12 flight objectives assigned, two were concerned with the operation of the Pegasus satellite, eight with launch vehicle systems performance, one with jettisoning the

launch escape system A launch escape system (LES) or launch abort system (LAS) is a crew-safety system connected to a space capsule. It is used in the event of a critical emergency to quickly separate the capsule from its launch vehicle in case of an emergency requiri ...

, and one with separation of the boilerplate spacecraft. The satellite objectives were (1) demonstration of the functional operations of the mechanical, structural, and electronic systems and (2) evaluation of

meteoroid A meteoroid ( ) is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than ''asteroids'', ranging in size from grains to objects up to wide. Objects smaller than meteoroids are classifie ...

data sampling in near-Earth orbit. Since the launch trajectory was designed to insert the Pegasus satellite into the proper orbit, it differed substantially from the trajectory used in missions AS-101 and AS-102.

Launch

The launch vehicle consisted of an S-I first stage, an

S-IV The S-IV was the Multistage rocket, second stage of the Saturn I rocket used by NASA for early flights in the Apollo program. The S-IV was manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company and later modified by them to the S-IVB, a similar but distinc ...

second stage, and an instrument unit. The spacecraft consisted of a boilerplate

command and service module The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functioned as a mother ship ...

, a launch escape system, and a service module/launch vehicle adapter (BP-16). The Pegasus 1 satellite was enclosed within the service module, attached to the S-IV stage. The orbital configuration consisted of the satellite mounted on the adapter, which remained attached to the instrument unit and the expended S-IV stage. The vehicle was launched from Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 37B at 9:37:03 a.m. EST (14:37:03 GMT) on February 16, 1965. A hold of 1 hour and 7 minutes was caused by a power failure in the Eastern Test Range flight safety computer. A built-in hold of 30 minutes was also used to discharge and recharge a battery in the Pegasus satellite as a check that it was functioning properly. The launch was normal, and the spacecraft was inserted into orbit approximately 10.5 minutes after launch. The launch escape system was jettisoned during launch and the command module was jettisoned after orbital insertion. The

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

satellite weighed approximately and was . The width of the deployed wings was . The total mass placed in orbit was . The perigee was , the apogee was , and the orbital inclination was 31.76°.

Results

The trajectory and space-fixed velocity were very nearly as planned. The Apollo shroud separated from the Pegasus satellite about 804 seconds after lift-off, and deployment of two meteoroid detection panel wings of the Pegasus satellite commenced about 1 minute later. The predicted useful lifetime of Pegasus A in orbit was 1188 days. The satellite was commanded off (decommissioned) on August 29, 1968. Although minor malfunctions occurred in both the launch vehicle and the Pegasus A satellite, mission AS-103 was a success in that all objectives were met. The spacecraft remained in orbit until July 10, 1985, when it re-entered the atmosphere and landed in the ocean.

References

{{Use American English, date=January 2014 Apollo program Spacecraft launched in 1965 1965 in the United States Test spaceflights Spacecraft launched by Saturn rockets Saturn I