pTrevTrevs

You’re not gonna like what I have coming down the pipeline then…

Please Galileo, please Galileo, please Galileo.....

Feels like I'm overdue for my screenshot tax, so here's some more various stuff... 1978-1979: Picking Up Steam: May 1978: At Vandenberg AFB on the west coast, a Titan 34B launches a Quasar satellite for the US Air Force. These satellites form a communication network which is used to receive telemetry from a new series of classified reconnaissance satellites also launched from Vandenberg. This Quasar payload is being sent into a molniya-type orbit, from which it can communicate with the Air Force's sun-synchronous surveillance spacecraft. Due to the confidential nature of DOD missions, photography of this launch is limited. December, 1978: A Delta 3914 launches the unique Anik B1 satellite to GEO, one of several Delta launches this year. Unlike the other spin-stabilized satellites of the Canadian Anik network, Anik B1 possesses three-axis stabilization and sun-tracking solar panels. The upgrades make this spacecraft much heavier than its predecessors, necessitating the use of the uprated Delta 3000 series. January, 1979: The Skylab 8 mission is four months into their half-year stay on Skylab, attempting a record which would be longer than the previous Skylab 7 flight by fifty percent. Shortly after the new year, Aardvark 5 launches from Cape Canaveral (Skylab 8 notably did not receive an AARDV freighter due to a surplus of consumables onboard the station). With supplies carried aboard the resupply mission, the Skylab 8 crew performs the mission's only EVA, dedicated to station upkeep and maintenance. Skylab 8 will be the final crew to visit the station before the new Space Shuttle begins manned flights, leading some to speculate about the future of Apollo-Saturn systems in America's space program. For the time being, at least, Skylab crews will continue to fly on Apollo Block III and Saturn IC, while any STS missions to the station will be dedicated solely to the delivery of new supplies and hardware. March 1979: Voyager 1 begins its flyby of Jupiter (while carrying multiple BDB science parts, so I can still post this here). Despite being launched after its sister ship Voyager 2, Voyager 1 has arrived at Jupiter first due to its faster, more efficient trajectory. One of the primary objectives of Voyager 1's time at Jupiter is a close study of the innermost of the Galilean moons, Io. The moon was first observed in detail by Pioneer 10 in 1973, and again by Pioneer 11 in 1974. The data returned suggested that Io has the highest density of the four innermost moons, as well as a thin atmosphere and high radiation levels in its vicinity. Unfortunately, very little good data was obtained by either probe due to the intense radiation surrounding Jupiter, and the Voyager 1 team hopes to make up for this with their spacecraft's more advanced systems. September, 1979: After five years of travel, Pioneer 11 has at last completed its journey toward Saturn. Due to the planet's position at the time of Pioneer's 1974 encounter with Jupiter, the spacecraft was forced to take a very indirect path to the sixth planet, doubling back on itself for awhile and dipping inside the orbit of Jupiter to gain speed for a long drift to catch up with Saturn. By this point, both Voyager probes have been launched, passed Jupiter, and are themselves hot on the heels of Pioneer 11, with the first one set to arrive at Saturn only fourteen months later. After six years in space, Pioneer 11 is an aging, decrepit hulk of a spacecraft, easily surpassed by the state-of-the-art Voyagers, and this fact prompts NASA to make a decision which the Pioneer team at Ames Research Center protested against in vain. In order to pass on to Uranus and Neptune, Voyager 2 would need to pass through Saturn's rings, and it was agreed to use the more primitive Pioneer spacecraft as a scout to test the trajectory before this happened. If there were any faint particles in the way which could damage or destroy Voyager 2, Pioneer 11 would discover them, probably at the cost of its own life... Finally, in June 1979 the Space Shuttle Columbia undergoes final checks before its maiden voyage. Since it's not related to BDB I will be posting my shuttle missions in @Kuiper_Belt's Shuttle Adventures thread, but here's a teaser:

Not to clog the thread, but... STS-2: "Wanna see me do it again?": December, 1979. America's space shuttle stands on the launch pad for a second time, after being ferried back from California, outfitted with a new payload, and stacked with a new external tank and pair of SRBs. With most of the basic operational capabilities of the shuttle verified on STS-1, Columbia's second mission is to focus on the on-orbit capabilities of the shuttle. While the DFI pallet is carried on this flight to gather more instrumentation readings, the first operational shuttle payloads are also to be launched today. Among the experiments on the manifest are a Spacelab pallet containing multiple OSTA experiments, a side-looking radar mapping antenna, and most notably the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, better known as Canadarm.

The Saturn V contractors will be taking in money hand over fist when these things hit the market. We're up to what, three Saturn V's per landing now?

Another STS-1: There Are Many Like it, but This One is Mine: June, 1979: After close to a decade of one of the most complex engineering initiatives ever undertaken, America's Space Shuttle stands on Pad 39A for her maiden voyage. Gleaming white in the early morning sun, Columbia slowly comes to life as her systems are powered up. This first flight of STS will last just over two and a half days, enough time to comprehensively test the orbiter's systems under a variety of conditions.

Pioneer Venus: Multiprobes of Madness: And other sundry missions that don't deserve their own post... June, 1978: The incident causing the launch failure of AAP-4 back in February has been resolved and appropriate measures have been taken to prevent a recurrence of the anomaly in the future. An investigation board concluded that a piece of circuitry inside the Saturn IU had been improperly attached and was broken off by the vibrations caused by the F-1A engine's spool-up and ignition. The assembly appears to have become disconnected at around T-0.5 seconds, preventing the IU from receiving confirmation of liftoff. For the rest of the flight, therefore, the Saturn believed it was still in a pre-launch state and acted accordingly. Aerodynamic forces then induced errant rates on the vehicle which the IU did not correct, leading to the subsequent abnormal trajectory and launch abort. IBM's manufacturing teams have responded to the failure of their hardware by increasing the strictness of their inspections and strengthening the soldering and welding work on all their future IUs. Having had its own IU cleared for flight the next available Saturn IC, serial SA-309, is quickly pulled from its original Skylab 8 flight and repurposed for the revised AAP-4A flight. One morning in late June, the original mission crew files into the white room atop LC-34 for another attempt to retrieve their orbiting target... December: After a seven-month voyage, the twin Pioneer Venus spacecraft have arrived at their destination. The Orbiter is the first to reach the second planet, entering orbit on December 4... Days later, the Pioneer Venus Multiprobe comes screaming into the Venusian system carrying its four atmospheric probes. Three small probes are detached individually and directed to diverse locations on the planet. One probe lands near the equator on the daylit side of Venus, a second at a similar latitude on the night side, and the third at a latitude exceeding 60 degrees north. None of these probes are equipped with parachutes, but the Venusian atmosphere is expected to be so thick that the probes will fall to the surface very slowly, possibly at survivable speeds... Much closer to the planet, the single large probe is released. This probe boasts a small parachute intended to slow its descent and enable a much longer observation period. In addition to the instruments fitted to the small probes, the large probe carries a moisture sensor and geiger counter. While the primary focus of the multiprobe is atmospheric study, the possibility of the probe surviving the descent has not been ruled out, and to exploit this outcome a seismometer has been fitted to the probe as well...

Summary of 1978: Mode 1A: January: Explorer 57, also known as the International Ultraviolet Explorer, launches from Cape Canaveral onboard a Delta 2914. Arriving in a 28-degree geosynchronous orbit, the spacecraft begins performing ultraviolet observations of celestial objects: February: The Orbiting Primate Spacecraft has been in space for just under a year, and the crew of AAP-4 are minutes away from launching to retrieve it. Telemetry shows both rhesus monkeys aboard the OPS are still in good health, although likely growing tired of their situation. Since the first manned Saturn IC launch a year and a half ago, the new vehicle has maintained an unprecedented launch cadence for a vehicle of its size, with one leaving the pad once every six weeks on average. So far, every launch has been successful, and the apprehensions about the new vehicle are beginning to fade. AAP-4 is expected to be a milk-run of a mission, lasting no more than two days, during which the crew will capture the OPS and perform an EVA to retrieve its occupants from inside. With two minutes to go until liftoff, the astronauts aboard the command module Bunker Hill relax in their couches, rather pleased with what seems to be nothing more than two days of free flight time ahead... March-April: Meanwhile, the crew of Skylab 7 continues their four-month endurance mission in orbit. The launch failure on AAP-4 was quickly traced to the Saturn IU rather than the Apollo spacecraft itself, averting the possibility of an early return for the crew. Skylab 7's main objectives, in addition to the standard solar observation and medical research, include continued station renovation both inside and outside the pressure hull. Most notably, during an EVA lasting several hours, the crew installed a set of five handrails along the starboard side of the orbital workshop to enable easier access to the solar wing and the systems at the rear of the station. As plans for Skylab's continued service develop further, it has become increasingly clear that the RCS, radiators, and ECS equipment on the back of the station will eventually need servicing. Unwilling to allow even more vital hardware to decay before the arrival of the Space Shuttle and its lauded robotic manipulator arm, the MSC has packed the necessary supplies aboard the most recent Aardvark for the interim crews to perform what maintenance they can. March: The first member of the US Navy's FLTSATCOM constellation launches from the Cape aboard an Atlas-Centaur. FLTSATCOM will enable high-speed secure communications for the Navy, Air Force, and Presidential Command Network, and at full strength will comprise a system of five satellites in GEO. The most notable feature of this new satellite design is its large parabolic transmitter dish, extending out from the front of the bus and requiring the spacecraft's solar panels to be mounted on extended booms to clear the rim. It is curious that FLTSATCOM was launched on Atlas-Centaur, rather than the military's customary Titan 23C, but my best guess is that this was because of the project's origin with the Navy rather than the Air Force. May: The first in a pair of spacecraft termed "Pioneer Venus" departs on its mission. The Pioneer Venus Orbiter will be the first American spacecraft to orbit the second planet and will perform the first in-depth observations of the planet from space. Using cloud-penetrating radar, the probe will also create the first maps of the planet's surface, providing NASA with a rare look beneath the thick haze which constantly obscures the planet. As a side note, I'm a little surprised @Invaderchaos did not immediately put in for a restraining order when I showed him this. As a side-side note, I also made this before the Mariner 3-5 parts were released on the dev branch. Too bad, because I noticed a couple of them would have worked extremely well in this kitbash... August: Two months later, the second Pioneer Venus spacecraft launches, carrying a set of four atmospheric probes to investigate the depths of the Venusian clouds. Three small probes will be scattered across various places on the surface, with one larger probe equipped with a parachute for a longer and more capable study of the atmosphere. None of the four are designed to survive the descent or to return data from the surface, although this possibility has not been ignored by the designers. Venus's atmosphere is so incredibly thick that even the smaller probes have a chance to land safely in spite of their lack of parachutes, if they aren't crushed by the pressure first.

Kerbalism has been known to do this. Are you running that one?

Gonna tell my kids this was Delta III.

1977 Interlude: Can't Think of a Witty Title This Time: July, 1977: The crew of Skylab 6 performs the longest of a series of EVAs meant to service the orbiting station. The activities outside are recorded by the camera system installed on Skylab 5: June - September, 1977: At Edwards Air Force Base, Space Shuttle Enterprise performs a series of free flights meant to determine the orbiter's flight characteristics on final approach. Only one photo here because it's not really BDB-related. See more in the Shuttle Adventures thread in Mission Reports: August, 1977: Skylab 6 completes its six-week mission and departs the station, splashing down in the western Pacific ocean. Skylab 7 is scheduled to take its place aboard the outpost in December: August - September, 1977: The twin Voyager space probes launch aboard the final two Titan IIIE boosters, set to continue the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn begun by the Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes. As a tertiary goal Voyager 2 is launched into a trajectory which will enable it to proceed on to Uranus and Neptune, should Voyager 1 accomplish all its objectives at Jupiter and Saturn.

I gotcha; it's still three minutes to midnight where I live: Older screenshots of mine, but they check out.

Skylab 6: Home Improvement: June, 1977: Skylab 6 launches from LC-34 on the first operational mission of Saturn IC. In addition to reactivating the space station after nearly two years in hibernation, the mission will also deliver a new expansion to the station in an attempt to preserve its usefulness in an age of increasingly capable computers in spaceflight. Since the departure of the last Skylab crew, telemetry has recorded many systems failures aboard the station, and the equipment which has not outright broken is well past its expiration date. During their six weeks aboard, the crew of Skylab 6 will be primarily engaged in renovation and repair procedures both inside and outside the station, aided by the arrival of an AARDV loaded with replacement parts and repair tools halfway through the mission. Bonus: DSCS-2-4/5 launching on Titan 23C:

Like the guy above said, it’s Katniss’s Cape Canaveral. For people like me who use KSRSS there’s a patch somewhere out there that rescales it to work in the 2.5x system, or you can do it manually. Aside from LC-39 I don’t think it places any structures, so all the Missile Row pads I put down manually.

AAP-3: In Space, Nobody Can Hear PETA Scream: April, 1977: Saturn IC stands on the pad for its first manned test flight. The command module atop SA-303, christened Lexington, will not be visiting Skylab, but rather delivering to orbit a scientific payload which has been the target of much controversy among animal rights activists since its public announcement. The Orbiting Primate Spacecraft dates back to before the launch of Skylab and was envisioned to help assess the long-term effects of spaceflight on mammalian biology without risking human life. The mission would have involved a Saturn IB launching two rhesus monkeys aboard a small pressurized capsule, which they would share for approximately one year before being recovered by an Apollo spacecraft. Saturn IC's improved payload capacity allowed an Apollo spacecraft to be added to the mission, providing a greater range of possible orbits and the ability for a crew to check out the biological payload in orbit before departing. The use of live animals to test the effects of such a long stay in orbit was naturally met with intense backlash, but apart from a protest outside the entrances to KSC on the days leading up to launch nothing major impeded the mission (Because I wanted to fly the new OPS goo lab and need a deus ex machina). For its part, NASA shifted the emphasis of the mission to the first manned flight of Saturn IC and the tests that were to be performed on the entire SA-300 infrastructure. If all went well on this flight, said officials, Skylab 6 would return to orbit in July for a six-week mission aboard the space station, during which they would renovate, repair, and reactivate the station for its next cycle of visitors. Meanwhile, AAP-3's OPS pod would remain in orbit and transmit telemetry of its payload to controllers on Earth until 1978, when it would be recovered by a second Apollo crew aboard AAP-4. Bonus: Satcom 2 to GEO on Delta 3914:

I remember reading something about a Pioneer Mars mission when I was still a kid but was never able to find any other information about it, so I figured it was just some kind of Mandela effect. Cool to see that there was actually a concept for it!

We do a little Approach and Landing Testing:

Flipping? What exactly is happening?

AAP-2: Somebody Help Me I Can't Stop Making Centaur-Derived Stations: The first mission under the Apollo Applications banner had used a modified Lunar Module as an orbital astronomy platform, and had achieved remarkable success during its weeklong mission. With Saturn IC's manned flights delayed into 1977 and the Shuttle still at least three years from flightworthiness, NASA found itself relying heavily on these free-flying AAP missions to maintain its reputation and experience in manned spaceflight. The second flight of the series was scheduled for December of 1976, and would focus on earth observation. Original plans for the Geophysical Observation Long-Duration Flight (GOLF) involved launching a Block II Apollo onboard a Saturn IB or IC and using the instruments in the SIM bay to study the planet over a two or three week stay in orbit. However a mission like this would be little more than a less-ambitious copy of the J-series lunar flights, and would be a poor use of the remaining Apollo hardware. In an attempt to provide GOLF with more capability, the mission profile was altered to make use of a Saturn V to launch both the Apollo and a laboratory module into an elliptical orbit. The laboratory would be none other than the flight backup from the Gemini-MOL mission, in which the crew of Gemini 10 spent a month in space aboard a primitive space station built from a Centaur-D rocket stage. Unfortunately, with a full decade having passed since the original MOL flight it was soon realized that the backup Centaur would require too much work to renovate and modernize for use by Apollo, and it was deemed more efficient to simply pull a new Centaur from the production lines and start from scratch. The Geophysical Observation Platform (GOP), as the Centaur-Lab would be named, featured numerous upgrades over its ancestor, such as modernized electronics, more efficient solar arrays, more optimized interior volume, and various other enhancements developed using the lessons learned aboard Skylab. Most notably, the GOP featured a proper access tunnel, eliminating the need for a dangerous EVA from the spacecraft to the lab.

Interlude 1976: Blue Skies and Boilerplates: September 1976: The Viking 2 spacecraft enters the Martian system and releases its lander after spending two weeks in a site certification orbit. The lander touched down at its primary landing site in Utopia Planitia, becoming the second manmande object to reach the Martian surface. November1976: With the development of issues in man-rating the Saturn IC, MSFC technicians decided a second unmanned test flight was required before the vehicle could enter operational service. With no practical payloads available, however, the question of what to launch aboard SA-302 was a tricky one. Ultimately, MSC brought a Block I boilerplate out of storage and renovated it for use as a Block III simulator. The Service Module section was cut down, and the ballast inside the Command Module section was lightened to reflect the structural changes incorporated in production Block III spacecraft. The Apollo Interim Development flight, abbreviated as AID, would place this payload into a standard orbit expected of a Block III spacecraft bound for Skylab or a similar LEO mission objective. Once inserted, the boilerplate would be jettisoned and the mission would be complete. The main focus of the flight would be the Saturn IC launch vehicle, particularly the S-1E stage and its F-1A engine which had experienced complications with the G-limiting throttle in the past. Next time: AAP-2, and the last flight of the Big One:

Pretty sure those are the ones made by @Kuiper_Belt

Pretty sure he mentioned once that he had no plans to do Viking after I suggested he try to implement all the Titan-Centaur payloads. Honestly, can’t say I blame him. Viking is one of the most confusing spacecraft designs I’ve ever laid eyes on.

I take it this was also before the Air Force got their grubby paws on the Shuttle and got it redesigned to suit their needs?

I’ve spent more sleepless nights than I care to count racking my brain over how the shuttles in For All Mankind could have done this. It’s super cool to see one orbiting the Moon, I just… can’t suspend my disbelief that much.

I, for one, am totally enjoying this renaissance of SOCK submods.