
S67-15704 (3 Jan. 1967) --- Transfer of Apollo Spacecraft 012 Command/Service Module (CSM) for mating with the Saturn Lunar Module (LM) Adapter No.05 in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building. Spacecraft 012 will be flown on the Apollo/Saturn 1 (204) mission. Photo credit: NASA

The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) played a crucial role in the development of the huge Saturn rockets that delivered humans to the moon in the 1960s. Many unique facilities existed at MSFC for the development and testing of the Saturn rockets. Affectionately nicknamed “The Arm Farm”, the Random Motion/ liftoff Simulator was one of those unique facilities. This facility was developed to test the swing arm mechanisms that were used to hold the rocket in position until liftoff. The Arm Farm provided the capability of testing the detachment and reconnection of various arms under brutally realistic conditions. The 18-acre facility consisted of more than a half dozen arm test positions and one position for testing access arms used by the Apollo astronauts. Each test position had two elements: a vehicle simulator for duplicating motions during countdown and launch; and a section duplicating the launch tower. The vehicle simulator duplicated the portion of the vehicle skin that contained the umbilical connections and personnel access hatches. Driven by a hydraulic servo system, the vehicle simulator produced relative motion between the vehicle and tower. On the Arm Farm, extreme environmental conditions (such as a launch scrub during an approaching Florida thunderstorm) could be simulated. The dramatic scenes that the Marshall engineers and technicians created at the Arm Farm permitted the gathering of crucial technical and engineering data to ensure a successful real time launch from the Kennedy Space Center. This photo depicts a general view of the S-IV-B aft swing arm umbilical carrier line tray modification.

Moon Lunar Orbiter-Lunar Orbiter III: The hidden or dark side of the Moon was taken by Lunar Orbiter III During its mission to photograph potential lunar-landing sites for Apollo missions. -- Photograph published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary NASA publication (page 94), by James Schultz. Photo Number:67-H-328 is 1967-L-04026

X-15A-2 is rolled out of the paint shop after having the full scale ablative applied. In June 1967, the X-15A-2 rocket-powered research aircraft received a full-scale ablative coating to protect the craft from the high temperatures associated with hypersonic flight (above Mach 5). This pink eraser-like substance, applied to the X-15A-2 aircraft (56-6671), was then covered with a white sealant coat before flight. This coating would help the #2 aircraft reach the record speed of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7).

Workmen remove the Saturn IB S-IVB-206, the second flight stage for the Skylab 2 mission, from the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center. Designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Douglas Aircraft Company in Sacramento, California, the stage was powered by a single J-2 engine, which produced 200,000 pounds of thrust, later uprated to 230,000 pounds for the Saturn V launch vehicle.

This side-rear view of the X-24A Lifting Body on the lakebed by the NASA Flight Research Center shows its control surfaces used for subsonic flight.

Setup of a Surveyor/Atlas/Centaur shroud in the Space Power Chambers for a leak test at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. Centaur was a 15,000-pound thrust second-stage rocket designed for the military in 1957 and 1958 by General Dynamics. It was the first major rocket to use the liquid hydrogen technology developed by Lewis in the 1950s. The Centaur Program suffered numerous problems before being transferred to Lewis in 1962. Several test facilities at Lewis’ main campus and Plum Brook Station were built or modified specifically for Centaur, including the Space Power Chambers. In 1961, NASA Lewis management decided to convert its Altitude Wind Tunnel into two large test chambers and later renamed it the Space Power Chambers. The conversion, which took over 2 years, included the removal of the tunnel’s internal components and insertion of bulkheads to seal off the new chambers. The larger chamber, seen here, could simulate altitudes of 100,000 feet. It was used for Centaur shroud separation and propellant management studies until the early 1970s. The leak test in this photograph was likely an attempt to verify that the shroud’s honeycomb shell did not seep any of its internal air when the chamber was evacuated to pressures similar to those found in the upper atmosphere.

In Marshall Space Flight Center's Building 4755, Center Director Dr. Wernher von Braun describes a model of the proposed Orbital Workshop to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, May 22, 1967. Humphrey, chairman of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, toured Center facilities where he examined several mockups related to the Apllo Applications Program.

George Mazaris, works with an assistant to obtain the preliminary measurements of cadmium sulfide thin-film solar cells being tested in the Space Environmental Chamber at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center. Lewis’ Photovoltaic Fundamentals Section was investigating thin-film alternatives to the standard rigid and fragile solar cells. The cadmium sulfide semiconductors were placed in a light, metallized substrate that could be rolled or furled during launch. The main advantage of the thin-film solar cells was their reduced weight. Lewis researchers, however, were still working on improving the performance of the semiconductor. The new thin-film solar cells were tested in a space simulation chamber in the CW-6 test cell in the Engine Research Building. The chamber created a simulated altitude of 200 miles. Sunlight was simulated by a 5000-watt xenon light. Some two dozen cells were exposed to 15 minutes of light followed by 15 minutes of darkness to test their durability in the constantly changing illumination of Earth orbit. This photograph was taken for use in a NASA recruiting publication.

NASA Ames Computer Division, Smith (Weidlich). Candid: Marcia Smith Operating the IBM #740 Computer, Room #119-A, Building N-233.

This photograph shows a test firing of the the Saturn V S-II (second) stage at the Mississippi Test Facility's (MTF) S-II test stand. When the Saturn V booster stage (S-IC) burns out and drops away, power for the Saturn will be provided by the 82-foot-long and 33-foot-diameter S-II stage. Developed by the Space Division of North American Aviation under the direction of the Marshall Space Flight Center, the stage utilized five J-2 engines, each producing 200,000 pounds of thrust. The engines used liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants. Static test of ground test versions of the S-II stage were conducted at North American Aviation's Santa Susana, California test site. All flight stages were tested at the Mississippi Test Facility, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. MTF was renamed to the National Space Technology Laboratory (NSTL) in 1974 and later to the Sternis Space Center in May 1988.

Lift engine VSTOL fighter model, 3/4 lower front view showing jet engines exit vanes. Yarn tufts attached to horizontal tail.

Three S-IB stages near completion at the NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) near New Orleans, Louisiana, in November 1967. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and built by the Chrysler Corporation at MAF, the 90,000-pound booster utilized eight H-1 engines and each produced 200,000 pounds of thrust for the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first stage.

POGO is a device that uses cables connected to the ceiling to suspend an astronaut. POGO supports five-sixths of a person's weight; it mimics the one-sixth gravity of the moon. An astronaut walking around on POGO has the sensation of walking on the moon. POGO has been around since the Apollo days - in fact, the device gets its name from the way Apollo astronauts tended to bounce when suspended from it. The real name for POGO is the Partial Gravity Simulator.

This is a view of the the first test flight of the Saturn V vehicle (SA-501) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch complex 39A. The thrust chambers of the first stage's five engines extend into the 45-foot-square hole in the mobile launcher platform. Until liftoff, the flames impinged downward onto a flame deflector that diverted the blast lengthwise in the flame trench. Here, a flame deflector, coated with a black ceramic, is in place below the opening, while a yellow (uncoated) spare deflector rests on its track in the background. It took a tremendous flow of water (28,000 gallons per minute) to cool the flame deflector and trench. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.

Dr. von Braun, Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, listens attentively to a briefing on the metal forming techniques by Dr. Mathias Siebel of the Manufacturing and Engineering Laboratory at MSFC on October 17, 1967.

This cutaway illustration shows the Apollo Spacecraft with callouts of the major components. The spacecraft consisted of the lunar module, the service module, the command module, and the launch escape system.

The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) played a crucial role in the development of the huge Saturn rockets that delivered humans to the moon in the 1960s. Many unique facilities existed at MSFC for the development and testing of the Saturn rockets. Affectionately nicknamed “The Arm Farm”, the Random Motion/ Lift-Off Simulator was one of those unique facilities. This facility was developed to test the swing arm mechanisms that were used to hold the rocket in position until liftoff. The Arm Farm provided the capability of testing the detachment and reconnection of various arms under brutally realistic conditions. The 18-acre facility consisted of more than a half dozen arm test positions and one position for testing access arms used by the Apollo astronauts. Each test position had two elements: a vehicle simulator for duplicating motions during countdown and launch; and a section duplicating the launch tower. The vehicle simulator duplicated the portion of the vehicle skin that contained the umbilical connections and personnel access hatches. Driven by a hydraulic servo system, the vehicle simulator produced relative motion between the vehicle and tower. On the Arm Farm, extreme environmental conditions (such as a launch scrub during an approaching Florida thunderstorm) could be simulated. The dramatic scenes that the Marshall engineers and technicians created at the Arm Farm permitted the gathering of crucial technical and engineering data to ensure a successful real time launch from the Kennedy Space Center. This photo depicts a close up view of the S-IV-B aft swing arm hydraulic with drain system orifice valve.

Top front view of Delta wing lift fan fighter model.

Detail view of 4 propeller model rotating cylinder flap at 90 degrees with yarn tufts attached.

D-558-I in flight.

Dr. von Braun, Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), at the South Pole Antarctica. January 7, 1967.

This photograph depicts the Saturn V vehicle (SA-501) for the Apollo 4 mission in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). After the completion of the assembly operation, the work platform was retracted and the vehicle was readied to rollout from the VAB to the launch pad. The Apollo 4 mission was the first launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Objectives of the unmanned Apollo 4 test flight were to obtain flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, and subsystems operation including testing of restart of the S-IVB stage, and to evaluate the Apollo command module heat shield. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.

N-202 Mail Library

Photographed are models of early rocketry: The Atlas Mercury, Atlas Centaur, and Atlas Agena.

This picture shows the Saturn V vehicle (AS-501), for the Apollo 4 mission on the Crawler Transporter Vehicle. It was rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building and slowly (1 mph) moved to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The Apollo 4 mission was the first launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Objectives of the unmanned Apollo 4 test flight were to obtain flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, and subsystems operation including testing of restart of the S-IVB stage, and to evaluate the Apollo command module heat shield. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.

The North American Aviation XB-70 triple-sonic bomber prototype aircraft No. 1. NASA used the pre-production bomber for high-speed research in the mid-1960s.

S67-50585 (1967) --- This is an intentional double exposure showing the Apollo Mission Simulator in the Mission Simulation and Training Facility, Building 5 at the Manned Spacecraft Center. In the exterior view astronauts William A. Anders, Michael Collins, and Frank Borman (reading from top of stairs) are about to enter the simulator. The interior view shows the three astronauts in the simulator. They are (left to right) Borman, Collins, and Anders. Photo credit: NASA

S67-50903 (9 Nov. 1967) --- The Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) space mission was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The liftoff of the huge 363-feet tall Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle was at 7:00:01 a.m. (EST), Nov. 9, 1967. The successful objectives of the Apollo 4 Earth-orbital unmanned space mission obtained included (1) flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, subsystem operation, emergency detection subsystem, and (2) evaluation of the Apollo Command Module heat shield under conditions encountered on return from a moon mission.

S67-15885 (1967) --- Apollo Spacecraft 012 is hoisted to the top of the gantry at Pad 34 during the Apollo/Saturn Mission 204 erection.

This photograph shows the Saturn V S-II (second) stage of the Apollo 6 mission being lowered atop of the S-IC (first) stage during the final assembly operations in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center. The Apollo 6 mission was the second Saturn V unmanned flight for testing an emergency detection system. The launch occurred on April 4, 1968.

S67-50590 (1867) --- Astronaut Frank Borman, assigned duty as commander of the Apollo 8 mission, participates in a training exercise in the Apollo Mission simulator in the Mission Simulation and training Facility, Building 5, at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas. Photo credit: NASA

Dr. von Braun encouraged his laboratory directors and other managers at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to adopt a "hands-on" approach to managing the technical challenges they confronted in developing the Saturn rockets for the Marned Lunar Landing Program. He is shown here asking a question about welding in an MSFC manufacturing and engineering laboratory. This photograph was made on or about October 17, 1967.

A 13-foot diameter mounted inside the large test chamber at the Cryogenic Propellant Tank, or K-Site, at National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plum Brook Station. The 25-foot test chamber and 20-foot access door were designed to test liquid hydrogen fuel tanks up to 18 feet in diameter in conditions that simulated launches and spaceflight. Shakers were installed to test the effects of launch vibration on the tanks and their insulation. The K Site chamber was also equipped with cold walls that could be cooled with either liquid nitrogen or liquid hydrogen and vacuum pumps that could reduce pressure levels to 10-8 torr. This 13-foot tank passed its initial acceptance tests in K-Site on August 24, 1966. Delays in the modification of the tank postponed further tests of the tank until May 1967. Four pressure hold tests and expulsion runs were made in May using gaseous hydrogen or gaseous helium at 300R and 520R. In June a straight pipe injector test was run and two pressure effect tests at 35 and 75psi. Propellant slosh tests were successfully run in August. This photograph was taken the day after the program’s final runs on September 12, 1967.

Astronaut Michael Collins on the right and Richard Wright on the left during tour of Lunar Receiving Lab (LRL) at MSC.

NASA used barges for transporting full-sized stages for the Saturn I, Saturn IB, and Saturn V vehicles between the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the manufacturing plant at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), the Mississippi Test Facility for testing, and the Kennedy Space Center. The barges traveled from the MSFC dock to the MAF, a total of 1,086.7 miles up the Tennessee River and down the Mississippi River. The barges also transported the assembled stages of the Saturn vehicle from the MAF to the Kennedy Space Center, a total of 932.4 miles along the Gulf of Mexico and up along the Atlantic Ocean, for the final assembly and the launch. Pictured is the barge Palaemon carrying Saturn IV S-IB flight stage enroute to MSFC.

Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper checks the neck ring of a space suit worn by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Director, Dr. von Braun before he submerges into the water of the MSFC Neutral Buoyancy Simulator (NBS). Wearing a pressurized suit and weighted to a neutrally buoyant condition, Dr. von Braun was able to perform tasks underwater which simulated weightless conditions found in space.

Closeup view of the interior of Apollo S/C 012 C/M, Pad 34, showing the effects of the intense heat of the flash fire which killed the Prime Crew of the A/S 204 Mission. CAPE KENNEDY, FL CAPE KENNEDY, FL

The Saturn IB S-IVB (second) stages in storage at the Douglas Aircraft Company's Sacramento Test Operations Facility (SACTO) in Sacramento, California. Designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Douglas Aircraft Company, the S-IVB stage was powered by a single J-2 engine, which produced 200,000 pounds of thrust, later uprated to 230,000 pounds for the Saturn V launch vehicle.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Director, Dr. von Braun, submerges after spending some time under water in the MSFC Neutral Buoyancy Simulator (NBS). Weighted to a neutrally buoyant condition, Dr. von Braun was able to perform tasks underwater which simulated weightless conditions found in space.

The S-IC stage being erected for the final assembly of the Saturn V launch vehicle for the Apollo 8 mission (AS-503), is photographed in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) high bay at the Kennedy Space Center. The Apollo 8 mission was the first Saturn V manned mission with astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William Anders. They escaped Earth's gravity and traveled to lunar vicinity. The launch of Apollo 8 occurred on December 21, 1968.

A-38524. Lift engine VSTOL fighter model, 3/4 top front view with jet engines. Edward Varerre, in picture.

3/4 front view of model in Ames 40x80 foot wind tunnel.

S-IB-211, the flight version of the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first (S-IVB) stage, arrives at Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) S-IB static test stand. Between December 1967 and April 1968, the stage would undergo seven static test firings. The S-IB, developed by the MSFC and built by the Chrysler Corporation at the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, Louisiana, utilized eight H-1 engines and each produced 200,000 pounds of thrust.

This 1967 illustration compares the Apollo Saturn V Spacecraft of the Moon Landing era to the Statue of Liberty located on Liberty Island in New York City. The Apollo Saturn V, at 363 feet towers above Lady Liberty, as the statue is called, standing at 305 feet.

LLTV on runway. EAFB, HOUSTON, TX

Astronaut John S. Bull wears the A6-L type Pressure Garment Assembly update to an A7-L configuration.

This September 1967 photograph shows workmen removing a mockup of the Saturn V S-IVB stage that housed the Skylab Orbital Workshop (OWS) from the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), building 4755. The mockup was shipped to McDornell Douglas in Huntington, California for design modifications. NASA used the mockup as an engineering design tool to plan structures, equipment, and experiments for Skylab, an orbiting space laboratory. The MSFC had program management responsibility for the development of Skylab hardware and experiments, including the OWS.

S67-43595 (26 Aug. 1967) --- The Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) stack and its mobile launch tower atop a crawler-transporter moving from the Vehicle Assembly Building toward Pad A, Launch Complex 39.

This illustration shows a cutaway drawing with callouts of the major components for the S-IC (first) stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. The S-IC stage is 138 feet long and 33 feet in diameter, producing more than 7,500,000 pounds of thrust through five F-1 engines powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. Four of the engines are mounted on an outer ring and gimball for control purposes. The fifth engine is rigidly mounted in the center. When ignited, the roar produced by the five engines equals the sound of 8,000,000 hi-fi sets.

S67-17042 (1967) --- Apollo Spacecraft 012 is hoisted to the top of the gantry at Pad 34 during the Apollo/Saturn Mission 204 erection. S/C 012 will be mated with the uprated Saturn I launch vehicle.

Desert Survival Training with Astronauts Lousma, Ling, and Pogue. PASCO, WA

This cutaway illustration shows the Saturn V S-IVB (third) stage with the callouts of its major components. When the S-II (second) stage of the powerful Saturn V rocket burnt out and was separated the remaining units approached orbit around the Earth. Injection into the desired orbit was attaineded as the S-IVB (third stage) was ignited and burnt. The S-IVB stage was powered by a single 200,000-pound thrust J-2 engine and had a re-start capability built in for its J-2 engine. The S-IVB restarted to speed the Apollo spacecraft to escape velocity injecting it and the astronauts into a moon trajectory.

The 1960s Star Trek television series’ cast members visit NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, now Armstrong, in 1967. Chief Medical Officer Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy played by DeForest Kelley and the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry receive briefing on X-15 cockpit as they view inside.

Space Suit: NASA Langley researcher (Kenneth R. Yenni) tries out a proposal for an Apollo space suit.

Dr. von Braun and party look at a laser beam component during a visit at the Marshall Space Flight Center Space Science Laboratory on August 28, 1967.

The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) played a crucial role in the development of the huge Saturn rockets that delivered humans to the moon in the 1960s. Many unique facilities existed at MSFC for the development and testing of the Saturn rockets. Affectionately nicknamed “The Arm Farm”, the Random Motion/ liftoff Simulator was one of those unique facilities. This facility was developed to test the swing arm mechanisms that were used to hold the rocket in position until liftoff. The Arm Farm provided the capability of testing the detachment and reconnection of various arms under brutally realistic conditions. The 18-acre facility consisted of more than a half dozen arm test positions and one position for testing access arms used by the Apollo astronauts. Each test position had two elements: a vehicle simulator for duplicating motions during countdown and launch; and a section duplicating the launch tower. The vehicle simulator duplicated the portion of the vehicle skin that contained the umbilical connections and personnel access hatches. Driven by a hydraulic servo system, the vehicle simulator produced relative motion between the vehicle and tower. On the Arm Farm, extreme environmental conditions (such as a launch scrub during an approaching Florida thunderstorm) could be simulated. The dramatic scenes that the Marshall engineers and technicians created at the Arm Farm permitted the gathering of crucial technical and engineering data to ensure a successful real time launch from the Kennedy Space Center. This photo depicts a close up of the S-IV-B aft swing arm orifice on the PV 43D soloniod valve.

Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) Director, Dr. Wernher von Braun (left), studies charts depicting the status of an experiment conducted in MSFC’s Space Sciences Laboratory during a tour on August 28, 1967.

The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, served as the primary scientific instrument unit aboard the Skylab. The ATM contained eight complex astronomical instruments designed to observe the Sun over a wide spectrum from visible light to x-rays. This photo depicts a mockup of the ATM contamination monitor camera and photometer.

Saturn 501 - Apollo Saturn V liftoff from Complex 39A at 7 a.m. 9 November 1967 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

This photograph depicts the F-1 engine firing in the Marshall Space Flight Center’s F-1 Engine Static Test Stand. Construction of the S-IC Static test stand complex began in 1961 in the west test area of MSFC, and was completed in 1964. It is a vertical engine firing test stand, 239 feet in elevation and 4,600 square feet in area at the base, designed to assist in the development of the F-1 Engine. Capability is provided for static firing of 1.5 million pounds of thrust using liquid oxygen and kerosene. The foundation of the stand is keyed into the bedrock approximately 40 feet below grade.

Group of Astronauts during Jungle Survival Training. JUNGLE SURVIVAL SCHOOL, PANAMA 06/12-16/1967 CN

Woody Cook standing by X-14

The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) played a crucial role in the development of the huge Saturn rockets that delivered humans to the moon in the 1960s. Many unique facilities existed at MSFC for the development and testing of the Saturn rockets. Affectionately nicknamed “The Arm Farm”, the Random Motion/ Lift-Off Simulator was one of those unique facilities. This facility was developed to test the swing arm mechanisms that were used to hold the rocket in position until liftoff. The Arm Farm provided the capability of testing the detachment and reconnection of various arms under brutally realistic conditions. The 18-acre facility consisted of more than a half dozen arm test positions and one position for testing access arms used by the Apollo astronauts. Each test position had two elements: a vehicle simulator for duplicating motions during countdown and launch; and a section duplicating the launch tower. The vehicle simulator duplicated the portion of the vehicle skin that contained the umbilical connections and personnel access hatches. Driven by a hydraulic servo system, the vehicle simulator produced relative motion between the vehicle and tower. On the Arm Farm, extreme environmental conditions (such as a launch scrub during an approaching Florida thunderstorm) could be simulated. The dramatic scenes that the Marshall engineers and technicians created at the Arm Farm permitted the gathering of crucial technical and engineering data to ensure a successful real time launch from the Kennedy Space Center. This photo depicts a close up of the S-IV-B Aft Swing Arm static and lanyard carrier.

This is the official NASA portrait of astronaut Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin. Prior to joining NASA, Aldrin flew 66 combat missions in F-86s while on duty in Korea. At Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, he served as an aerial gunnery instructor. Following his assignment as aide to the dean of faculty at the Air Force Academy, Aldrin flew F-100s as a flight commander at Bitburg, Germany. Aldrin was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963 and has logged 289 hours and 53 minutes in space, of which, 7 hours and 52 minutes were spent in Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). On November 11, 1966, he launched into space aboard the Gemini 12 spacecraft on a 4-day flight, which brought the Gemini program to a successful close. During that mission, Aldrin established a new record for EVA, spending 5-1/2 hours outside the spacecraft. July 16-24, 1969, Aldrin served as lunar module pilot for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission. Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, completing a 2-hour and 15 minute lunar EVA. Aldrin resigned from NASA in July 1971.

S67-15717 (1967) --- Apollo Spacecraft 012 Command/Service Module is moved from H-134 to east stokes for mating to the Saturn Lunar Module Adapter No. 05 in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building. S/C 012 will be flown on the Apollo/Saturn 204 mission.

Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center (right), listens to an explanation of an advanced orbiting observatory concept from MSFC employees Ted Carey, Vehicle and Mission Analysis Office (left), and Frank Williams, Director of Advanced Systems Office.

Lift off of Lunar Orbiter III from Complex 13.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey Dr. von Braun during the Vice President's visit to the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) on May 22, 1967.

X-14 NASA 704 Full Scale Airplane tests in 40x80ft. Subsonic Wind Tunnel (NORMAL MOUNTING) with Sy Sewell, NASA (left) and Ed Varette, Army (right)

S-IB-211, the flight version of the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first (S-IVB) stage, on its way to Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) west test area. Between December 1967 and April 1968, the stage would undergo seven static test firings. The S-IB, developed by the MSFC and built by the Chrysler Corporation at the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, Louisiana, utilized eight H-1 engines and each produced 200,000 pounds of thrust.

S67-49447 (9 Nov. 1967) --- Close-up view of the charred heat shield of the Apollo Spacecraft 017 Command Module aboard the USS Bennington. The damage was caused by the extreme heat of reentry. The carrier Bennington was the prime recovery ship for the Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) unmanned, Earth-orbital space mission. Splashdown occurred at 3:37 p.m. (EST), Nov. 9, 1967, 934 nautical miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

This illustration is the Lunar Module (LM) configuration. The LM was a two part spacecraft. Its lower or descent stage had the landing gear, engines, and fuel needed for the landing. When the LM blasted off the Moon, the descent stage served as the launching pad for its companion ascent stage, which was also home for the two astronauts on the surface of the Moon. The LM was full of gear with which to communicate, navigate, and rendezvous. It also had its own propulsion system, and an engine to lift it off the Moon and send it on a course toward the orbiting Command Module.

This photograph is a view of the Saturn V S-IC-5 (first) flight stage being hoisted into the S-IC-B1 test stand at the Mississippi Test Facility (MTF), Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Begirning operations in 1966, the MTF has two test stands, a dual-position structure for running the S-IC stage at full throttle, and two separate stands for the S-II (Saturn V third) stage. It became the focus of the static test firing program. The completed S-IC stage was shipped from Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) to the MTF. The stage was then installed into the 124-meter-high test stand for static firing tests before shipment to the Kennedy Space Center for final assembly of the Saturn V vehicle. The MTF was renamed to the National Space Technology Laboratory (NSTL) in 1974 and later to the Stennis Space Center (SSC) in May 1988.

Liftoff of Lunar Orbiter III from Complex 13.

The 1960s Star Trek television series’ cast members visit NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, now called Armstrong, in 1967. The show’s Chief Engineer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott played by James Doohan talks with NASA Pilot Bruce Peterson.

S67-23078 (27 Jan. 1967) --- Three astronauts (later to be named the Apollo 9 prime crew) in Apollo spacecraft 101 Command module during Apollo crew compartment fit and function test. Left to right are astronauts James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart.

This cutaway drawing shows the S-IVB (third stage) of the Saturn V launch vehicle. As a part of the Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) “building block” approach to the Saturn development, the S-IVB stage was utilized in the Saturn IB launch vehicle as a second stage and, later, the Saturn V launch vehicle as a third stage. The 59 foot long and 22 feet diameter stage was powered by a single J-2 engine, initially capable of 200,000 pounds of thrust.

Australian Tektites

The Atlas/Agena launch vehicle carrying The Mariner-V spacecraft on launch pad on June 14, 1967. The Marina V mission was to explore the planet Venus.

Workmen at the Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) dock on the Ternessee River unload S-IB-211, the flight version of the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first stage, from the NASA barge Palaemon. Between December 1967 and April 1968, the stage would undergo seven static test firings in MSFC's S-IB static test stand.

This photograph is a view of the Saturn V S-IC (first) test stage being hoisted into the S-IC-B1 test stand at the Mississippi Test Facility (MTF), Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. This stage was used to prove the operational readiness of the stand. Begirning operations in 1966, the MTF has two test stands; a dual-position structure for running the S-IC stage at full throttle, and two separate stands for the S-II (Saturn V third) stage. It became the focus of the static test firing program. The completed S-IC stage was shipped from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) to the MTF. The stage was then installed into the 124-meter-high test stand for static firing tests before shipment to the Kennedy Space Center for final assembly of the Saturn V vehicle. The MTF was renamed to the National Space Technology Laboratory (NSTL) in 1974 and later to the Stennis Space Center (SSC) in May 1988.

This photograph was taken during the final assembly operation of the Saturn V launch vehicle for the Apollo 4 (SA 501) mission. The instrument unit (IU) was mated atop the S-IC/S-II assembly in the Vehicle Assembly Building high bay at the Kennedy Space Center. The Apollo 4 mission was the first launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Objectives of the unmanned Apollo 4 test flight were to obtain flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, and subsystems operation including testing of restart of the S-IVB stage, and to evaluate the Apollo command module heat shield. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.

S67-43593 (26 Aug. 1967) --- The completely assembled Apollo Saturn 501 launch vehicle mated to the Apollo spacecraft 017 on Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center. The fully assembled vehicle was transported to the launch complex on the crawler.

X-14 NASA 704 Full Scale Airplane tests in 40x80ft. Wind Tunnel (NORMAL MOUNTING) jet inlets

Desert Survival Training Pasco, Washington - Duke, Mattingly, Col. Bohart, Swigert

S67-36022 (20 June 1967) --- Apollo Spacecraft 017 is moved into position in the Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay area for mating with the Saturn V launch vehicle. S/C 017 will be flown on the Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501 (Apollo 4) space mission.

This is the official NASA portrait of astronaut Michael Collins. Collins chose an Air Force career following graduation from West Point. He served as an experimental flight test officer at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, and, in that capacity, tested performance and stability and control characteristics of Air Force aircraft, primarily jet fighters. Having logged approximately 5,000 hours flying time, Collins was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. Collins completed two space flights, logging 266 hours in space, of which, 1 hour and 27 minutes was spent in Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). On July 18, 1966, he served as backup pilot for the Gemini VII mission which included a successful rendezvous and docking with a separately launched Agena target vehicle and, using the power of the Agena, maneuvered the Gemini spacecraft into another orbit for a rendezvous with a second, passive Agena. His skillful performance in completing two periods of EVA included the recovery of a micrometeorite detection experiment from the passive Agena. July 16-24, 1969, Collins served as command module (CM) pilot on Apollo 11, the historic first lunar landing mission. He remained aboard the CM, Columbia, on station in lunar orbit and performed the final re-docking maneuvers following a successful lunar orbit rendezvous with the Lunar Module (LM), Eagle. Collins left NASA in January 1970.

This photograph was taken during the final assembly operation of the Saturn V launch vehicle for the Apollo 4 (SA 501) mission. The instrument unit (IU) was hoisted to be mated to the S-IC/S-II assembly in the Vehicle Assembly Building high bay at the Kennedy Space Center. The Apollo 4 mission was the first launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Objectives of the unmanned Apollo 4 test flight were to obtain flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, and subsystems operation including testing of restart of the S-IVB stage, and to evaluate the Apollo command module heat shield. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.

Top-to-bottom view of the 36-story-tall Saturn Apollo 501 space vehicle with work platforms retracted. VAB, High Bay No.1.

S67-24267 (1966) --- Suited test subject equipped with Gemini-12 Life Support System and waist tethers for extravehicular activity (EVA). Photo credit: NASA

The Apollo/Saturn 501 spacecraft undergoes checkout in test stand within the Kennedy Space Center’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building in preparation for the first flight of NASA’s Saturn V space vehicle in the second quarter of this year. The command module, top, was mated to the service module, and both were joined to the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter, the type that eventually will house a Lunar Module. The first Saturn V flight will be unmanned.

The 1960s Star Trek television series cast members Chief Engineer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott played by James Doohan and Chief Medical Officer Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy played by DeForest Kelley and the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry receive briefing on NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, now Armstrong, in front of HL-10

This image depicts the test firing of a J-2 engine in the S-IVB Test Stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The J-2, developed by Rocketdyne under the direction of MSFC, was propelled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. A single J-2 was utilized in the S-IVB stage (the second stage for the Saturn IB and third stage for the Saturn V) and in a cluster of five for the second stage (S-II) of the Saturn V. Initially rated at 200,000 pounds of thrust, the engine was later upgraded in the Saturn V program to 230,000 pounds.

New Orleans, LA - Parts of the Saturn V first stage await assembly at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in October of 1967. In the far end of the image, S-1C stages are nearing completion. Image dated 10-5-1967.

Workmen secure a J-2 engine onto the S-IVB (second) stage thrust structure. As part of Marshall Space Center's "building block" approach to the Saturn development, the S-IVB was utilized in the Saturn IBC launch vehicle as a second stage and the Saturn V launch vehicle as a third stage. The booster, built for NASA by McDornell Douglas Corporation, was powered by a single J-2 engine, initially capable of 200,000 pounds of thrust.

The 1960s Star Trek television series’ cast members visit NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, now Armstrong, in 1967. Chief Medical Officer Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy played by DeForest Kelley talks with NASA officials in one of the center’s aircraft hangar.

S67-47941 (1967) --- Astronaut Karl G. Henize.

The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, served as the primary scientific instrument unit aboard the Skylab. The ATM contained eight complex astronomical instruments designed to observe the Sun over a wide spectrum from visible light to x-rays. This photo depicts a side view is of a fully extended ATM contamination monitor mockup.

The 1960s Star Trek television series’ cast member Chief Medical Officer Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy played by DeForest Kelley talks to Bill Dana, NASA X-15 pilot, in front of one of three X-15’s during visit to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, now Armstrong, back in 1967.