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| "Sarzin" SA-4 launch cover postmarked Cape Canaveral, March 28, 1963. |
SA-4, launched on March 28, 1963, was the last flight to test only the S-I first stage of the Saturn I rocket. As with the first three launches this would be a suborbital flight and would test the structural integrity of the rocket.
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| Photo: The forth launch test of the Saturn rocket on March 28, 1963. |
In order to test the rocket's ability to deal with an engine failure during the flight, one of the engines would be programmed to shut down about 100 seconds after launch. If all went well the rocket would reroute the fuel for this engine to the other engines and have the rocket burn longer to compensate for the loss of acceleration. This was used successfully on the later Apollo 6 and Apollo 13 flights (both Saturn V rockets).
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| "SpaceCraft" SA-4 launch cover postmarked Cape Canaveral, March 28, 1963. |
Also on this flight, the dummy second stage was outfitted with the aerodynamic design of the real second stage. This included vent ducts, fairings and dummy camera pods. The rocket also flew with antennae designed for the Block II version of the rocket.
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| SA-4 launch cover postmarked Cape Canaveral, March 28, 1963. |
