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| Launch escape system (LES) abort test from launch pad, the first abort test of the Apollo spacecraft. This cover with "Velvatone" cachet was postmarked at White Sands Missile Range, November 7, 1963. |
Pad Abort Test 1 was the first abort test of the Apollo spacecraft on November 7, 1963. Its mission was to investigate the effects on the Apollo spacecraft during an abort from the pad. The launch escape system (LES) had to be able to pull the spacecraft away from an exploding rocket on the launch pad. The LES then had to gain enough altitude to allow the command module's parachutes to open, preferably with the spacecraft over water and not land.
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| Photo: Boiler plate version of the Apollo space capsule. |
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| Photo: An illustration of the flight of Apollo boilerplate capsule and its escape mechanism. |
The flight featured a production model LES and a boilerplate (BP-06) Apollo spacecraft, the first mission to feature one. The spacecraft carried no instruments for measuring structural loads as the capsule's boilerplate structure did not represent that of a real spacecraft.
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| Photo: The escape tower will lift the Apollo capsule from the pad to an altitude of about 5,000 feet. |
On November 7, 1963, an abort signal was sent to the LES at 09:00:01 local time. This began a sequence in which the main solid rockets fired to lift the spacecraft and smaller attitude rockets fired to move it laterally toward the ocean.
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| Photo: The Apollo capsule boilerplate descends from 5,000 feet after the successful launch, November 7, 1963. |
The LES separated after 15 seconds, allowing the spacecraft to take a ballistic trajectory. The parachute system worked perfectly; the drogue chute stabilized the spacecraft, then the three main parachutes slowed the descent to 26 kilometers per hour. The only problems found with the flight were that the LES rockets left soot on the spacecraft exterior and the stability of the spacecraft was less than predicted.
