Apollo 5

Launch Success

Liftoff Time (GMT)

22:48:09

Monday January 22, 1968

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Apollo 5

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Apollo 5, also known as AS-204, was the uncrewed first flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) that would later carry astronauts to the surface of the Moon. The mission was successful, though due to programming problems an alternate mission to that originally planned was executed. Like Apollo 4, this flight was long delayed, due in part to setbacks in the development of the LM, manufactured by Grumman Aircraft. The original Saturn IB rocket that was to take the first LM (LM-1) to space was taken down during the delays and replaced with the one that would have launched Apollo 1 if the spacecraft fire that killed three astronauts had not occurred. Once the craft reached orbit and the LM separated from the S-IVB booster, the program of orbital testing began, but a planned burn was aborted automatically when the Apollo Guidance Computer detected the craft was not going as fast as planned. Flight Director Gene Kranz and his team at Mission Control in Houston quickly decided on an alternate mission, during which the mission's goals of testing LM-1 were accomplished. The mission was successful enough that a contemplated second uncrewed mission to test the LM was cancelled, advancing NASA's plans to land an astronaut on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.

Trans Lunar Injection

1 Payload

14,360 kilograms

Rocket

Retired
Saturn IB

Active 1966 to 1975

National Aeronautics and Space Administration logo

Agency

NASA

Rocket

Height: 43.2m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 21,000 kg

Liftoff Thrust

7,100 Kilonewtons

Stages

2

Launch Site

SLC-37B

Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA

Fastest Turnaround

66 days 5 hours

Stats

Saturn IB


4th

Mission

1st

Mission of 1968

1968


7th

Orbital launch attempt