JUNE 1966 TWO-VEHICLE MARS STOPOVER WITH RENDEZVOUS 805

It may prove feasible to utilize a powered flyby for the pick-
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sac, R. V. and Titus, R. R., "Optimization of inter-
up vehicle in conjunction with a Venus kick for the stopover
vehicle. Such a combination appears promising, at least from
the standpoint of the individual benefits. Further study
should consider the restrictions imposed on the flyby tra-
jectory by the period of the syzygy and the associated bi-
planet launch opportunities, which at the present time
appear to be rather narrow.
References
1 9
Fonseca, E., "Manned Mars surface missions by circum-
solar rendezvous techniques," Ninth Annual Meeting, American
Astronautical Society, Los Angeles, Calif. (January 1963).
2
Faget, M. A. and Purser, P. E., "From Mercury to Mars,"
Astronaut. Aerospace Eng. 1, 24-28 (February 1963).
3
Martin, B. P. (ed.), "Manned interplanetary mission study,"
Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. Rept. 8-32-63-1 (March 1963).
planetary stopover missions," AIAA J. 8, 1861-1864 (1963).
6
Shapland, D. J. (ed.), "Preliminary design of a Mars-mission
Earth reentry module," Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. Rept.
4-57-64-3 (March 1964).
6
Ross, S. E. (ed)., "Planetary flight handbook," NASA SP-35,
Pt. 1, Vol. 3 (August 1963).
7
Ross, S. E., "A systematic approach to the study of nonstop
interplanetary round trips," American Astronautical Society
Preprint 63-07 (January 1963).
8
Ross, S. E. (ed.), "A study of interplanetary transportation
systems," Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. Rept. 3-17-62-1
(June 1962).
Titus, R. R., "Powered flybys of Mars," AIAA Preprint
65-515 (July 1965).
10
Sohn, R. L., "Venus swingby mode for manned Mars mis-
sions," J. Spacecraft Rockets 1, 565-567 (1963).
11
Deerwester, J. M., "Initial mass savings associated with the
Venus swingby mode of Mars round trips," AIAA Preprint 65-89
(January 1965).

JUNE 1966 J. SPACECRAFT VOL. 3, NO. 6

Checkout Criteria and Ground Support Equipment

for the Apollo Spacecraft
ROLF W. LANZKRON* AND WILLIAM C. FISCHER|
NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas

The basic criteria for checkout of the Apollo spacecraft are: 1) provide for astronaut safety
and assure the accomplishment of mission objectives, 2) demonstrate that no malfunctions
exist within the vehicle at the time of launch, 3) provide for monitoring and analysis of critical
functions in such a manner that anomalies can be recognized and assessed in time for re-
medial action, and 4) demonstrate to the maximum extent practicable operational suitability
of vehicles and their associated ground support equipment. This paper discusses how they
can be accomplished in a methodical way. Early in the program, during the initial design,
it was recognized that a need existed to accomplish this task. A three-pronged effort was
initiated: 1) definition of a checkout flow allowing checkout of all subsystems to an environ-
ment and level commensurate with the flight requirements, 2) design of the ground equip-
ment so as to assure minimum penalty in terms of flyaway weight, and 3) design of the air-
borne equipment so as to allow adequate checkout.

Definition of the Checkout Flow
T O define the checkout flow, the following ground rules can
be quoted from the "Apollo Checkout Criteria".1
1) Checkout flow will follow a buildup from the com-
ponent level to complete space vehicle. Where possible,
proper functional performance of every component, sub-
system, system, or module will be verified prior to mating it
with an equal level of assembly or allowing it to become part
of the next larger assembly.
2) Each succeeding checkout operation shall be based
upon a progressive growth pattern that takes advantage of all
proven acceptable checkout data previously accomplished.
3) The sum total of the test and checkout operational
sequence performed on a vehicle shall exercise the vehicle
through all operations of a mission profile.
Presented as Preprint 65-284 at the AIAA/AFLC/ASD Sup-
port for Manned Flight Conference, Dayton, Ohio, April 21-23,
1965; submitted April 27, 1965; revision received June 22,1965.
* Chief Flight Project Engineer, Apollo Spacecraft Program
Office; formerly, Chief, Ground Systems Engineering Division.
Member AIAA.
f LEM Flight Project Engineer, Apollo Spacecraft Program
Office; formerly, Chief, Ground Systems Engineering and
Checkout Requirements Branch. Member AIAA.
4) All operational, redundant, and abort modes of the
spacecraft systems shall be operated and tested for com-
patibility and flight readiness.
5) No tests shall be performed without a valid engineering
requirement, and developmental tests shall not be performed
on qualified man-rated flight vehicles.
6) During simulated flight-test phases of the checkout
program, each subsystem will be subjected to conditions and
operations simulating normal flight profiles and alternate
modes of operation.
With these ground rules in mind, a flow was developed for
both factory and launch site checkout (see Figs. 1 and 2).
To ascertain and substantiate this flow, a ground operations
requirements plan was generated.2 The plan contains the
following definitions: 1) subsystem and system requirements
for checkout, 2) checkout sequences and detailed test re-
quirements, 3) checkout schedules with respect to subsystem
operating times, 4) ground support equipment (GSE) and
facility requirements, and 5) facility, booster, and spacecraft
interfaces. The plan included specific sheets for each test.
In addition to that sheet and specific test descriptions, a setup
of each test with respect to the GSE and facility was deter-
mined by means of a schematic layout diagram such as that
shown in Fig. 3. Once the detail checkout flow and individual
 806 R. W. LANZKRON AND W. C. FISCHER J. SPACECRAFT

lnstal1
For information
purposes only,
ment was defined as concurrent usage between the Command
Command aft heat shield Not for scheduling and Service (CSM) and the Lunar Excusion Module (LEM),
module DEI and config although these vehicles have different amounts of fluids to be
update
serviced. The concurrency was carried over for the fluid
distribution system itself, and only separate valve boxes are
Individual sys. tests used to control the different fluids to the separate vehicles (see
Quality
Fig. 5). The basic different types of fluid servicing equipment
verification needed are as follows:
vibration"—
test
1) S14-002, oxidizer transfer and conditioning, thermally
conditions, filters, and transfers N204 to spacecraft main tanks;
Service DEI and config
update
also used in detanking operations; transfers 30,600 Ib within
module 45 min.
2) S14-119, water transfer, stores sufficient potable and
waste water for two complete flush operations and one com-
plete fill operation of the water supply system. The con-
ditioned and uncontaminated water needs will be transferred
L JL _L _JL
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
to meet spacecraft launch requirements, and, conversely,
detanking requirements will be performed to meet short
Working days
mission and pad abort sequences.
Fig. 1 CSM factory checkout flow. 3) SI4-008, fuel transfer and conditioning, thermally con-
ditions, filters, and transfers 50/50 UDMH — N2H4 to space-
craft. It transfers 15,300 Ib within 45 min.
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tests were defined, the design of the GSE to accomplish the 4) Si4-009, helium gas transfer, receives high-pressure, dry
task began. He from ready storage containers; regulates pressure and
flow, as well as cools and.transfers He to the spacecraft pro-
pellant pressurization tanks.
Design of Ground Support Equipment 5) SI4-019, ethylene glycol water transfer, transfers chilled
The basic GSE is, in general, broken down into three cate- water-glycol at controlled temperatures, pressures, and flow
gories: handling, fluid, and checkout. Since handling GSE is rates to the spacecraft during checkout, test, and countdown
the simplest kind, it was developed in accordance with han- operations. It evacuates, purges, and flushes the water-
dling flow diagrams that were part of the checkout require- glycol system.
ments such as Fig. 4. 6) S14-022, helium booster, receives commercially stored He
at pressures of 300 to 2200 psig and boosts the pressure to
6000 psig for utilization via S14-062 and -009.
Fluid GSE
7) S14-026, LH2 transfer, transfers LH2 to spacecraft cryo-
The fluid GSE represented a substantial problem since the genic tanks. The tanks receive the maximum mass of LH2
number of areas to be serviced is quite large. At the Eastern at low pressures. Ultimately, by heat application, GH2 is
Test Range (ETR) alone there are as many as five different generated for use as a reactant in the fuel cells to produce
areas to service, including four possible launch pads. To mini- electrical energy.
mize cost to the over-all program, a mobile concept was de- 8) S14-032, L02 transfer, is analogous to S14-026, but also
veloped which allowed the job to be accomplished with two supplies the ECS.
sets of servicing equipment rather than five. The next prob-
lem that confronted the program was the different types of
fluids to be handled. All of them have extreme purity re-
quirements. For example, the purity requirements of the
fuel cells are 99.94% for cryogenic LH2, and 99.99% for cryo-
genic L02. To accomplish these complex loading functions
and to reduce the amount of hardware, all servicing equip-

Command Hypergolic
module test facility
For information
purposes only.
Not for scheduling

GandN
system

WATER TRANSF TEST SET

UNIT.FUEL.TRANSF DISTRIBUTION
/CONDUNIT IIPRESSURE ECS

Service
modute

SMRCS
quads

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Working days
Fig. 3 GSE configuration arrangement schematic; en-
Fig. 2 CSM ETR checkout flow. vironmental control system checkout.
 JUNE 1966 CHECKOUT CRITERIA FOR MANNED SPACECRAFT 807

9) S14-053, trim control set, ECS water-glycol, provides

final trim regulation of water-glycol pressures, temperature,
and flow rates prior to use via SI4-019. ^-514-041
10) S14-054, water-glycol service unit, fuel cell powerplant,
services the spacecraft fuel cell system with water-glycol at
the launch pad; also drains the water-glycol, flushes with
distilled water, and purges the fuel cells with 10 psi GN2.
11) S14-057, servicing, RCS oxidizer, conditions and trans- LH2 TRENCH
fers N204 to the spacecraft RCS from ground storage facilities. DRAINAGE
It transfers 800 Ib within 45 min and detanks the same TRENCH
systems.
12) S14-058, storage, fuel ready, provides ambient storage
facility for 50/50 (UDMH-N2H4); propellant during thermal
conditioning and prior to transfer via S14-008.
13) S14-059, storage, SPS oxidizer ready, provides ambient
storage facility for N204 during thermal conditioning and
prior to transfer via S14-002.
14) S14-060, disposal of fuel toxic vapor, receives toxic fuel
vapors during venting and purging of the spacecraft fuel
systems. It internally dilutes the vapors with large quanti-
ties of air and exhausts the mixture at high upward velocities
for atmospheric dilution and dispersion.
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15) S14-061, disposal, oxidizer toxic vapor, is analogous to

S14-060.
16) S14-062, storage container, helium ready, provides a
ready source of high pressure He for transfer through S14-009
to the spacecraft propellant pressurization tanks. It stores
450 ft 3 at 6000 psig.
17) S14-063, servicing unit, SM and LEM, conditions and
transfers UDMH/N2H4 to the SM and LEM RCS fuel tanks;
also drains the tanks.
18) S14-064, servicing unit, CM RCS fuel; conditions and
transfers monomethyl hydrazines (MMH) to CM RCS fuel
tanks; also drains the tanks.
19) S14-065, storage unit, L02 mobile, provides L02
storage prior to its transfer via S14-032.
, 20) S14-066, storage unit, LH2 mobile, provides LH2 storage
prior to its transfer via S14-026.
Checkout Equipment
Fig. 5 CSM and LEM cryogenic servicing GSE at the
launch pad.
1) Each checkout complex, with all GSE required, shall be
completely validated prior to the mating with the operational
spacecraft.
2) Computers and automatic equipment shall be utilized
to the maximum extent practicable to minimize test time and
increase test effectiveness.
3) Test and checkout equipment shall be designed in such a
manner that damage or degradation to the flight systems dur-
ing test and checkout shall not occur. GSE shall incorporate
failsafe provisions that are adequate to prevent flight system
damage in the event of an emergency shutdown.
To meet this challenge, particularly item 2, acceptance
checkout equipment-spacecraft (ACE-S/C) was developed.

This equipment includes all that is required to check out the ACE-S/C Definitions
electrical airborne equipment. .Again, to quote from the
"Apollo Checkout Criteria."1 The ACE-S/C system (Fig. 6) breaks down into two main
parts: the spacecraft unique system (carry-on equipment),
STEPl
and the ground system. The carry-on equipment is that
A14-134 part that is associated with the spacecraft, for example, CSM
or LEM. It consists basically of the signal conditioning re-
——H14-059 quired to condition the signals available from the spacecraft,
cpmmutating and digitizing the signals, and finally putting the
signals in serial pulse form. This part is modular by nature
and, by using the building block concept, can be utilized with

A14-028
A14-028 H14-021

Fig. 4 Handling GSE operational sequence; spacecraft

weight and balance. Fig. 6 ACE-S/C simplified block diagram.
 808 R. W. LANZKRON AND W. C. FISCHER J. SPACECRAFT

or off specific signals to the spacecraft. It can be used in a

LEB CABLE SUPPORT variety of ways. The SCR module has the basic function for
(FOR CABLE CLAMPS)
MECHANICAL high-speed switching and for high-current capacity. The
BOY PLATFORM-
MECHANICAL BOY
PLATFORM
DAC module is used for changing the stream of digital
data into an analog signal as required; for example, in the
PCMUNIT torquing of a gyro, a series of digital commands are sent to the
vehicle; then they are converted to voltage levels, and in turn
ANALOG SIGNAL filtered so the output looks like an analog sine wave. In ad-
CONDITIONING
ASE PLATE UNIT
dition to the base plate and its three types of modules, there
G&N SIGNAL
CONDITIONING
is a special unit that is the guidance and navigation buffer.
RECEIVER & BASE PLATE The purpose of this unit is to act as a buffer between the
CABLES SPARE ground digital system and the onboard guidance and naviga-
SUPPORT-
tion computer.
FRAME DIGITAL SIGNAL CONDITIONING UNITSJ The DTMS comprises the signal conditioner, the sampling
CABLE TRAY-
unit, the pulse code modulation (PCM) system, the flight
Fig. 7 ACE-S/C carry-on equipment in the spacecraft. PCM system, and the interleaver. These signal conditioners
are modular in construction and all types are of the same size
so that they can be plugged into the main container into any
any spacecraft or flight vehicle. The reason that signal
position, thus allowing for the modularity needed; if change
conditioning is part of the system is to assure minimal fly-
in the signal types is required, a different signal conditioner can
away weight. The carry-on equipment is removed from the
be plugged into the same position in the container. After
spacecraft 10 hr prior to flight so that no weight directly at-
Downloaded by 121.200.6.58 on November 30, 2019 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/3.28541

these signals have been conditioned, they are sampled and

tributed to checkout is flown, but still allowing a large amount
transmitted to a PCM system that puts them in a serial form.
of measurements to be taken prior to sealing the spacecraft
This information is then combined with the information avail-
for launch. The second part of ACE-S/C system, the ground able from the flight PCM and the servicing equipment PCM
system, is a complex that decommutates the serialized data and routed to combine these into a serial stream of bits through
and displays it on meters, lights, oscillographs, or in alpha-
the ground interleaver. (The servicing equipment also has
numeric displays. The ground station looks the same for
associated with it signal conditioning and PCM system that
both CSM checkout and LEM checkout.
are boxed in slightly different containers but are the same as
the type of modular units used inside the spacecraft.)
Carry-On Equipment

The carry-on equipment (Fig. 7) is divided into two parts: Ground Station
the up-link [the digital test command system (DTCS)j, and
the downlink [the digital test monitoring system (DTMS)]. The ground station consists of the control room, the com-
The DTCS consists of a receiver-decoder, base plates, and puter room, and the terminal room. The control room (Fig.
plug-in modules. The plug-in modules are relay modules, 8) contains the control consoles at which the systems engineers
silicon controlled rectifier modules (SCR), and digital to analog control and command the spacecraft systems as requireel.
converters (DAC). The relay module is used for turning on The computer room contains the computers and associated
peripheral equipment, the decommutator that is used to
decommutate the information from the interleaver, and the
transmission equipment for the DTCS. The terminal room
holds the timing system, the ground portion of the DTCS,
and the formating equipment for the control room.
Figure 6 shows the basic flow for the downlink (or response
EVENT STORAGE AND link). The information from the interleaver is directly re-
DISTRIBUTION/DECOM
DIST- corded, and at the same time flows into a decommutator.
From the decommutator, the information flows into the down-
link computer to event storage and distribution units (ESDU),
and to the control consoles. The decommutator also drives
~200-m modules and oscillographs located on the control
consoles, allowing the engineers to watch some of the measure-
ments. Decommutator output goes to meters, oscillographs,
and to the downlink computer. The downlink computer
introduces the calibration information, compares it with pre-
TEST
stored information, and changes the information to engineer-
CONDUCTOR ing units. It then transmits this information to the symbol
CONSOLE
generator and storage unit (SGS) which in turn transmits in-
formation to the cathode-ray tube (CRT) which displays the
alpha-numeric information for the ACE-S/C. The alpha-
numeric display consists of 20 pages of data, a page consisting
of 24 lines of 40 characters each, plus two 32-character lines,
one at the top and one at the bottom of the page which can be
displayed on request of the systems engineer.
FUEL CELL
Also shown in Fig. 6 is the basic flow for the uplink (or
CRYOGENIC S T O R A G E command link). The uplink starts with the systems engi-
GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION
STABILIZATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM
neers. The systems engineers have the option to exercise R-
REACTION CONTROL SYSTEM START, C-START, and K-START. An R-START
COMMUNICATIONS module presents four function switches and an execute switch.
INSTRUMENTATION
SPACECRAFT TEST CONDUCTOR _— The systems engineer sets the desired status of each of the
TEST PROJECT ENGINEER four relays (at the spacecraft) controlled by the R-START
module by setting the condition of each of the function
Fig. 8 ACE-S/C control room. switches of the R-START, and then executing via the exe-
 JUNE 1966 CHECKOUT CRITERIA FOR MANNED SPACECRAFT
cute switch. A C-START module panel presents ten 12-
position rotary selector switches, each having an associated
readout display, an execute switch, and an execute verify light.
The 12 positions of each selector switch are identified by the
ten decimal digits 0 through 9, and by the signs (+) and (—).
The readout display above each selector switch indicates the
switch setting by displaying the appropriate decimal digit or
sign. The systems engineer sets up the desired input com-
mand to the computer by appropriately positioning each of
the ten selector switches. Execution of the selected com-
mand is initiated by depressing the execute switch. The K-
Downloaded by 121.200.6.58 on November 30, 2019 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/3.28541
START module panel presents a pushbutton keyboard, six
tape control switches, a tape input display, three status dis-
plays, and a bank of 24 Apollo guidance computer (AGO)
event displays. The associated perforated tape reader, which
is employed for automatic insertion of command messages, is
controlled by six backlighted, pushbutton switches.
When any of the START modules are depressed, the
scanning mechanism checks the R-STARTS, C-STARTS, and
K-STARTS. The signal device is called the communication
unit executor (CUE). As soon as CUE notices an R-START,
C-START, or K-START being activated, it notifies the up-
link computer and sends the information to it. The computer
codes the information and transmits it to the DTCS.
The main features for the system are as follows: 1) rapid
check-out; 2) utilization of the flight telemetry (the carry-on
equipment does not penalize the flight weight for the checkout
measurements); 3) testing can be accomplished for combined
and integrated systems that can operate in a manual as well
as in an automatic mode at a local or 10-mile remote opera-
tion; 4) the same equipment can be used for checkout of
both the CSM and the LEM at the factory and at the launch
site; 5) the equipment, because of its modular features, has
a fast turnaround of about 30 min which allows hook-up to
any spacecraft on a 30-min notice, assuming the carry-on
equipment is in position; 6) the carry-on equipment is
connected in the factory and not removed until T — 10 hr (ex-
cept for weight and balance), thus minimizing connecting and
disconnecting the spacecraft cabling; 7) because of the con-
figuration of the DTCS and DTMS, the total number of ca-
bles through the vehicle hatch is two (compared to 24 in the
Mercury program), each containing three coaxes, thus allow-
ing undisturbed ingress and egress to the spacecraft.
Here again, concurrent use between the LEM and CSM is
accomplished. It is the first time in checkout of missiles
or spacecraft where two vehicles, completely different by de-
sign and airborne systems, are checked out with the same
piece of GSE. The flexibility created by the concept of
modular carry on, as well as the digital programing aspects,
make this piece of GSE a universal tool. Additional GSE is
809
required for rf checks, and this is provided for by special test
equipment.
Design of Airborne Equipment
Because of foresight by both the ground systems engineers
and the airborne system engineers, enough checkout points
have been provided.3 The usual past argument that each
measurement aboard the vehicle weighed between 1.2 and 1.5
Ib was completely dissolved with the advent of the ACE-S/C.
Since the carry-on equipment contains its own signal con-
ditioner, commutating and transmission link, the weight of a
measurement is the weight of a wire and associated pin on a
plug which is less than an ounce. The total number of oper-
ational measurements on the CSM is now 1200, with the
LEM having close to 700 operational measurements. This
gives an indication of the level of checkout on the space-
craft. The early design of airborne for checkout is paying off,
in that malfunction isolation to black boxes and lowest re-
placeable assembly is easily accomplished now.
Conclusions
This paper identifies the steps that the NASA Manned
Spacecraft Center has undertaken to assure a logical, pro-
gressive development of the ground systems required to sup-
port the Apollo spacecraft. The definitions of the basic
criteria for spacecraft checkout, the checkout requirements
and sequence of checkout operations, and the GSE and facility
requirements for these operations have been completed.
The design, fabrication, and qualification of the GSE re-
quired to support the checkout operations are nearing com-
pletion. ACE-S/C is operational at North American Avia-
tion Inc., and has been used to checkout their house space-
craft by using the ACE carry-on equipment in conjunction
with the ACE ground station. The servicing equipment is
currently being evaluated with flight-type hardware at the
Propulsion Systems Development Facility, Manned Space-
craft Center White Sands Operations, New Mexico.
References
1
Lanzkron, R. W., "Apollo checkout criteria," Ground Systems
Engineering Div., NASA Manned Spacecraft Center-ASPO,
Houston, Texas, MSC-COC-1 (October 22,1964).
2
''Command service module ground operations requirement
plan," North American Aviation Inc., Downey, Calif., Space
Vehicle Integration Group Space Information Systems Div., SID
65-301 (March 1, 1965).
3
Lanzkron, R. W. and Fischer, W. C., "Selection of checkout
measurements for the Apollo program," Ground Systems Engi-
neering Div., NASA Manned Spacecraft Center-ASPO, Houston,,
Texas (March 11, 1965).