Rare staple-bound report entitled "Project Apollo: Mission Requirements for Apollo Spacecraft Development Mission, Apollo Saturn 204A (CSM 012)/205 (CSM 014), Revision 2," prepared for NASA by TRW Systems, 8 x 10.5, 310 pages, dated October 17, 1966. The front cover is stamped "NASA DOD Internal Use Only," and is marked "R. Larson" beneath two struck-through names. The document provides mission requirements and test objectives for the first two scheduled flights of the Apollo program. The introduction begins: "Apollo Saturn Mission 204A is scheduled as the first manned low earth orbital flight test of a Block I Command and Service Module (CSM 012) spacecraft in an open-ended mission. Mission AS-205 is planned as a manned earth orbital flight test of the Block I Command and Service Module (CSM 014)," to be identical to AS-204A but with further experiments and demonstrations.
The bulk of the document details the objectives for the missions, offering implementation instructions, success criteria, data requirements, and evaluation checklists. Among the objectives listed are the demonstration of astronauts' capability to operate various spacecraft systems, including the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), sextant, FDAI, and other guidance, navigation, and control systems; evaluation of CSM subsystem performance in earth orbital environment; and demonstration of mission support facilities performance. In fine condition, with one small edge tear to the front cover.
Apollo 1 (AS-204A), manned by Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee, was intended 'to verify spacecraft crew operations and CSM subsystems performance for an earth-orbit mission of up to 14 days' duration and to verify the launch vehicle subsystems performance in preparation for subsequent operational Saturn IB missions.' After several delays throughout 1966—during which time AS-205 (Apollo 2) was deemed unnecessary and canceled—the Apollo 1 launch was finally scheduled to take place on February 21, 1967. A fire broke out in the Apollo 1 capsule during a launch rehearsal on January 27, 1967, claiming lives of all three crewmen. The tragedy led to a reevaluation of the Apollo spacecraft and the development of the Block II Command and Service Module. As a comprehensive outline of the objectives for what was to be Apollo's first flight, this rare internal document offers a historic glimpse of 'what could have been.'
Russ Larson worked as a project manager and astronaut liaison at MIT's Instrumentation Lab, where he was involved in programming the Lunar Module's Apollo Guidance Computer; he worked directly with the astronaut crews, training them on the simulators and guidance system.
