Uncommon spiral-bound NASA manual entitled “Saturn I Countdown Manual, SA-6, Test Number, 7-LSVI-200,” 9 x 11, 95 pages, dated May 6, 1964, issued from the John F. Kennedy Space Center. The manual contains nine sections — Introduction, Table of Contents, TV Camera Locations, Engine Cutoff and Emergency Operations (Network Panel Cutoff, Firing Panel Cutoff, Automatic Malfunction Cutoffs, Primary (60 Cycle AC) Power Failure), Communications Assignment, Countdown Bar Graph, Station Code Identification, Launch Countdown, L-1 Day (Part I) / (T-1035 To 7-565), and Launch Countdown, L Day (Part II) (T-545 to Completion) — with the “Objectives” section reading as follows: “To provide a sequence of operation required to prepare launch vehicle to the point of firing command (initiation of terminal firing sequence); to provide emergency procedures for safing of vehicle in the event of standard malfunctions; to provide the amr range and other NASA centers with a listing of interrelated items for accomplishment before and after liftoff; and to provide the complex crews with the immediate post-launch securing operations.” The front cover bears an ownership notation. In fine condition, with some light stains and wear to covers.
AS-101 (also designated SA-6) was the sixth flight of the Saturn I launch vehicle, which carried the first boilerplate Apollo spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The test took place on May 28, 1964, lasting for four orbits (about six hours). The spacecraft and its upper stage completed a total of 54 orbits before reentering the atmosphere and crashing in the Pacific Ocean on June 1, 1964.
The flight experienced a single anomaly: one of the eight first-stage Saturn I engines shut down early, but the guidance system compensated by burning the remaining seven engines longer. AS-101 was followed by four more flights to verify the launch aerodynamics of the Apollo command and service module (CSM) and its launch escape system (LES) tower.
