Saturn V | Apollo 6

Launch information

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Mission description

Apollo 6 was intended to send a Command and Service Module (CSM) plus a Lunar Module Test Article (LTA), a simulated Lunar Module (LM) with mounted structural vibration sensors, into a translunar trajectory. However, the Moon would not be in position for a translunar flight, and the Service Module engine would be fired about five minutes later to slow the craft, dropping its apogee to 11,989 nautical miles (22,204 km) and causing the CSM to return to Earth, simulating a "direct-return" abort. On the return leg, the engine would fire once more to accelerate the craft to simulate the nominal lunar return trajectory with a re-entry angle of -6.5 degrees and velocity of 36,500 feet per second (11,100 m/s). The entire mission would last about 10 hours.

Launch status

Launch status information for space mission ‘Saturn V | Apollo 6’.

Launch image Saturn V | Apollo 6

Partial Failure

Status: Launch was a Partial Failure

Class: normal

Launch T0: April 4, 1968, noon

Timezone: America/New_York

Launch authority

Details about the the rocket, its target orbit and the launch pad location.

Mission

Apollo 6 (Elliptical)

Launcher

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Rocket

Saturn V

Location

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Pad

Launch Complex 39A

Type

Human Exploration

Orbit

Elliptical Orbit (Elliptical)

Satellites on-board

Satellites on-board the space mission ‘Saturn V | Apollo 6’ are identified by cross checking database entries for launches and satellites. Results could be inaccurate from time to time.

Number Name Orbit Inclination Country/Organization Status
3170 APOLLO 6 LEO 32.5 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Decayed

Launch statistics

Tracking key statistics for space mission ‘Saturn V | Apollo 6’, classified in stats relative to the specific mission launch year or to all-time values.

Orbital Launch

#814

To this date

Location Launch

#2

To this date

Pad Launch

#2

To this date

Agency Launch

#93

To this date

Orbital Launch

#27

Year 1968

Location Launch

#1

Year 1968

Pad Launch

#1

Year 1968

Agency Launch

#3

Year 1968

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