QTV

: otheruses|QTV (disambiguation)Infobox Space mission
mission_name = LJ-II QTV Apollo Launch Escape System Test
insignia = Apollo program insignia.png launch_pad = White Sands Missile Range
launch = August 28, 1963
Launch Complex 36, Area # 3.
landing = August 28, 1963
duration = ~5 min
orbits = Suborbital
apogee = 4.55 mi - 7.32 km
distance = 8.7 mi - 14 km

QTV (Qualification Test Vehicle) of the Apollo Little Joe II rocket was the first test flight in 1963.

Objectives

The Little Joe II Qualification Test Vehicle was launched on its first flight from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Area # 3. The mission objectives were to prove the Little Joe II rocket's capability as an Apollo CSM test vehicle and to determine base pressures and heating on the rocket.

Flight

Little Joe II QTV was the first flight of the Little Joe II rockets. It was launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico on August 28, 1963 from Launch Complex 36, Area number 3. The spacecraft consisted of a dummy launch escape system and a boilerplate command and service module. Most objectives were achieved. The lone failure was a malfunction in the destruct system.

References

* [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790076764_1979076764.pdf Little Joe II Qualification Test Flight Report - September 1963 (PDF)]

External links

* [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/cover.htm The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology]
* [http://history.nasa.gov/apsr/apsr.htm Apollo Program Summary Report]
* [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19780070078_1978070078.pdf Little Joe II Progress Report - December 1964 (PDF)]
* [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790078425_1979078425.pdf Little Joe II Mission A-003 - April 1965 (PDF)]