Dale, According to the The Nasa Mission Reports - Apogee Books - with the official Press kits, pre- and after flight mission reports and technical debriefing: Apollo 7 had the panels attached to the S-IV B, Apollo 8 and on wards had the panels blasted free. For Apollo 8 it is stated that the panels open to 110 degrees, then the hinges are released and springs push the panels away at a speed of 5.5 miles/hr and they leave the area of the spacecraft. Somewhere in the Apollo 7 reports I've read that the astronauts found it difficult to do the rendez-vous with the S-IV B as the couldn't see the panels all the time when close to the docking target. I don't know where this is on line, but you could try the Historic Dept of NASA and look for the press-kits and Mision reports. Greetings Leo ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dale Ireland" <direland@drdale.com> To: "Seesat-l" <SeeSat-L@satobs.org> Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 4:14 PM Subject: Apollo 3rd stage > Hello > Can someone tell me which Apollo missions used the 3rd stage which had the > large shrouds enclosing the LEM open like a flower and remain attached to > the rocket body, and which missions the shroud was blasted totally free from > the 3rd stage? The transition was early in the series but I would like to > know which mission and an online reference for verification somewhere. > Thanks Dale > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' > in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org > http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html > ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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