Apollo 6

Also known as Apollo VI, AS-502

final uncrewed test flight of the United States Apollo program

Key facts

Mission type: Uncrewed Earth orbital CSM flight ( A )
Operator: NASA
Cospar id: 1968-025A
Mission duration: 9 hours 57 minutes 20 seconds
Spacecraft: Apollo CSM -020 Apollo LTA-2R
Manufacturer: North American Rockwell
Launch mass: Total: 36,930 kilograms (81,420 lb) CSM: 25,140 kilograms (55,420 lb)
Launch date: April 4, 1968, 12:00:01 ( 1968-04-04UTC12:00:01Z ) UTC
Rocket: Saturn V SA-502
Launch site: Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
Recovered by: USS Okinawa
Landing date: April 4, 1968, 21:57:21 ( 1968-04-04UTC21:57:22Z ) UTC
Landing site: 27°40′N 157°55′W / 27.667°N 157.917°W / 27.667; -157.917 ( Apollo 6 splashdown )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Duration: 35840
Mass: 36929
Orbital period: 389.3
Image: Apollo 6 launch.jpg

Show 8 more facts

orbits completed: 3
apoapsis: 22533
orbital inclination: 32.6
periapsis: 32
Commons category: Apollo 6
UTC date of spacecraft launch: 1968-04-04
UTC date of spacecraft landing: 1968-04-04
native label: Apollo 6

Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~23 min read

Article

Apollo 6 (April 4, 1968), also known as AS-502, was the third and final uncrewed flight in the United States' Apollo program and the second test of the Saturn V launch vehicle. The Saturn V's utilization during the mission qualified it for use during human spaceflight, and it was used beginning on Apollo 8 in December 1968.

Apollo 6 was intended to demonstrate the ability of the Saturn V's third stage, the S-IVB, to propel itself and the Apollo spacecraft to lunar distances. Its components began arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in early 1967. Testing proceeded slowly, often delayed by testing of the Saturn V intended for Apollo 4—the inaugural launch of the Saturn V. After that uncrewed mission launched in November 1967, there were fewer delays, but enough so that the flight was postponed from March to April 1968.