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New Suit. Like almost everything else aboard during the January holocaust, the Gemini space suits worn by the astronauts burned, as interior temperatures rose to 1,500° F. To withstand such heat, the nylon outer covering of the Apollo suit has been replaced by Beta cloth—an advanced form of glass fiber produced by Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. Backing up the new fabric are 14 layers of fire-resistant material. Even if they were caught in an on-board inferno, the Apollo astronauts would have several minutes of protection while wearing the new suit. Big gest problem posed by the new fiber is its susceptibility to wear. For protection, the new Apollo suits are patched with tough metallic-fiber cloth at the elbows, shoulders and back.
Critical Factor. The changes have increased the total weight of the spaceship by 3,500 Ibs.—from 94,150 Ibs. to 97,650 Ibs.—including additional fuel needed for maneuvering.
This pushes Apollo to a critical launch-pad weight that is only 350 Ibs. under the Saturn 5's total lifting capacity for lunar missions. As a result, parts of Apollo's parachute system had to be enlarged or redesigned for safe landing at greater weight, and redundant systems on board have been eliminated for a weight reduction of 58 Ibs. Low hopes to peel 400 Ibs. more off Apollo by eliminating the spacecraft's lead ballast. So critical is the weight factor that even metal brackets inside Apollo are being examined for possible perforation to save additional ounces. "So far," Low said last week, "the scheme looks promising."
In effect, the modifications have made Apollo a brand new spacecraft that will have to be tested for structural integrity, vibration characteristics during liftoff, and behavior in a vacuum before it can be requalified for flight. Such testing has pushed the initial launch date for the Apollo series to early summer of next year. But this winter the spacecraft will face its baptism by fire in Houston, when NASA engineers try to set a full-scale Apollo ablaze under varied atmospheric conditions.