View source for Pad Abort Test 1

{{distinguish|text=[[Pad Abort 1]], a 2010 Orion test flight}}
{{Infobox spaceflight<!--technically not a spaceflight, but template seems best fit for this article-->
| name                  = Pad Abort Test 1
| image                 = Image:Pad abort test 1.jpg
| image_caption         = Pad Abort Test 1 launch.
| insignia              = Apollo program.svg

| mission_type          = Abort test
| operator              = [[NASA]]
| mission_duration      = 2&nbsp;minutes, 45.1&nbsp;seconds
| distance_travelled    = {{convert|2.51|km|mi|sp=us}}
| suborbital_apogee     = {{convert|2.82|km|mi|sp=us}}

| spacecraft            = [[Apollo (spacecraft)|Apollo]] BP-06
| manufacturer          = 
| launch_mass           = 
| landing_mass          =

| launch_date           = {{start-date|November 7, 1963, 16:00:01|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC
| launch_rocket         = [[Apollo (spacecraft)#Launch Escape System (LES)|Apollo LES]]
| launch_site           = [[White Sands Missile Range|White Sands]] [[White Sands Launch Complex 36|LC-36]]

| landing_date          = {{end-date|November 7, 1963, 16:02:45|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC
| landing_site          =

| previous_mission      = [[Little Joe II Qualification Test Vehicle|QTV]]
| next_mission          = [[A-001]]
| programme             = [[Apollo program|Project Apollo]]<br/><small>Abort tests</small> 
}}

'''Pad Abort Test 1''' was the first [[pad abort test|abort test]] of the [[Apollo spacecraft]] on November 7, 1963.

==Objectives==
Pad Abort Test 1 was a mission to investigate the effects on the Apollo spacecraft during an abort from the pad. The [[Apollo spacecraft#Launch Escape System .28LES.29|launch escape system]] (LES) had to be able to pull the spacecraft away from an exploding rocket on the launch pad. The LES then had to gain enough altitude to allow the command module's parachutes to open, preferably with the spacecraft over water and not land.

The flight featured a production model LES and a [[Boilerplate (spaceflight)|boilerplate]] (BP-06) Apollo spacecraft, the first mission to feature one. The spacecraft carried no instruments for measuring structural loads as the capsule's boilerplate structure did not represent that of a real spacecraft.

==Flight==
On November 7, 1963, an abort signal was sent to the LES at 09:00:01 local time. This began a sequence in which the main solid rockets fired to lift the spacecraft and smaller altitude rockets fired to move it laterally toward the ocean.

The LES separated after 15 seconds, allowing the spacecraft to take a [[Ballistics|ballistic]] [[trajectory]]. The parachute system worked perfectly: the drogue chute stabilized the spacecraft, then the three main parachutes slowed the descent to a leisurely 26 kilometers per hour.

The only problems found with the flight were that the LES rockets left [[soot]] on the spacecraft exterior and the stability of the spacecraft was less than predicted.
{{clear}}

==Gallery==
[[image:Apollo pad abort test.jpg|thumb|center|500px|Apollo Pad Abort Test - Nov. 7, 1963 (NASA)]]

==References==
{{commons category|Pad Abort Test-1}}
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/cover.htm The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209084600/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/cover.htm |date=2017-12-09 }}
* [https://history.nasa.gov/apsr/apsr.htm Apollo Program Summary Report]
* [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790076703_1979076703.pdf Nasa support manual - Apollo description manual applicable to boilerplate 6 only]
* [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790076848_1979076848.pdf Actual weight and balance report B P 6 at WSMR C M and LES for pad abort 1]
* [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19790076960_1979076960.pdf Post-launch memorandum report for Apollo pad abort 1]

{{Apollo program| before=[[SA-5 (Apollo)|SA-4]]| after=[[SA-5 (Apollo)|SA-5]]}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}

[[Category:Apollo program]]
[[Category:1963 in spaceflight]]
[[Category:Test spaceflights]]
[[Category:Flight abort]]