Launch pad

However, after running some tests, they realized the vehicle would still function with the lower tank pressure, and restarted the countdown.

AS-201 blasted off from Launch Complex LC-34 at 1112 AM local time, with the CSM reaching an apogee of 492 kilometers or 307 miles, and splashing down in the Atlantic 8500 kilometers downrange.

During the 37 minute flight, the spacecraft and its Saturn 1B launch vehicle performed every function near perfectly, including the CSM engine performing two burns.

The ability of the engine to relight itself in space would be crucial to the success of any Apollo lunar mission.

The S-IVB would then perform what is known as a Translunar Injection, or TLI burn, to send the astronauts to the moon.

As a result, AS-203 carried no spacecraft payload, with an aerodynamic fairing being placed over the end of the second stage.

The mission was launched from Launch Complex 37B at 1153 local time on July 5, 1966, with the vehicle successfully entering a 190-kilometer orbit around the Earth.

Several S-IVB engine restarts were conducted over the first two orbits, confirming the stage's readiness for manned spaceflight.

Do as much integrated test as makes sense.

And then we have a test facility in Moses Lake and Launch Complex in Florida.

Well, we're here for a very special reason because you have two very big pieces of news.

So maybe we can kick that.