Objectives
A-102 was designed to repeat the flight of A-101. It would once again carry a boilerplate Apollo Command and Service Module. The only difference from Boilerplate 13 carried on A-101 was that on Boilerplate 15 one of the simulated Reaction Control System thruster quads (attitude control thrusters) was instrumented to record launch temperatures and vibrations. Another major difference on A-102 was that the Launch Escape System (LES) tower would be jettisoned using the launch escape and pitch control motors. The mission used Apollo boilerplate BP-15.
However, the major change on A-102 was that for the first time a Saturn rocket would carry a programmable computer. Previous launches had used an onboard 'black box' that was preprogrammed. On A-102 it would be possible to reprogram the computer during flight so that any anomalous behavior could potentially be corrected.
Read more about this topic: A-102 (spacecraft)
Famous quotes containing the word objectives:
“Along the journey we commonly forget its goal. Almost every vocation is chosen and entered upon as a means to a purpose but is ultimately continued as a final purpose in itself. Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent stupidity in which we indulge ourselves.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)