Canceled Apollo missions
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Several missions of the Apollo program were canceled during the 1960s and 1970s, due to budget limitations or schedule constraints. The most notable of these were three Moon landing missions, Apollos 18, 19 and 20, which had received some level of planning, but there were a variety of other, later planned flights. Some of these were incorporated into the Apollo Applications Program, of which the only result was the Skylab space station.
Contents
1 Planned missions prior to Apollo 1 fire
2 Development missions after Apollo 1 fire
3 Follow-on lunar missions
3.1 Cancellations
3.2 Crews
3.3 Landing sites
3.4 Apollo 21
4 Skylab
4.1 Skylab Rescue
4.2 Skylab 5
5 Surplus hardware
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
[edit]Planned missions prior to Apollo 1 fire



The prime crew for the second planned Apollo manned flight prepares for mission simulator tests at the North American Aviation plant prior to the Apollo 1 fire. Left to right: Donn F. Eisele, Senior Pilot, Walter M. Schirra, Command Pilot, and Walter Cunningham, Pilot. (September 1966).
In 1962, it was envisioned that the Block I Command/Service Module (CSM) would make four manned low Earth orbital test flights designated SA-11 through SA-14, in 1965 using the Saturn I launch vehicle. However by late 1963, as the CSM grew heavier it became evident the larger Saturn IB vehicle would be required. This, combined with a change to an "all-up" testing philosophy flying more new systems at once, led to these missions being canceled and replaced by two Saturn IB missions, designated AS-204 and AS-205. These would be followed by the first manned Lunar Module (LM) test flight designated AS-207/208, using two Saturn IB launches and an improved Block II CSM.
The crew selected for AS-204 consisted of Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. White, and Pilot Roger Chaffee, who named their flight Apollo 1. The AS-205 crew were Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham. However the second flight was later deemed unnecessary and was officially canceled on December 22, 1966. Schirra's crew became the backup for Grissom's crew.
The LM test flight now became the second manned mission, redesignated AS-205/208 and crewed by Command Pilot Jim McDivitt, CSM Pilot David Scott and LM Pilot Rusty Schweickart. They immediately began their training in the first Block II Command Module CM-101, as Grissom's crew were preparing for a February 1967 launch.
Then, on January 27, 1967, Grissom's crew were killed in a flash fire in their spacecraft cabin during a test on the launch pad, interrupting the program for 21 months to identify and fix the root causes of a major safety problem. This forced cancellation of plans to fly the Block I spacecraft with men, and effectively forced a "reboot" of all manned mission plans.
[edit]Development missions after Apollo 1 fire

Main article: List of Apollo mission types
In September 1967, NASA created a list of remaining mission types necessary to achieve the first manned lunar landing, each designated by a letter A through G, where G would be the first manned landing. This list was later extended through letter J to cover follow-on lunar missions.
Two unmanned Saturn V test launches (A missions) were flown as Apollo 4 and Apollo 6. A third test was planned, but canceled as unnecessary.
The first development Lunar Module, LM-1 was flown unmanned (B mission) as Apollo 5. A second unmanned test was planned using LM-2, but was canceled as unnecessary. LM-2 was retrofit to look like a production LM which would land men on the Moon and was donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where it is currently on display as a simulation of the Apollo 11 first landing.
Schirra's crew would fly the C mission, first manned CSM (Block II CSM-101, retrofit with the cabin safety improvements) as Apollo 7 in October 1967.
McDivitt's crew and mission were kept as the first manned development LM flight (D mission); this was planned to be Apollo 8 in December 1968, now using a single Saturn V launch vehicle instead of two separate Saturn IB launches. The E mission was planned as an elliptical medium Earth orbit test of the operational LM with the CSM in a simulated lunar mission to an apogee of 4,600 miles (7,400 km), to be commanded by Frank Borman in March 1969.
Of all the components of the Apollo system, the LM had the most technical issues. It was behind schedule and when LM-3 was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in June 1968, over 101 separate defects were discovered. Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, which was the lead contractor for the LM predicted that the first mannable LM, to be used for the D mission, would not be ready until at least February 1969, delaying the entire sequence.
George Low, the Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, proposed a solution in August 1968. Since the CSM would be ready three months before the Lunar Module, they could fly a CSM-only mission in December 1968. But instead of just repeating the C mission that would fly the CSM in Earth orbit, they could send the CSM all the way to the Moon and maybe even enter into orbit. This mission was dubbed "C-Prime" (an imaginary letter between C and D). This new mission would allow NASA to practice procedures for lunar flight that would otherwise have to wait until Apollo 10, the F mission. There were also concerns from the Central Intelligence Agency that the Soviet Union was planning their own circumlunar flight for December to upstage the Americans once again (see Zond program). McDivitt's crew was kept on the D mission which now became Apollo 9, while Borman's crew would fly the CSM lunar orbit mission on Apollo 8, and the E mission was canceled.
The swap of crews was also decisive in who would be the first man to walk on the Moon. Pete Conrad was backup Commander for McDivitt's crew, and by the process of crew rotation would have been in line for Commander of Apollo 11 three flights later. Neil Armstrong got this honor by virtue of being Borman's backup commander.
[edit]Follow-on lunar missions

Originally, NASA produced 15 flight-worthy Saturn Vs. This was enough to provide for two unmanned tests and 13 manned missions. The 13 manned missions included the ten missions Apollo 8 through Apollo 17 that were actually flown, and the three canceled missions Apollo 18 through Apollo 20.
[edit]Cancellations
The first mission to be canceled was Apollo 20. On January 4, 1970, NASA announced it was cancelling Apollo 20 as its Saturn V rocket was now needed for the Skylab space station and budget restrictions had limited the Saturn V production to the original 15 flight models.[1] NASA Deputy Administrator George M. Low announced at that time that the final three Moon landings were rescheduled for 1973 and 1974, after three planned Skylab missions.[2] Originally scheduled for July 1972, under a timetable where lunar missions would be launched every four months, Apollo 20 had been scheduled to land in the Copernicus crater.[3]
Then, on September 2, 1970, NASA announced it was cancelling what were to be the Apollo 15 and Apollo 19 missions. At the time, 35 of NASA's 49 active astronauts were waiting for a chance for a mission.[4] Apollo 15 was originally meant to be an H mission — like Apollo 12, Apollo 13 and Apollo 14. These cancellations meant that Apollo 15 became a J mission—a three-day stay on the Moon with the lunar rover—and that Apollo 19 would be canceled.
In August 1971, President Richard Nixon even planned to cancel all remaining lunar landings (Apollo 16 and 17). His Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Deputy Director Caspar Weinberger was opposed to this, persuading Nixon to keep the remaining Moon missions, but recommended that if such cancellation would happen that it be "on the ground that Apollo 15 was so successful in gathering needed data that we can now shift, sooner than previously expected, to the Space Shuttle, Grand Tour, NERVA, etc."[5]
[edit]Crews
Deke Slayton was the Director of Flight Crew Operations and effectively chose the crews for the flights. He did not intend to give astronauts two lunar landing commands but, according to historian Michael Cassutt, as late as the summer of 1969—when 10 landings were still scheduled—Slayton planned to give Lunar Module Pilots Fred Haise, Edgar Mitchell, and James Irwin the opportunity to walk again on the moon as Commanders.[6] During the early Apollo missions he used a rotation system of assigning a crew as backup and then, three missions later, as the prime crew; however, by the later Apollo flights, this system was used less frequently as astronauts left the program. Slayton wanted to give rookies a chance, and astronauts did not want to take backup positions that no longer could lead to prime-crew spots.


A Gantt chart showing how astronaut assignments were deeply affected by canceled Apollo missions.
In the case of Apollo 18 the crew was probably the Apollo 15 backup crew:[7]
Richard F. Gordon, Jr. (Commander (CDR))
Vance D. Brand (Command Module Pilot (CMP))
Harrison Schmitt (Lunar Module Pilot (LMP))
When Apollo 18 was effectively canceled, Schmitt was moved up to Apollo 17 under pressure from the scientific community, replacing Joe Engle. Schmitt, a geologist, became the only professional scientist and the twelfth man to walk on the Moon.
Slayton's intention for the Apollo 19 crew was the original (prior to cancellation) Apollo 16 backup crew:[7][8]
Fred Haise (CDR)
William R. Pogue (CMP)
Gerald P. Carr (LMP)
For Apollo 20 there is even more uncertainty. Based on normal crew rotation, the crew would likely have been:[7]
Pete Conrad or Stuart Roosa (CDR)
Paul J. Weitz (CMP)
Jack R. Lousma (LMP)
Another possibility was:[9]
Stuart Roosa or Edgar Mitchell (CDR)
Jack R. Lousma (CMP)
Don L. Lind (LMP)
[edit]Landing sites
Being effectively canceled at least two years before they would have launched, little detailed planning had happened for the missions. A variety of landing sites were given for each flight.
According to "NASA OMSF, Manned Space Flight Weekly Report" from July 28, 1969, Apollo 18 would have landed at Schröter's Valley in February 1972, Apollo 19 in the Hyginus rille region in July 1972, and Apollo 20 in Copernicus in December 1972.
In the NASA report "Scientific Rationale Summaries for Apollo Candidate Lunar Exploration Landing Sites" from March 11, 1970, Apollo 18 is targeted for Copernicus, and Apollo 19 is assigned Hadley rille (the eventual landing site of Apollo 15). The Apollo 20 mission had been canceled two months before, but the report still suggested its target, Hyginus rille, possibly as an alternative Apollo 19 landing site.[10]
Another source[9] lists the prospective landing sites as Gassendi craters (Apollo 18, July 1973), Copernicus (Apollo 19, December 1973), and Marius Hills or Tycho (Apollo 20, July 1974).
Following the failure of Apollo 13 in April 1970 the landing sites for the remaining Moon landings were changed. On September 2, 1970, two missions were canceled: Apollo 15, an early mission that probably would have gone to Censorinus, and Apollo 19, an advanced mission that would possibly have had Copernicus as its destination. The remaining missions were renumbered 14 through 17.
In the closing days of the program, Apollo 17 LMP Harrison Schmitt aggressively lobbied for a manned landing on the far side of the Moon, targeting the lava-filled farside crater Tsiolkovskiy. Schmitt's ambitious proposal included the launch into lunar orbit of special communications satellites based on the existing TIROS satellites to allow contact with the astronauts during their powered descent and lunar surface operations. NASA administrators rejected these plans based on lack of funding and added risk.
[edit]Apollo 21
A number of sources refer to an "Apollo 21" lunar-landing mission, canceled around 1969.[11] While this seems unlikely, as there would not have been a Saturn V to launch the flight, the discrepancy is likely due to Apollo 8.
Apollo 8 was originally slated to be a D mission, flying the LM and CSM in Earth orbit. However, the LM was delayed by engineering problems, and the mission would not be able to fly as planned. As such, NASA changed the mission plan to be a "C-prime" mission; it would only consist of the manned CSM, but it would go all the way to the Moon. This would still require the use of a Saturn V, leaving 12 more for later missions.
Initially, however, the plan had been for the D mission to consist of two separate Saturn IB launches, with one carrying the CSM and, a few days later, another carrying the LM. Had this been carried out, there would have been 13 Saturn Vs left after Apollo 8, enough to go to a hypothetical "Apollo 21".
It is likely that[says who?] references to "Apollo 21" originate in this short period between the flight of Apollo 7, and the announcement of the change of mission of Apollo 8. The knowledge that the C mission was numbered 7 allowed the calculation that there would be a D mission, and then 13 missions requiring Saturn Vs, to a final Apollo 21. After Apollo 8, however, it became clear that all future Apollo missions would be on Saturn Vs, and the boosters would end at number 20. At the time, no specific plans for the late Apollo missions, besides rough dates, existed.
Using the internal NASA numbering conventions of the time, the "Apollo 21" discussed in 1968 would have been SA-515. This was the numbering used for the cancelled Apollo 20 mission; in other words, Apollo 21 was simply an early name for the mission that later became planned as Apollo 20.
[edit]Skylab



Vance Brand and Don Lind, the crew for the unflown Skylab Rescue mission.
[edit]Skylab Rescue
Main article: Skylab Rescue
One of the surplus CSMs, CSM-119, was modified to carry two additional crew and kept on standby for a potential rescue mission in case of issues on-board Skylab. During Skylab 3, a malfunction on the Apollo CSM docked to the station caused fears that the crew would not be able to return safely. CSM-119 was wheeled out to Launch Complex 39B on Saturn IB SA-209 during the mission and prepared for a possible launch. Two astronauts, Brand (commander) and Lind (command module pilot), would have flown the CSM to retrieve the three crew members. The problem was fixed without requiring a rescue flight. CSM-119 was returned to the Vertical Assembly Building, and would remain on standby until the Skylab program ended.
CSM-119 was also held as a backup CSM for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.
[edit]Skylab 5
Main article: Skylab 5
Skylab 5 would have been a short 20-day mission to conduct scientific experiments and boost Skylab into a higher orbit. Brand, Lind, and William B. Lenoir (science pilot) would have been the crew.[12]
[edit]Surplus hardware



LM-2 on display at the National Air and Space Museum


CSM-119 on display at the Apollo/Saturn V Center


Saturn V at the Apollo/Saturn V Center
Two complete Saturn Vs went unused after the Apollo program, SA-514 and SA-515, as well as the third stage of the SA-513. SA-513 was the original launch vehicle destined for the Apollo 18 mission; it was used to launch Skylab (its third stage built from a converted S-IVB #212).
At the Johnson Space Center the Saturn V display is made up of the first stage of SA-514, the second stage from SA-515 and the third stage from SA-513. This display includes a production command/service module (CSM-115) which was never completed after funding was cut.
At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex the Saturn V display is made up of S-IC-T (static test stage) and the second and third stages from SA-514. The command module on display at KSC is a boilerplate, BP-30. The stack used to be displayed outdoors in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building and was a stop for tour buses, and was later restored and moved indoors to the Apollo/Saturn V Center.
The first stage from SA-515 resides at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana. The third stage was converted into a Skylab space station, functioning as a backup to the original. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
The final complete Saturn IB, SA-209, is on display in the Rocket Garden of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. It is topped by an Apollo boilerplate.
Likewise the canceled flights' CSMs and LMs went either unused or were used for other missions:
After Apollo 15's original H mission was canceled, there was a surplus H mission CSM and Lunar Module. CSM-111 was used for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. LM-9 is on display at the Kennedy Space Center (Apollo/Saturn V Center)
Apollo 18's CSM and LM were used by Apollo 17.
Apollo 19's CSM (#115) is displayed on the Saturn V located at the Johnson Space Center. Its LM (LM-13, originally assigned to Apollo 18) was only partially completed by Grumman and is now on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island. This LM was completed[clarification needed] for the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon for use as a prop in Moon exploration scenes.
Apollo 20's CSM was never completed and was scrapped. The LM was also scrapped before completion, though there are some unconfirmed reports that some parts (in addition to parts from the LM test vehicle LTA-3) are included in the LM on display at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Skylab Rescue CSM, CSM-119, is on display at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
[edit]Notes

^ "Peril Point at NASA," Time Magazine, Jan. 26, 1970, [www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878735,00.html]
^ "Budget Cuts, Revisions Could Delay Apollo Flights," Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), Jan. 6, 1970, pA-7
^ "Next Decade Challenges Man the Magnificent," Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 23, 1969, pE-2
^ "Waning Moon Program," Time Magazine, Sep. 14, 1970
^ "MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT" by Caspar Weinberger (via George Schultz), Aug 12, 1971, Page32(of39) [1]
^ Cassutt, Michael (2007-05-09). "Re: Don Lind and Tony England". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
^ a b c "Apollo 18 through 20 - The Canceled Missions", Dr. David R. Williams, NASA, accessed July 19, 2006.
^ Donald K. Slayton, "Deke!" (New York: Forge, 1994), 262
^ a b Apollo 18, 19, and 20, at the Encyclopedia Astronautica
^ Scientific rationale summaries for Apollo candidate lunar exploration landing sites - NASA Report. Downloaded from NASA Technical Reports Server December 14, 2007
^ See, for example, Kosmos - News č. 24 (Czech) or Apollo 21 (German)
^ Wade, Mark. "Skylab 5". Astronautix. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
[edit]References

Apollo 18, 19, 20, Skylab B and Skylab 5 at the Encyclopedia Astronautica
CM-115 on display at Johnson Space Center. From A Field Guide to American Spacecraft.
[edit]External links

Astronautix
v · d · eMissions of the Apollo program
Rocket tests
SA-1 · SA-2 · SA-3 · SA-4 · SA-5 · AS-203

Abort tests
QTV · Pad Abort Test-1 · A-001 · A-002 · A-003 · Pad Abort Test-2 · A-004
Boilerplate tests
A-101 · A-102 · A-103 · A-104 · A-105
Unmanned missions
AS-201 · AS-202 · Apollo 4 · Apollo 5 · Apollo 6 · Skylab 1
Low Earth orbit missions
Apollo 7 · Apollo 9 · Skylab 2 · Skylab 3 · Skylab 4 · Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Lunar orbit missions
Apollo 8 · Apollo 10
Lunar landing missions
Apollo 11 · Apollo 12 · Apollo 14 · Apollo 15 · Apollo 16 · Apollo 17
Failed missions
Apollo 1 (AS-204) · Apollo 13
List of missions · Mission Types · Canceled missions
Categories: Apollo program | Cancelled space missions