where not only is it beneficial to our space program in the conduct of the manufacturing of these new and unique articles, but it also represents a combination of in-house effort at the Marshall Center and contract effort which will have a marked influence on the whole industrial capacity of the Nation in nonspace as well as space areas. The CHAIRMAN. I think this is one of the places where the Government through in-house effort can set the tone, strange as it may seem, for contractors, and I congratulate you.

Mr. Fulton.

Mr. FULTON. To me the greatest economy is the booster vehicle that operates efficiently and there is a successful launch and there is no substitute.

Mr. WYATT. Yes, sir.

Mr. FULTON. That is all.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Karth.
Mr. KARTH. No questions.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Van Pelt.
Mr. VAN PELT. No questions.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Riehlman.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. How many people do you have in your Division carrying out this activity?

Dr. McCALL. At Marshall Space Flight Center or the Quality Division?

Mr. RIEHLMAN. Quality Division.

Dr. McCALL. I am not a part of that Division, but in the Quality Division we have about 500 people. It is in that range.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. Are they all located at Marshall Center?

Dr. McCALL. No, sir.

We have a certain number located at the contractors' plants. Normally, our procedure at the contractor's plant is to have two kinds of people.

One are contract administration people, who are the only people that can actually tell the contractor what to do, and a team of technical people. Usually the Quality Division will have a certain number of its people located at the contractor's plant permanently, and who come back to Marshall periodically for retraining, updating, and liaison.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. This is a corps of people who are completely conversant with the contract let and follow it through.

Dr. MCCALL. Yes, sir.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. And know that the Government is getting exactly what it is contracting for.

Dr. McCALL. Yes, sir. That is our philosophy of operation.

Mr. WYATT. The quality effort, I might say, is not wholly represented by these 500 or so people at Marshall Center. We do utilize the armed services, cognizant plant authority, the Air Force, Navy, or Army, as the case might be, in very large numbers. We have a cooperative program with the Department of Defense in this and are actually under negotiation on an enlargement of their effort on our behalf.

This is one of the most critical areas that we see in the whole program.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. I agree with you.

Dr. MCCALL. We have our people located at the major contractor plants-Pratt & Whitney, Douglas, Lockheed, North American, and so forth.

Mr. RIEHLMAN. Thank you.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Corman?
Mr. CORMAN. No question.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Bell?
Mr. BELL. No questions.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Downing.

Mr. DOWNING. No questions, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Then Mr. Wyatt, you are, through NASA, getting out to the contractors, and to other phases of NASA, the developments that are taking place, not only here but at other facilities of NASA?

Mr. WYATT. Yes, sir.

We feel this is an integral part of our charter, not only to produce the space mission, but see that the byproducts get out to industry at large.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Dr. McCall.

Dr. MCCALL. Thank you.

Mr. WYATT. Mr. Chairman, our next witness is Maj. Rocco Petrone, Chief, Heavy Space Vehicles Systems Office, Launch Operations Center, NASA, Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Major Petrone will talk to you in the areas of some of the work that we are doing to cut down the need for even heavier capital investments than are going to be required.

The CHAIRMAN. I welcome Major Petrone here. We have had the pleasure of knowing him.

Very happy to have you here, sir.

You may proceed.

Major PETRONE. Thank you, sir.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to read a prepared statement and then answer any questions the committee might have.

The CHAIRMAN. Proceed.

STATEMENT OF MAJ. ROCCO A. PETRONE, CHIEF, HEAVY SPACE VEHICLES SYSTEMS OFFICE, LAUNCH OPERATIONS CENTER, NASA, CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.

Major PETRONE. In designing launch facilities for the Advanced Saturn C-5 vehicle, we are developing a new approach for launching space vehicles that will give this launch facility the flexibility of handling different configurations of this thrust class vehicle, provide the capability of greatly increasing the launch rates for this class vehicle without building new launch facilities, and reduce the number of skilled personnel required to launch at these rates.

Prior to outlining our Advanced Saturn C-5 launch facility, which is called complex 39, and further explaining the features I have enumerated above, I would like to briefly describe the launch facility now used for the present Saturn C-1, so that you may readily observe the key differences between our present method and the future method for launching and the potential capabilities that we are building into our new launch facilities.

This is Saturn complex No. 34 at the cape from which we have already launched the first two Saturn C-1's of the R. & D. program. The large service structure (310-foot height, 2,800 tons) is shown in its position straddling the actual launch pedestal. The launch control center is 1,100 feet from this launch pedestal and must be constructed of heavy reinforced concrete to provide protection to that portion of the launch crew required to be in the launch control center at launch. The associated propellant (LOX, CH2, and RP-1) and high pressure gas facilities are located at various distances away from the pad. Our method of preparing a vehicle for launch on this pad requires that the individual stages be transported to this pad, erected on the launch pedestal by using the crane on the service structure to lift each stage, and then commence on the pad the lengthy preparation required to assure that all the electrical circuits are connected and functioning properly, that the stages are in alinement, that there are no leaks in the propellant or high-pressure gas system, that the ground support equipment is all tied into the vehicle and functioning properly, and many other similar steps required to ready the space vehicle for launch. Presently we require 8 to 10 weeks to prepare a vehicle of the Saturn C-1 class for launch.

Basically the launch facility and the procedures I have just described are extensions of the research and development type facilities that have been built to support the research and development launches of our missile program to date. Extensive launch operations from these types of pads were not contemplated, since after the missile was developed, it could be sited at various missile sites about the country

during the operational phase. NASA, however, was faced with an entirely new requirement in launch facilities that is, to construct launch facilities from which the research and development phase of the program would be executed and which would also have the flexibility of supporting the operational launches of these vehicles at rates and frequencies which are really undetermined at the start of the

program.

In early 1961, the Launch Operations Center started study programs to focus efforts on the feasibliity of designing launch facilities which could meet the requirements of both the research and development and operational phases of a vehicle program and which could handle varying launch rates, usually upward, without the requirement of building completely new facilities.

The Saturn C-1 launch facilities, complex 34, just described and complex 37, were too far committed to be changed by any results of the facility study mentioned above. Complex 34 had already been constructed and complex 37 was under actual design, and scheduled for immediate construction, since both of these complexes were required to support the C-1 program which was already underway. However, the initial results of our study program on new launch facilities meshed very nicely timewise with the announcement of the manned lunar landing program in May 1961. We immediately took steps to apply these new concepts to the newly proposed Advanced Saturn program. After much study effort, some actual experimental testing, and preliminary design evaluation, we arrived at the following design for complex 39.

(Slide No. 2:)

This artist concept gives an overall view of the layout of this launch facility. I have two additional slides giving closeup views of the vertical assembly building and the launcher transporter required to move the space vehicle from the VAB to one of the pads shown near the shoreline.

Our basic concept of launch preparation differs here from that now used in that the various stages and spacecraft are in this concept fully assembled and checked out on the launcher transporter in the vertical assembly building and only moved to the launch pad for the actual launch involving installation of explosive ordnance, propellant loading, that is, those operations that can really only be performed at the launch pad. By the departure from present methods, we have to spend about only a week or so on the pad instead of the 8 to 10 weeks we now plan for the C-1 program. The lengthy time required for assembly and checkout will be spent in this vertical assembly building operating in a more concentrated area in an industrial operational environment.

The distance from the vertical assembly building, which will also be the area from which we control the launch, to the launch pad is in the order of 212 miles. We will use a digital data link between the VAB and the launcher on the pad with computers located both in the Launch Control Center and in this launcher system. The application of computer technology to the checkout and launch of these large space vehicles will, when fully developed, result in the ability to automate many of the checkout and launch functions which are now performed manually.

(Slide No. 3 :)