The Beginning

Apollo/Range Instrumentation Aircraft (A/RIA)

The support requirements for Apollo, compiled by NASA’s Office of Manned Space Flight (OMSF), originally stated a need for twelve heavily instrumented, long-range, high-speed aircraft to supplement the telemetry and communication support to be provided by the Apollo ships. The operational requirements for the aircraft stemmed from several considerations. During the long and critical second burn of the third-stage engine to inject the spacecraft into the trans-lunar trajectory, the spacecraft would travel a distance of about 1,800 miles. It was necessary to station the Apollo injection ship so as to obtain the most accurate tracking data for that part of the flight sequence immediately following the injection burn, as a basis for a go-no-go decision to separate the command and service module (CSM) from the lunar module adapter, reverse the CSM, and dock it with the lunar module, and also as the basis for computing the first mid-course correction burn which needed to be made as early as possible to conserve fuel. In such a position, it would not be possible for the ship also to obtain spacecraft telemetry and have voice communication with the astronauts during that segment of the trajectory immediately preceding and during the first part of the injection burn. Specially instrumented aircraft at high altitude would be required to receive telemetry and function as line-of-sight relay stations for voice communications during that period.

The original request for twelve planes was premised on the desire to provide for two alternative injection points, one over the Pacific and one over the South Atlantic or the Indian Ocean, depending upon the time of year of launch, eight instrumented planes to be available in the Pacific and four in the Indian Ocean area. Later, as the mission planning was refined, it was decided that a single injection area could be accepted. Accordingly, the aircraft requirement was reduced to eight, six to be on station with two standby spares. As in the case of the Apollo ships, the instrumentation aircraft could be used for general Range support when not required for Apollo. The Air Force indicated a willingness to make available eight KC-135A's for this purpose at no cost to NASA, provided NASA would pay for the required structural modifications and for the procurement and installation of equipment required for Apollo support. In December 1964, a three-way agreement was signed by the heads of the National Range Division (NRD) and the Electronic Systems Division (ESD) of the AFSC for the DOD, and OTDA for NASA, to acquire, test, and operate these needed range aircraft.

Source: W. F. Boone
Admiral, U.S. Navy Retired
Consultant to the Administrator
December 31, 1970