Editing Apollo 5 (section)

{{short description|Uncrewed first test flight of the Apollo Lunar Module}}
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{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Apollo 5
| image                 = Lunar Module-1 and Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA)-7 in the Kennedy Space Center's Manned Spacecraft Operations Building.jpg
| image_caption         = Lunar Module 1 being mated to the [[Apollo (spacecraft)#Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA)|Spacecraft–LM adapter]] (SLA) in preparation for launch as Apollo&nbsp;5
| insignia              =
| mission_type          = Uncrewed Earth orbital LM flight ([[List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types|B]])
| operator              = [[NASA]] 
| COSPAR_ID             = {{ubl|Ascent stage: 1968-007A|Descent stage: 1968-007B|S-IVB: 1968-007C}}
| SATCAT                = 3106
| mission_duration      = 11&nbsp;hours, 10&nbsp;minutes
| orbits_completed      = 7
| spacecraft            = [[Apollo Lunar Module]]-1
| manufacturer          = [[Grumman]]
| launch_mass           = {{convert|14360|kg|lb}}<ref name="orbital_info"/>
| launch_date           = {{start-date|January 22, 1968, 22:48:09|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC 
| launch_rocket         = [[Saturn IB]] SA-204
| launch_site           = [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Kennedy]] [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 37|LC-37B]]
| disposal_type         = Uncontrolled reentry
| deactivated           = {{End-date|January 23, 1968 9:58|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC
| decay_date            = {{Ubl|Ascent stage: {{end-date|January 24, 1968}}|Descent stage: {{end-date|February 12, 1968}}}}
| orbit_epoch           = January 22, 1968<ref name=satcat>{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|authorlink=Jonathan McDowell|title=SATCAT|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|publisher=Jonathan's Space Pages|access-date=March 23, 2014}}</ref>
| orbit_reference       = [[geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime          = [[Low Earth orbit]]
| orbit_periapsis       = {{convert|167|km|nmi|sp=us}}<ref name="orbital_info">{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1968-007A|title=Apollo 5|access-date=September 26, 2016|website=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive}}</ref>
| orbit_apoapsis        = {{convert|222|km|nmi|sp=us}}<ref name="orbital_info" />
| orbit_inclination     = 31.63&nbsp;degrees<ref name="orbital_info" />
| orbit_period          = 88.4&nbsp;minutes<ref name="orbital_info" />
| apsis                 = gee
| previous_mission      = [[Apollo 4]]
| next_mission          = [[Apollo 6]]
| programme             = [[Apollo program]]
}}

'''Apollo 5''' (launched January&nbsp;22, 1968), also known as '''AS-204''', was the uncrewed first flight of the [[Apollo Lunar Module]] (LM) that would later carry [[astronaut]]s to the surface of the Moon. The [[Saturn IB]] rocket bearing the LM lifted off from [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Kennedy]] on January&nbsp;22, 1968. The mission was successful, though due to programming problems an alternate mission to that originally planned was executed.

Like [[Apollo 4]], this flight was long delayed, due in part to setbacks in development of the LM, manufactured by [[Grumman|Grumman Aircraft]]. The original Saturn IB rocket that was to take the first LM (LM-1) to space was taken down during the delays and replaced with the one that would have launched [[Apollo 1]] if the spacecraft fire that killed three astronauts had not occurred. [[Apollo Lunar Module|LM-1]] arrived at the [[Kennedy Space Center]] in June 1967; the following months were occupied in testing and placing the LM atop the Saturn IB. After final delays due to equipment trouble, the countdown began on January&nbsp;21, 1968, and the space vehicle was launched the following day.

Once the craft reached orbit and the LM separated from the [[S-IVB]] booster, the program of orbital testing began, but a planned burn was aborted automatically when the [[Apollo Guidance Computer]] detected the craft was not going as fast as planned. Flight Director [[Gene Kranz]] and his team at [[Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center|Mission Control]] in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]] quickly decided on an alternate mission, during which the mission's goals of testing LM-1 were accomplished. The mission was successful enough that a contemplated second uncrewed mission to test the LM was cancelled, advancing [[NASA]]'s plans to land an astronaut on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.