 Hey guys, it's Amy and a lot of you have asked me some really great questions about what exactly is the deal with a boilerplate spacecraft? Well, that's what we're going to talk about today on Vintage Space. Boilerplate spacecraft are basically mass simulators. They mimic the external dimensions and exact shape of the spacecraft, but don't have any of the complex systems needed to actually fly in space. Essentially, they're a way for engineers to test everything that's not actually flying in space or any of those internal workings for much cheaper. It is so much easier and simpler and cheaper to use a boilerplate spacecraft on a test launch than it is to use an actual flight article. NASA has been using boilerplates since the Mercury days, but today we're just going to focus specifically on the Apollo boilerplate models. Boilerplate spacecraft are typically denoted by a B and a P for boilerplate followed by a number, and they can go through pretty much any test that you don't need super complex flight systems for. Now these boilerplates might have some systems on board. They aren't just going to be wooden or metal mock-ups, but they are not going to be nearly as complicated as flight articles. So when you think about what a boilerplate can be used for, think about every phase of a mission minus the actual navigating and keeping people alive in space bit. Some boilerplate models, including BP's 1 and 2, were used for land and water impact tests. This was basically a series of tests that saw command module analogs dropped on various surfaces at various angles to determine exactly how the spacecraft would fare when it hit the earth or landed on the water. Others like BP-22 were used in launch escape system tests. The launch escape system was the cluster of rockets at the very top of the Saturn V stack. This was atop the lattice-like structure that in turn set atop the command module. If there was some kind of problem with the Saturn V rocket during the very early stages of flight, the launch escape system could ignite, pulling the command module free, and then it would be able to land safely by parachutes on land, but ideally on water. To make sure that the launch escape system would work as designed, a boilerplate model was fitted with the launch escape system and launched on a little joe-to rocket. And other boilerplates helped check out the LES before any Apollo mission launched. In May of 1964, boilerplate-12 was also launched on a little joe-to rocket to verify the dynamic shape of the launch escape system. Other boilerplate models were used for upriding tests. The Apollo spacecraft actually had two stable positions once it was in the water. Stable one was Apex up. This meant that the astronauts inside would be lying comfortably on their back. This was, of course, the ideal position when waiting for recovery crews to come and collect the spacecraft. The stable two position on the other side was Apex down, meaning that the astronauts inside would be hanging by their shoulder straps rather uncomfortably. So boilerplate spacecraft were used to make sure that the bags in the Apex of the command module could inflate when submerged and help write the spacecraft from Apex down to Apex up, basically from stable two to stable one. Boilerplates 25 and 29 were used, among others, for these kinds of water recovery and flotation tests. There were also boilerplate spacecraft launched on very specific missions to test very specific elements of flying through space. Boilerplate 9 contained the Pegasus meteoroid satellite when it was launched in July of 1965. And some boilerplates were just launched into space to check out the mating between the spacecraft and the launch vehicle. Boilerplate 13 was launched in May of 1964 as the payload on a Saturn I rocket. This was the SA-6, not AS or Apollo-Saturn-6 mission, but it was an orbital flight to check out the Apollo-Saturn launch configuration, and it was a success. But boilerplates weren't used exclusively for structural testing. A fair number were used for training astronauts in advance of their missions. Boilerplate 1102A was made of aluminum and covered in a bronze epoxy paint to simulate the look of a real command module after splashdown. It was also fitted with a mock interior and was complete with an actual command module hatch. This was used for egress training for crews, both practicing routine and emergency exits from the spacecraft. So this quick rundown of just a few types of boilerplate tests really shows the variety that these models were used for when training not only astronauts but also NASA engineers and flight controllers and recovery crews on how to really deal with all the complexities involved in going to the moon. So are there any boilerplate missions that you guys have heard about that you would like to know more details about specifically? Because one of the ones that I feel like you guys are going to ask me about is the Pegasus meteoroid satellites. So I'm going to take that on in its own video. If you have other questions about training for Apollo or boilerplate spacecraft, definitely leave them in the comment section below, as well as any other topics you would like to see covered in future episodes. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and on Instagram for daily vintage-based content, and with new videos going up right here every single week. 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