AEDC was essential to Apollo program

A surplus Saturn V rocket hangs in the Davidson Center For Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (T-G Photo by John I. Carney)

This display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, mentions the testing done at AEDC. (T-G Photo by John I. Carney)

A scale model of the Apollo command and service modules is tested in von Kármán Gas Dynamic Facility 50-inch wind tunnel in 1962. This test would one of AEDC’s many efforts supporting Project Apollo.  (U.S. Air Force photo)

A shadowgram taken during a free-flight reentry test shows the shockwave generated as a scale model of the Apollo capsule travels in the normal reentry flight position. These scale models were launched at speeds of 4,300 to 6,600 miles per hour at simulated altitudes of more than 100,000 feet. The tests were carried out at Hypervelocity Ballistic Range G at Arnold Air Force Base in 1967, and the tests were done to substantiate reentry data.  (U.S. Air Force photo)

The importance of AEDC's motto "Test before flight" was on display at Arnold Air Force Base in 1964 when a nozzle proposed for the Apollo service module’s rocket engine crumpled shortly after ignition when tested under simulated high-altitude conditions in the Rocket Test Facility J-3 test cell. The engine before collapse is shown on the left, and the crumpled engine is shown on the right. Test data helped in the development of nozzles which withstood test firings. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The rocket motor for the Apollo service module is installed at the AEDC Rocket Test Facility J-3 test cell in 1966. This motor was test fired repeatedly in near-space conditions to help NASA qualify the system as man-rated for the flight to the moon.    (U.S. Air Force photo)

An early test of a scale model of the Saturn launch configuration is conducted in 1960 in the AEDC Propulsion Wind Tunnel 1-foot transonic test section at Arnold Air Force Base. This test would be one of AEDC's first efforts in supporting Project Apollo. The Apollo program would eventually put man on the moon for this first time with the July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 lunar landing. (U.S. Air Force photo)

E.N. Shelton prepares a scale model of the Apollo three-man capsule, with escape tower and jettison rocket attached, for aerodynamic testing in the von Kármán Gas Dynamic Facility 40-inch supersonic wind tunnel in 1962. Later testing established the need for canard control surfaces at the apex of the escape rocket.   (U.S. Air Force photo)

A 1/20 scale model of the Saturn launch vehicle is adjusted by D.W. Radford prior to testing in the 16-foot transonic wind tunnel at Arnold Air Force Base. This particular test examined base heating during the Saturn launch, and the testing resulted in changes to the turbine exhaust ports to reduce base heating. The Saturn V was the launch vehicle used to get crew of the Apollo 11 spaceflight to the moon. (U.S. Air Force photo)