THROWBACKTHISDAY, FEB 26; Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket

AS-201 (or SA-201), flown February 26, 1966, was the first unmanned test flight of an entire production Block I Apollo Command/Service Module and the Saturn IB launch vehicle.

The spacecraft consisted of the second Block I command module and the first Block I service module. The suborbital flight was a partially successful demonstration of the service propulsion system and the reaction control systems of both modules, and successfully demonstrated the capability of the Command Module's heat shield to survive re-entry from low Earth orbit.

THROWBACKTHISDAY; makes it 50 years and TBT Blog remembers.