16 July 1969, 16:16:16 UTC, T + 02:44:16.2

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This 1966 illustration depicts the J-2 engine of the S-IVB third stage firing to send the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. (NASA)
This 1966 illustration depicts the J-2 engine of the S-IVB third stage firing to send the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. (NASA)

16 July 1969: At 16:16:16 UTC, T+02:44:16.2, the Apollo 11 S-IVB third stage engine reignited for the Trans Lunar Injection maneuver.

One of the necessary features of the Rocketdyne J-2 engine was its ability to restart. The third stage was first used to place the Apollo 11 spacecraft into Earth orbit and was then shutdown. When the mission was ready to proceed toward the Moon, the J-2 was re-started. Using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for propellant, Apollo 11′s S-IVB burned for 5 minutes, 41.01 seconds, with the spacecraft reaching a maximum 1.45 Gs just before engine cut off. The engine was shut down at T+02:50:03.03. Trans Lunar Injection was at 16:22:13 UTC.

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes

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About Bryan Swopes

Bryan R. Swopes grew up in Southern California in the 1950s–60s, near the center of America's aerospace industry. He has had a life-long interest in aviation and space flight. Bryan is a retired commercial helicopter pilot and flight instructor.

3 thoughts on “16 July 1969, 16:16:16 UTC, T + 02:44:16.2”

  1. Shouldn’t it read either “restart” or “start a second time?” “restart a second time” implies that it restarts twice.

  2. This brings back memories. As a 14 year old, as the nation, I was glued in wonder to our 14-inch black and white TV as Walter Cronkite intoned about the significance of each spacecraft maneuver.

    Back then we enjoyed a shared experience of excitement, pride and unity. We deeply cared about the fate of our astronauts and the success of their mission. I learned more about physics in those TV reports than anything I got in the classroom.

    Today, the media only presents to us smug, lazy bias given to them by their political allies.

    To paraphrase General George Patton, how I hate the 21st century

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