For such a revolutionary machine, its birth was both short and frighteningly complicated. Born of chaosīut what is truly remarkable about the Saturn V is the story behind it. Considering that NASA engineers and astronauts were always amazed every time one lifted off instead of blowing up on the pad, that's an incredible record. Out of 32 Saturn launches, not a single one ended in failure and not a single payload was lost. In addition, it is regarded by NASA as the first true space vehicle and is still the only one to send astronauts into deep space.Īnd there's more. The construction of the 13 Saturn Vs that flew, and their 19 smaller Saturn I and Saturn IB siblings, involved 20,000 private firms and over 300,000 people spread across the continental United States. Its F-1 first stage engine is the most powerful to go into service. If that isn't enough, it's also not only the largest liquid-fueled rocket, but the largest flying machine ever built. With a first stage thrust of 7,891,000 lb (35,101 kN), it could hurl a payload of 310,000 lb (140,000 kg) into low Earth orbit and 107,100 lb (48,600 kg) on a trajectory to the Moon.
It's also the heaviest rocket, weighing in at 6,540,000 lb (2,970,000 kg) and the most powerful ever to go into operation. Not only was it the key technology for possibly the biggest event since a fish decided to try leaving the ocean, but it racks up an amazing collection of records that hold to this day.Īt a height of 363 ft (110.6 m), the Saturn V is the tallest rocket, standing higher than the Statue of Liberty or the clock tower housing Big Ben. If you've ever visited one of the surviving Saturn Vs on display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida or the Johnson Space Center in Texas, you can understand that the moon rocket is a magnet for superlatives. Its birth is a story of brilliant technical innovation tinged with engineering conservatism, politics, in-fighting, and having to work on a project that no one had more than a hazy conception of until surprisingly late in the day. The skyscraper-sized rocket that made this possible is one of the most recognizable machines of the 20th century, but the building of the Saturn V wasn't that simple. On Jat 9:31 am EDT, the Florida landscape around the Kennedy Space Center shook as Apollo 11 lifted off on its historic mission to take the first astronauts the Moon.
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