1967

Saturn V Rocket

The Saturn V rocket screams “engineering!” From its ridiculous size to its brute force power to the mission it helped accomplish, it is the most amazing rocket ever created. It holds a number of records, including its 260,000-pound (117,934 kilogram) payload capacity to low Earth orbit.

How could engineers create something this stupendous given the technology available at the time? Most engineers were still using slide rules as this rocket was conceptualized. And how did they create it so quickly? In 1957, the United States had never successfully launched anything into orbit. Yet in 1967 this colossus headed into orbit with ease.

One key was the F-1 engine. Engineers started its development for an Air Force project several years before NASA even existed—a fortunate coincidence. It meant the engine was tested and running smoothly before actually needed. The F-1 is the largest single engine ever created, with a thrust rating of 1.5 million pounds (6.8 meganewtons). Putting five F-1s together on the first stage created 7.6 million pounds of thrust. Which is a good thing because, fully fueled and loaded with payload, the whole rocket weighed about 6.5 million pounds (3,000,000 kg). To launch the rocket, each engine burned almost one million pounds (450,000 kg) of kerosene and liquid oxygen in less than 3 minutes.

Once the first stage fell away, the remainder of the Saturn V was 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg) lighter, and the second and third stages took the payload the rest of the way to orbit burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

At the top of the third stage rested an essential component—a ring called the Instrument Unit. At almost 22 feet (7 meters) in diameter, 3 feet (1 meter) high and weighing 2 tons, this ring contained the computers, radios, monitoring equipment, radar, batteries, and other systems to control the three stages during flight and to communicate with ground control. The microprocessor did not exist yet, so the brain here was a custom-made, triple redundant IBM minicomputer.

Engineers created this disposable behemoth to send men to the moon, and then used it to loft Skylab as well. A true engineering wonder.

SEE ALSO Lunar Landing (1969), Space Suit (1969), Microprocessor (1971), Curiosity Rover (2012).

The Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) space mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.