Sunday, June 1, 2014

Saturn V






































I grew up in the 1960's and the space program at that time was a source of wonder and amazement for me.  Looking back on it now, its hard to believe the audacity of the Apollo moon program.  The project had the full support and funding of the federal government and its success was a point of pride for most Americans, and humanity in general.

The Saturn V rocket was designed to take humans to the moon and back.  Between 1967 and 1973, 13 Saturn V's were launched successfully, with the notable exceptions being problems encountered during the launch of Apollo 6 (unmanned test flight), and of course the Apollo 13 ruptured oxygen tank ("Houston, we have a problem") incident.  Despite those miscues, there was no loss of crew or payload on any Saturn V mission.

To this day, the Saturn V rocket remains the most powerful machine ever made by mankind, and remains a tribute to the ingenuity and genius of its designers.










































































































FunctionCrewed LEO and Lunar launch vehicle
ManufacturerBoeing (S-IC)
North American (S-II)
Douglas (S-IVB)
Country of originUnited States
Size
Height363.0 feet (110.6 m)
Diameter33.0 feet (10.1 m)
Mass6,200,000 pounds (2,800,000 kg)[1]
Stages3
Capacity
Payload to
LEO
260,000 pounds (120,000 kg)[1]
Payload to
TLI
100,000 pounds (45,000 kg)
Associated rockets
FamilySaturn
DerivativesSaturn INT-21
ComparableN1 rocket
Launch history
StatusDecommissioned
Launch sitesLC-39Kennedy Space Center
Total launches13 (including INT-21)[2]
Successes11
Failures0
Partial failures1 (Apollo 6)
First flightNovember 9, 1967 (SA-501)
Last flightDecember 6, 1972
(May 14, 1973 - INT-21)[2]
First Stage - S-IC
Length138.0 feet (42.1 m)
Diameter33.0 feet (10.1 m)
Empty mass288,000 pounds (131,000 kg)
Gross mass5,000,000 pounds (2,300,000 kg)
EnginesRocketdyne F-1
Thrust7,648,000 pounds-force (34,020,000 N)
Specific impulse263 sec (2580 N-s/kg)
Burn time150 seconds
FuelRP-1/LOX
Second Stage - S-II
Length81.5 feet (24.8 m)
Diameter33.0 feet (10.1 m)
Empty mass80,000 pounds (36,000 kg)
Gross mass1,060,000 pounds (480,000 kg)
EnginesRocketdyne J-2
Thrust1,000,000 pounds-force (4,400,000 N)
Specific impulse421 sec (4130 N-s/kg)
Burn time360 seconds
FuelLH2/LOX
Third Stage - S-IVB
Length61.6 feet (18.8 m)
Diameter21.7 feet (6.6 m)
Empty mass23,000 pounds (10,000 kg)[citation needed]
Gross mass266,400 pounds (120,800 kg)
EnginesRocketdyne J-2
Thrust225,000 pounds-force (1,000,000 N)
Specific impulse421 sec (4130 N-s/kg)
Burn time165 + 335 seconds
(2 burns)
FuelLH2/LOX