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Saturn V
The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had three stages, and was powered by liquid fuel. Flown from 1967 to 1973, it was used for nine crewed flights to the Moon and to launch Skylab, the first American space station.
As of 2025,[update] the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The Saturn V holds the record for the largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit, 140,000 kg (310,000 lb), which included unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo command and service module and Lunar Module to the Moon.
The largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets, the Saturn V was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; the lead contractors for construction of the rocket were Boeing, North American Aviation, Douglas Aircraft Company, and IBM. Fifteen flight-capable vehicles were built, not counting three used for ground testing. A total of thirteen missions were launched from Kennedy Space Center, nine of which carried 24 astronauts to the Moon from Apollo 8 to Apollo 17.
In September 1945 German rocket technologist Wernher von Braun was brought, under contract, to the United States during Operation Paperclip. Operation Paperclip, authorized by President Truman, brought in over 1,600 German rocket engineers and technicians from former Nazi Germany after World War II to the United States for government employment. Von Braun, who had helped create the German V-2 rocket, was assigned to the United States Army Ordnance Corps at Fort Strong, Massachusetts, then at Fort Bliss, Texas. During his time at Fort Bliss, von Braun and his team were not given much to work with. In the first couple of months, the Germans were only given "primitive or aged" wooden workshops. They were not allowed to leave Fort Bliss without a military escort either. In 1950, von Braun remarked to Daniel Lang, a reporter at The New Yorker, "At Peenemünde we had been coddled, here you were counting pennies." However, he wrote books and articles in popular magazines, such as Collier's.
This approach changed in 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 atop an R-7 ICBM, which could carry a thermonuclear warhead to the U.S. The American Army and government began putting more effort towards sending Americans into space before the Soviets. The Army turned to von Braun's team, who had created the Jupiter series of rockets. The Juno I rocket launched the first American satellite in January 1958. Von Braun considered the Jupiter series of rockets to be a prototype of the upcoming Saturn series of rockets, and referred to it as "an infant Saturn".
The Saturn rocket family were named after the sixth planet from the Sun because the design of the various Saturn rockets evolved from the earlier Jupiter vehicles, which were named after the fifth planet from the Sun. Between 1960 and 1962, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) designed a series of Saturn rockets that could be deployed for Earth orbit and lunar missions. NASA planned to use a Saturn vehicle as part of the Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR) method for a lunar mission. Development on the Saturn C-3 rocket was just beginning when the MSFC planned an even bigger rocket, the Saturn C-4, which would use four F-1 engines in its first stage and five J-2 engines in its second stage.
On January 25, 1962, NASA gave its approval to build the C-5. The three-stage rocket would consist of the S-IC first stage, with five F-1 engines; the S-II second stage with five J-2 engines; and the S-IVB third stage, with a single J-2 engine. The C-5 would undergo component testing even before the first model was constructed. The S-IVB third stage would be used as the second stage for the C-1B, which would serve both to demonstrate proof of concept and feasibility for the C-5 and to provide flight data critical to the development of the C-5. Rather than undergoing testing for each major component, the C-5 would be tested in an "all-up" fashion, meaning that the first test flight of the rocket would include complete versions of all three stages. By testing all components at once, far fewer test flights would be required before a crewed launch. The C-5 was confirmed as NASA's choice for the Apollo program in mid-1962, and was named the Saturn V in February 1963. In the same month, the C designations were dropped; the C-1 became the Saturn I and C-1B became Saturn IB. By November 1962, NASA had switched to and confirmed a lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR) method for a lunar mission. The outside contractors that were chosen for the construction were: Boeing (S-IC), North American Aviation (S-II), Douglas Aircraft (S-IVB), and IBM (S-IU).
Early in the planning process, NASA considered three methods for the Moon mission: Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR), direct ascent, and lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR). A direct ascent configuration would require an extremely large rocket to send a three-man spacecraft to land directly on the lunar surface with enough fuel to fly back to Earth. NASA proposed the Nova for this method. An EOR would launch the direct-landing spacecraft in two smaller parts which would combine in Earth orbit. A LOR mission would involve a single rocket launching two spacecraft: a mother ship, and a smaller, two-man landing module which would rendezvous back with the main spacecraft in lunar orbit. The lander would be discarded and the mother ship would return home.
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Saturn V
The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had three stages, and was powered by liquid fuel. Flown from 1967 to 1973, it was used for nine crewed flights to the Moon and to launch Skylab, the first American space station.
As of 2025,[update] the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The Saturn V holds the record for the largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit, 140,000 kg (310,000 lb), which included unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo command and service module and Lunar Module to the Moon.
The largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets, the Saturn V was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; the lead contractors for construction of the rocket were Boeing, North American Aviation, Douglas Aircraft Company, and IBM. Fifteen flight-capable vehicles were built, not counting three used for ground testing. A total of thirteen missions were launched from Kennedy Space Center, nine of which carried 24 astronauts to the Moon from Apollo 8 to Apollo 17.
In September 1945 German rocket technologist Wernher von Braun was brought, under contract, to the United States during Operation Paperclip. Operation Paperclip, authorized by President Truman, brought in over 1,600 German rocket engineers and technicians from former Nazi Germany after World War II to the United States for government employment. Von Braun, who had helped create the German V-2 rocket, was assigned to the United States Army Ordnance Corps at Fort Strong, Massachusetts, then at Fort Bliss, Texas. During his time at Fort Bliss, von Braun and his team were not given much to work with. In the first couple of months, the Germans were only given "primitive or aged" wooden workshops. They were not allowed to leave Fort Bliss without a military escort either. In 1950, von Braun remarked to Daniel Lang, a reporter at The New Yorker, "At Peenemünde we had been coddled, here you were counting pennies." However, he wrote books and articles in popular magazines, such as Collier's.
This approach changed in 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 atop an R-7 ICBM, which could carry a thermonuclear warhead to the U.S. The American Army and government began putting more effort towards sending Americans into space before the Soviets. The Army turned to von Braun's team, who had created the Jupiter series of rockets. The Juno I rocket launched the first American satellite in January 1958. Von Braun considered the Jupiter series of rockets to be a prototype of the upcoming Saturn series of rockets, and referred to it as "an infant Saturn".
The Saturn rocket family were named after the sixth planet from the Sun because the design of the various Saturn rockets evolved from the earlier Jupiter vehicles, which were named after the fifth planet from the Sun. Between 1960 and 1962, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) designed a series of Saturn rockets that could be deployed for Earth orbit and lunar missions. NASA planned to use a Saturn vehicle as part of the Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR) method for a lunar mission. Development on the Saturn C-3 rocket was just beginning when the MSFC planned an even bigger rocket, the Saturn C-4, which would use four F-1 engines in its first stage and five J-2 engines in its second stage.
On January 25, 1962, NASA gave its approval to build the C-5. The three-stage rocket would consist of the S-IC first stage, with five F-1 engines; the S-II second stage with five J-2 engines; and the S-IVB third stage, with a single J-2 engine. The C-5 would undergo component testing even before the first model was constructed. The S-IVB third stage would be used as the second stage for the C-1B, which would serve both to demonstrate proof of concept and feasibility for the C-5 and to provide flight data critical to the development of the C-5. Rather than undergoing testing for each major component, the C-5 would be tested in an "all-up" fashion, meaning that the first test flight of the rocket would include complete versions of all three stages. By testing all components at once, far fewer test flights would be required before a crewed launch. The C-5 was confirmed as NASA's choice for the Apollo program in mid-1962, and was named the Saturn V in February 1963. In the same month, the C designations were dropped; the C-1 became the Saturn I and C-1B became Saturn IB. By November 1962, NASA had switched to and confirmed a lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR) method for a lunar mission. The outside contractors that were chosen for the construction were: Boeing (S-IC), North American Aviation (S-II), Douglas Aircraft (S-IVB), and IBM (S-IU).
Early in the planning process, NASA considered three methods for the Moon mission: Earth orbit rendezvous (EOR), direct ascent, and lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR). A direct ascent configuration would require an extremely large rocket to send a three-man spacecraft to land directly on the lunar surface with enough fuel to fly back to Earth. NASA proposed the Nova for this method. An EOR would launch the direct-landing spacecraft in two smaller parts which would combine in Earth orbit. A LOR mission would involve a single rocket launching two spacecraft: a mother ship, and a smaller, two-man landing module which would rendezvous back with the main spacecraft in lunar orbit. The lander would be discarded and the mother ship would return home.
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