Saturn V is the largest rocket booster ever built by the United States. A 3-stage, liquid-fueled launch vehicle, this rocket was designed to propel a crew of three astronauts and Apollo spacecraft on their way to the Moon. These giant rockets were used only 11 times-on Apollo missions 8 through 17 and for the Skylab Orbital Workshop. The Apollo-Saturn stack stood 110 meters (363 feet) high, and weighed 2,767,000 kilograms (6,100,000 pounds) at liftoff. The first stage (S-IC) was powered by a cluster of five F-1 engines developing a total of 33.4 million newtons (7.5 million pounds) of thrust at liftoff. J-2 engines provided propulsion for both upper stages (five on the S-II second stage, one on the S-IVB third stage). The Saturn series of rockets was developed under direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Saturn V and Launch Tower Model |
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