THE SATURN V

INTRODUCTION

When the United States made the decision in 1961 to undertake a manned lunar landing effort as the focal point of a broad new space exploration pro­gram, there was no rocket in the country even approaching the needed capability. There was a sort of “test bed” in the making, a multi-engine vehicle now known as Saturn I. It had never flown. And it was much too small to offer any real hope of sending a trio to the moon, except possibly through as many as a half dozen separate launchings from earth and the perfection of rendezvous and docking techniques, which had never been tried.

That was the situation that brought about the an­nouncement on Jan. 10, 1962, that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration would de­velop a new rocket, much larger than any previously attempted. It would be based on the F-l rocket en­gine, the development of which had been underway since 1958, and the hydrogen-fueled J-2 engine, upon which work had begun in 1960.

The Saturn V, then, is the first large vehicle in the U. S. space program to be conceived and de­veloped for a specific purpose. The lunar landing task dictated the make-up of the vehicle, but it was not developed solely for that mission. As President Kennedy pointed out when he issued his space chal­lenge to the Congress on May 25, 1961, the overall objective is for “this Nation to take a clearly lead­ing role in space achievement which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth.” He said of the lunar landing project: “No single space pro­ject in this period will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space: and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish…”

The Saturn V program is the biggest rocket effort undertaken in this country. Its total cost, including the production of 15 vehicles between now and early 1970, will be above $7 billion.

NASA formally assigned the task of developing the Saturn V to the Marshall Space Flight Center on Jan. 25, 1962. Launch responsibility was committed to the Kennedy Space Center. (The Manned Space­craft Center, the third center in manned space flight, is responsible for spacecraft development, crew training, and inflight control.)

DESCRIPTION

Marshall Center rocket designers conceived the Saturn V in 1961 and early 1962. They decided that
a three-stage vehicle would best serve the immedi­ate needs for a lunar landing mission and would serve well as a general purpose space exploration vehicle.

One of the more important decisions made early in the program called for the fullest possible use of components and techniques proven in the Saturn I program. As a result, the Saturn V third stage (S-IVB) was patterned after the Saturn I second stage (S-IV). And the Saturn V instrument unit is an outgrowth of the one used on Saturn I. In these areas, maximum use of designs and facilities already avail­able was incorporated to save time and costs.

Many other components were necessary, including altogether new first and second stages (S-IC and S-II). The F-l and J-2 engines were already under development, although much work remained to be done. The guidance system was to be an improve­ment on that of the Saturn I.

Saturn V, including the Apollo spacecraft, is 364 feet tall. Fully loaded, the vehicle will weigh some

6.1 million pounds.

The 300,000-pound first stage is 33 feet in diameter and 138 feet long. It is powered by five F-l engines generating 7.5 million pounds thrust. The booster will burn 203,000 gallons of RP-1 (refined kerosene) and 331,000 gallons of liquid oxygen (LOX) in 2.5 minutes.

Saturn V’s second stage is powered by five J-2 engines that generate a total thrust of a million pounds. The 33-foot diameter stage weighs 95,000 pounds empty and more than a million pounds loaded. It burns some 260,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and

83.0 gallons of liquid oxygen during a typical 6- minute flight.

Third stage of the vehicle is 21 feet and 8 inches in diameter and 58 feet and 7 inches long. An inter­stage adapter connects the larger diameter second stage to the smaller upper stage. Empty weight of the stage is 34,000 pounds and the fueled weight is

262.0 pounds. A single J-2 engine developing up to 225,000 pounds of thrust powers the stage. Typi­cal burn time is 2.75 minutes for the first burn and

5.2 minutes to a translunar injection.

The vehicle instrument unit sits atop the third stage. The unit, which weighs some 4,500 pounds, contains the electronic gear that controls engine ig­nition and cutoff, steering, and all other commands necessary for the Saturn V mission. Diameter of the instrument unit is 21 feet and 8 inches, and height is 3 feet.

Directly above the instrument unit in the Apollo

configuration is the Apollo spacecraft. It consists of the lunar module, the service module, the com­mand module, and the launch escape system. Total height of the package is about 80 feet.