HUNTSVILLE FACILITIES

New Saturn V facilities built at the Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Ala., include the first stage static test stand, an F-l engine test stand, the Saturn V launch vehicle dynamic test stand, a J-2 engine facility, and ground support and component test positions.

The Marshall Center has completed a $39 million addition to its Test Laboratory for captive testing the Saturn V booster and F-l engines. The Test Laboratory addition is called the West Test Area. The largest structure in the area is the first stage test stand. Completed in 1964, the stand has an overall height of 405 feet.

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Growth at Huntsville—The growth of rocket testing facilities at the Marshall Space Flight Center is contrasted here by the size of the first Redstone Arsenal test stand, second from left, and stands at right built for the Saturn V program.

The nearby single engine test stand is being used for research and development tests of the 1.5 million pound thrust F-l engine.

Control and monitoring equipment for the first stage and F-l engine stands is located in the area’s central blockhouse. Water needed to cool the flame deflectors of the two stands is pumped from a near­by high-pressure industrial water station.

The 365-foot tall Saturn V launch vehicle was placed in another unique Marshall Center test facility — the Dynamic Test Stand. Testing of the complete three stage vehicle and its Apollo spacecraft here was done to determine its bending and vibration characteristics. Tallest of Marshall Center’s tall towers, the dynamic test stand is 98 feet square.

Several tests of the liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen powered engine have been conducted during the past year in Marshall’s J-2 engine test facility. Tank­age for the facility is a battleship version of the Saturn V third stage. The J-2 engine stand is 156 feet tall and has a base of 34 by 68 feet. It is located in the MSFC’s East Test Area.

Vibration Version – A ground test version of the Saturn V first stage moves through the West Test Area of the Marshall Space Flight Center. The large dynamic test stage was built to undergo vibration and bending tests. Test stand at right Is a single F-l engine facility.

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Positioning—A Saturn V first stage is placed into a test stand at Marshall Space Flight Center.

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SATURN V NEWS REFERENCE

A portion of the Kennedy Space Center “spaceport” has been created at the Marshall Center’s ground support equipment test facility to check out giant mechanical swing arms which will be used on Launch Complex 39 to connect the Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle to the launcher tower. The 18-acre facility has eight swing arm test positions and one position for testing access arms to be used by Apollo astro­nauts.

Also built at Marshall are an F-l engine turbopump position in the East Test Area and a load test facil­ity in the Propulsion and Vehicle Engineering Lab­oratory.

A new Saturn V rocket “electrical simulator” or breadboard facility at the Marshall Center dupli­cates the electrical operation of the vehicle. Ele­ments simulated include the first stage booster, second stage, third stage, and an instrument unit.

Other Saturn V facilities at the Marshall Center include a booster checkout area, two new assembly areas and a components acceptance building.

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