Mar 18

Space Rocket History #105 – Saturn’s First Flight – SA-1 – Part 2

No previous maiden launch had gone flawlessly, and the Saturn C-1 was considerably more complicated than any rocket launched thus far. Launch Operations Directorate officials gave the rocket a 75% chance of getting off the ground, and a 30% chance of completing the eight-minute flight…

LC-34 Block House Control Room

LC-34 Block House Control Room

Abe Silverstein, Director of Space Flight

Abe Silverstein, Director of Space Flight

Liftoff or Saturn SA-1

All Eight Engines Firing and Liftoff of Saturn SA-1

Saturn SA-1 on Launch Pad 34

Saturn SA-1 on Launch Pad 34

Saturn SA-1 Leaving the Pad

Saturn SA-1 Leaving the Pad

Saturn SA-1  in Flight.

The First Saturn (SA-1) in Flight.

The Michoud Facility near New Orleans

The Michoud Facility near New Orleans

Ground Breaking at MSC

Ground Breaking at MSC

Mar 12

Space Rocket History #104 – Saturn’s First Flight – SA-1 – Part 1

Just as launch complex 34 dwarfed its predecessors, Saturn’s checkout represented a new magnitude in launch operations. The Saturn C-1 stood three times higher, required six times more fuel, and produced ten times more thrust than the Jupiter. Its size, was only a part of the challenge to the Launch Operations Directorate at Cape Canaveral…

Early Concepts of C-1 and C5

Early Concepts of C-1 and C5

First Horizontal Mating of Saturn

First Horizontal Mating of Saturn

Configuration of Saturn Block 1 and 2

Configuration of Saturn Block 1 and 2

Test of the Palaemon Barge

Test of the Palaemon Barge

Booster Movement around Wheeler Dam

Booster Movement around Wheeler Dam

S-I & S-IV Stages Aboard Compromise Barge

S-I & S-IV Stages Aboard Barge

Route of the Barge from Tenn. to Fla.

Route of the Barge from Tenn. to Fla.

Unloading Barge in Florida

Unloading Barge in Florida

Lifting Saturn SA-1 First Stage

Lifting Saturn SA-1 First Stage

Hoisting Saturn SA-1 First Stage

Hoisting Saturn SA-1 First Stage

Erecting the Upper Stages of Saturn SA-1

Erecting the Upper Stages of Saturn SA-1

Launch Complex 34 from the Air

Launch Complex 34 from the Air

Aug 14

Space Rocket History #75 – Luna 10, Surveyor 1, and Lunar Orbiter 1 – Scouting the Moon

In the 1960s, during the cold war, the US and Soviet Union turned their attention to the moon. The question was, who could place a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth first? Obtaining the necessary data on the moon to risk sending a person there was crucial. The US and Soviet Union chose unmanned spacecraft to scout for this information…

Luna 10

Luna 10

Surveyor 1 Mockup

Surveyor 1 Mockup

S1 with Atlas-Centar

Surveyor 1 Launch

Suv Foot Pad on Moon

S 1 Foot Pad on Moon

Suv Shadow on Moon

S 1 Shadow on Moon

Lunar Orbiter 1

Lunar Orbiter 1

First View of Earth from Moon

First View of Earth from Moon