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Episodes Tagged with "Rp 1"

Posted on March 5, 2015

Many historians agree, the U.S. took its first step toward the moon in the spring of 1957, four years before President Kennedy declared the national goal of landing a man on the Moon, and returning him safely to the Earth. While still preparing for t...

12-Second stage (S-IV)

11-Booster stage (S-I)

10-Proposed C-2

9-C-1 and earlier vehicles

8-Model of blockhouse at Launch Complex 34

7-Vehicles using Titan and Atlas stages

6-Saturn C

5-Saturn B

4-Preliminary concept of Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral

3-Early H-1 Engine

2-Thor-Jupiter engine

1-Proposed configuration of a clustered booster

Posted on March 12, 2015

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 si...

Lifting the first stage from the transporter

Hoisting the stage in vertical attitude

Erecting the upper stages

Early design concepts of C-1 and C-5 versions of the Saturn launch vehicles

16-Unloading Compromise in Florida

15-S-I and S-IV stages aboard the Compromise

14-Booster movement around Wheeler Dam

11-Launch Complex 34

10-Configurations of Saturn flight vehicles

9-Saturn Barge route

7-Six-engine configuration of the S-IV stage

6-Redesigned tail of the Saturn booster

5- The barge Palaemon

3-First horizontal mating of the Saturn vehicle

2-Movement of dummy S-IV stage to checkout

Posted on March 18, 2015

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...

To assemble the large Saturns, NASA needed a plant, preferably one already built. The Michoud facility (above), close to New Orleans, suited the requirements

Saturn_SA1_on_launch_pad

Modules of the Apollo spacecraft were tested in Florida in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building. Above, NASA officials Walt Williams, Merritt Preston, Kurt Debus, Brainerd Holmes, and Wernher von Braun

Maiden launch of the Apollo program- Saturn SA-1 from Cape Canaveral, 27 October 1961

First Saturn Launch

Liftoff of Saturn I. Note the long cable mast falling away on the right

mySuperLamePic_c001b3d7f61bec278243523bf2e79253

Abe Silverstein, NASA’s Director of Space Flight Development, is shown touring a rocket engine facility

1-Launch Complex 34, blockhouse interior

Posted on July 9, 2015

The key to high-energy stages was to use liquid hydrogen as the fuel.  Liquid hydrogen fuel appealed to rocket designers because of its high specific impulse, which is a basic measure of rocket performance. Specific Impulse is the impulse delivered p...

4-SIV-SIVB

3-Saturn 1b-V

2-Cutaways

1- SIV_rocket_stage

Posted on February 11, 2016

“…our building’s shaking here. Our building’s shaking! Oh it’s terrific, the building’s shaking! This big blast window is shaking! We’re holding it with our hands! Look at that rocket go into the clouds at 3000 feet!…you can see it…you can see it…oh ...

6-A crescent Earth, as photographed from Apollo 4

5-apollo4_launch

4-Apollo 4 unmanned mission lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center

3-Apollo_4_on_the_night_before_launch,_Kennedy_Space_Center,_Florida,_1967

2-Apollo 4 on launch pad 39

1-apollo 4 mating

Posted on February 18, 2016

“The fire-in-the-hole abort was the most critical test of the mission and one we had to accomplish successfully prior to a manned mission.” Gene Kranz – Flight Director Apollo 5

6-Apollo5 Launch

5-Apollo_5_on_pad with Saturn 1B

4-Lem inside adapter hoisted

3-Lunar Module 1 being mated to the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter in preparation for launch as Apollo 5

2-LM1Delivered to the Cape

1-Apollo 5 Mission Patch

Posted on February 25, 2016

The success of Apollo 4 gave good reason to believe that the Saturn V could be trusted to propel men into space. But NASA pushed on with its plans for a second unmanned booster flight, primarily to give the Pad 39 launch team another rehearsal before...

5-Apollo-6-1968-04-04

4-Apollo 6’s interstage falling away

3-Apollo6fireyExhaustPlume

2-Apollo_6_launch

1-The Lunar Module Test Article (LTA-2R) is being moved for mating with the spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter

0-apollo-6-final_0