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“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
Apollo 5 Mission Patch
Lunar Module 1 delivered to the Cape
LM 1 mated to the spacecraft lunar module adapter
LM 1 inside adapter being hoisted to the booster
Apollo 5 on the launch pad
Apollo 5 lift off
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“…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 the roar is terrific!…” Walter Cronkite – Apollo 4 launch.
Apollo 4 mating of SC -017 with Saturn 501
Apollo 4 on Launch Pad
Apollo 4 the night before the launch
Apollo 4 lift off from LC-39A.
Apollo 4 leaves the launch pad
View of crescent Earth from Apollo 4.
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“The S-II stage was a nightmare the minute it was conceived, and it only got worse from there. During the course of its creation, it would grind up people and careers the way the transcontinental railway devoured laborers. Though the methods and materials used to build the S-II were reasonably well known, nobody had ever tried to apply them on such a titanic scale. Originally, it was to be somewhere around 8 stores tall with a diameter of 22 feet, but the width ballooned from there to 27 feet before the contract was even signed, then to 30, and finally to 33 feet. And all the while as the size of thing increased, NASA was trimming the allowable weight.” Harrison Storms of NAA.
Test firing of S-II Stage in Mississippi
Saturn V S-II Second Stage
Saturn S-II Assembly Bldg at Seal Beach.
S-II during stacking operations in the VAB
S-II Inboard Profile in 1963
S-II Cut-away with callouts
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The structural efficiency of the S-II stage, in terms of the weight and pressures taken by its extra-thin walls, was comparable only to the capacity of one of nature’s most refined examples of structural efficiency, the egg.
Saturn S-II Stage Diagram
Saturn S-II Stage Exploded View
Saturn S-II Cut-Away Drawing
