[NCC-1701]

During the period that NASA flew operational flights during Apollo, it always amazes me how few problems were involved that would impact crew safety. Out of the fourteen Saturn V flights, only three engines went out early, two J-2 second stage engines on Apollo 6 and one J-2 second stage engine on Apollo 13. Beyond that, everything worked with near perfection. There were literally millions of parts in all those launch vehicles and THEY ALL WORKED.
A true testament to the Spirit of Apollo. Every single person involved with the planning, execution, administering, and flying did a job that today would be hard to duplicate. There is no national will to do that job again. And that is sad. Unlike Makayla of the 2012 US Women’s Olympic Team, I AM IMPRESSED. Reading the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal today, it is amazing how everything worked. NASA of the day, you did good.

[cripplecreek]

As fa as I'm concerned, these guys were heroes just as surely as the guys at the tip of the spear.

[chimera]

Even with those J-2 engine failures the vehicle was still able to perform its function. Apollo 13 made orbit pretty much as planned. Apollo 6 was a bit dicier but still made it into orbit against the odds. I recall reading that the controllers thought the vehicle would tumble if it lost two adjacent engines, but it remained stable and controllable. What gummed up Apollo 6 was the failure of the third stage J-2 to reignite after its initial burn. So that may also have to be included on the failure list. Still, an impressive record of reliability and performance.