Posted on 11/10/2008 10:04:11 PM PST by B-Chan
November 9, 1967, T-minus 8.9 seconds: Thousands of gallons of kerosene and liquid oxygen begin coursing through the giant center F1 rocket engine: The Saturn V's ignition sequence has begun. Next, two outer engines are lit, followed 300 milliseconds later by the other two, ignited in pairs to avoid toppling the 364-foot rocket above. Nine seconds after all five engines go to full thrust, the first Saturn V rocket begins to lift from the launchpad, taking the unmanned Apollo 4 check-out module into space.
The launch was flawless. Forty-one years ago to the day, the Saturn V became the biggest, tallest, largest-payload rocket ever to be sent into space. Even more amazingly, it still is.
If you talk about the Moon landings, some people remember Armstrong and Aldrin landing on the moon, and may think of the photo of that famous footprint, or the planting of the flag. I choose to remember the rocket that enabled it all, the Saturn V, a pretty shocking mechanical masterpiece all by itself.
Nearly everything about it is monumental in scale and historic in importance...
I was born a few years after the first Moon landing, but the Saturn Vs fired my young imagination. Ditto for Skylab and the Shuttle, but there has always been something special about the Saturn V.
I ran out of adjectives 37 years ago....
I still count it as one of the highlights of my life.
Sevearl years back met Al Worden, the Apollo 15 pilot. He has some fantastic stories about life in space.
Here’s a bunch you did NOT know about the US Space program...
http://www.allpar.com/history/military/missiles.html
You never knew that Chrysler was a huge part of why our space program was successful. Chrysler’s enormous and dedicated engineering departments played a critical role.
I grew up in Orlando and, from the backyard, I saw most of the Mercury and Gemini launches that were on clear days. They appeared as distant bright streaks climbing in the sky. When the massive Saturn V rocket though was launched, the rocket itself and a large tail of fire were visible from Orlando. The last booster stage separation could even be seen some 150 miles away.
Great post and video, thanks. I never had the privelege of seeing a launch other than on TV but the Saturn V launches were outstanding.
BTTT.
“...a pretty shocking mechanical masterpiece all by itself.”
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I don’t know about “shocking”, but the magnificent Saturn V remains among the most distinguished of mankind’s engineering triumphs.
I am truly sorry that my children did not grow up as I did in such inspiring times. An era when the country’s bravest and brightest, without concern for “feelings’ and “diversity” were balls out to scratch, ever so slightly, into the the surface of God’s creation.
Bump
We should still be building, upgrading and flying the Saturn V.
The shuttle program is a pale substitute and it has saved no money.
But but but but we’ve scrapped the tooling and don’t even know how to build a Saturn V, nor can we start over from scratch. We just don’t have the capability anymore! </mind numbing stupidity>
I went to the NASA museum back in 2004, the Saturn V was indoors suspended from an enormous frame so that you could walk under it, it was absolutely mind boggling.
That is the best amateur video I have ever come across on YouTube. The archive footage and music are beautifully matched.
The slow motion film is awe-inspiring because you see the physical reality of a 7 million pound skyscraper being lifted up by flames.
What’s also mind boggling is that this machine was designed in the late 1950s, scant ten years after the end of WWII.
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