project saturn fact sheet

8/3/2019 Project Saturn Fact Sheet

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The nat ion ' s goal of landing Argerican as t ronan ts on the moon withint h i s decade w i l l be accomplished t h o u g h %he Saturn project , i n whicht h r e e vers ions of the sa tu rn rocket, the l a r g e s t i n the free world, w i l lbe used, These thr ee major launch veh ic le s are th e Saturn I , Saturn Is,

The l a t t e r th r e e are designed and developed by Rocketdyne, a division ofNor th American Av ia tion , -1nc. The A-3 i s produced by Pr a t t and WhitneyDivision o f United Ai rc ra f t Corporat ion .

Management of the Saturn launch veh ic les and t h ei r propulsion systemsi s un der t h e d ir ec oro n of t he ~ a t i o h a l e ro n a u t i c b nd Spaee Administration'sGeorge C. Pmshall. Space Fl ig ht Center, Hun tsv ill e, Alabama,

The Sa turn launch ve hi cl e fami ly ,of t hr ee w i l l be employed i n Pro jec fApollo, which i s the next s t e p a f t e r Mercury and Gemini in t h e U, S. maxinedapace f l i g h t program. Apollo has the object ive of car ly ing th ree as-kronaufsfor . ear t h-or bi t ing miss ions , f l ig ht s in the v i c i n i ty of the moon, and alanding on the moon and re t urn t o ear th . The _ la t te r mission i s schedt~ledl a t e i n t h i s decade, according to NASA's present timetable,

1 .I . . L7 This following chrozzology of Pro jec t Satwn was

I - I N eonpiled by t h e Public Rela t ions DepoarLwwt ofb

. *:5. , -1; .G- I - , Rocketdyne, a d iv i s io n of North American Avi Ation,I : I IXPC.f rom publicatJ'..one of t h e National Aeronautics

- t .a,. I. and Space Ad.npinistration, .-"-. - mre -I


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Evolut ion o f t h e-- S a t u r ~md P r o k c %.--

In the spr ing o f l 957$ i l e ta i . led s tud i es were s t a r te d by Dr. Wernhervon 13raan1s ro ck e t d.evel0pmen.t group a, t Bu nt sv il le , Alabama, on l a r g e ,cluster-engine roc!retr?. Thj s group, then working with the Army Ball i s t i cMissile Agency, submit ted t o th e Department of Defense a "Proposal fora Na ti on al In te g ra t ed 142ssile and Space Ve hic le Development Program."Thi s document in di ca te d the need fo r a bo os te r of 1,500,000 poundst h r u s t, /

I n J u ly , 1958, DsD1s Advanced Research P ro je ct s A ge ~c y xpresse di n t e r e s t i n a c l u s t e r ed b o os te r o f 1,500.,000 pounds t h r a n l i h a t wonlduse rock c t eng ines a l r eady tes te d and of p roven re l i ab i l i t y . OnAugw t 15, 1958, ARP4 Order 14-59 fo r laa l ly i n i t i a te d wha-t wss t o becomethe Sn twn pro jec t by au thor iz ing a r esearch and deve lopnen t program of a1,500,000-pound-thrust boo sLer ro ck et based. on the c lu st e re d engine

A s an i m e d i a t e s t ep toward d.evelopment af the clusterecl boos-ter , aco n t r ac t was awarded Itocke tilp.e on September 11, 1958, t o u .p ra te the Thor -J u p i t e r e ng in e. A f t e r r e de s ig n , si m p l i f i c at i o n ; a ~ d od; f i c a t i ox~ , heengine w a s de si gn at ed th e 11-1. Be for e th e end of t h e year , the H-1 enginewas s t a t i c te s t e d a t f u l l power.

Con curr entl y with t he development program o f t h e II-1 e ng in e, s-budieswere conduc ted to de te rmine the feas ib i l i ty 010 b u i ld in g a l a r g e s ing le -chamber rocket engine capable of prodncing very high th rns t . On Janumy 9 ,1959, n mutrac- t was n \ ~a r c i&d oeketd.yne t o desi gn , develop and t e s t such anengine, desigma te d the F-I.* - more -


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On November 18, 1959, P,echnical di re ct io n of t he Saturn pro je ct west r a n s f e ~ s e d rom t h e Depar tmera t of Defense to NASA and on tJuly 1, 1960,the lluntsvi1le dcvelopmezllt group was transferred lx MSAVsnewly-es-tablisbed Ffarshakl Spa c c Fl i gh t Center .

I n ea r l y 1962 , NASA decided to develop a much la rg er Satu rn, the V ,as th e Ayollo moon ro ck et , s i ~ c ehe I w i l l not be capable of placing men

0. -on the moon, In mid-1962, NASA decided t o pu t t oge the r a socket with acapa bil i ky be-t ,veec t h a t of the 1 and the V , t o be composed of t he f i r s tstage o f %he 1 and the t h i r d sta ke of the V,

The Sntuxxl 1 v e h i c l e bas two stages Imo-mi a s t h e S-% end S-W.Chrysler CorporaLion is the prime contractor f o r t he S-l s t age , DouglasAirc ra f t Co rpo ra t ion i s the pr ime con trac t or for the S-117 stage,T h e S-1 i s .81,6 f e e t h igh and has a d i ~ m e t e r f 21.6 fe e% , I t i s

powered by a c l u s t e r of ei gh t Rocke.ldync? 11-1 e ~ g i a e s ,each o f w h ic h w i l lultinzately prodiice 3188,000 pounds o f t h m s $ ta give a t o t a l s ta ge t h r r ~ s lo f l , 5 O O , O O O pounds -- eq ui va le nt t o 32,000,000 horsepower, The R-lengine , an advanced a d ompact of f sp ri ng of Roclretdyne 's J u p i t e r and Tharengines , was s e l e c t e d because of i t s r e l a t i v e s i m p l i c i t y , ea,rby w n i i f a b i l i t yan6 proven rel iabil . i - ty , I t burns W-3. (kern sene) f u e l and l i q u i d oxygen.

The f i r s t s e v e r a l Saturn I f l i g h t boosters were produced a t t h eMarshall Space Fl igh t Center . Later ones w i l l be produced by Chry~l . e rCorpor8tion a t NASA's li3chou.d Oper atio ns pl an t, New Orleans, Louisiarm,- more -


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The S-IV second s h g e e f the Saturn I i s 40 f e e t in l eng th and 18 f ee ti n diameter. I t s cle.ael.opr!lru-t w a s begun f,-ct.o years ago by the DouglasA i r c r a f t l i j s s i l e s and Spnce Division in Santa bionica, Cs li fo mi a,

The S-IV s t a g e i s poxarered by s i x l'j,O00-pound-tflrust RT1-104-3 l i q x i dhydrogen-liquid oxygen engines, developed by P r at t and Whitney Divisi onof United Aircra f t Corporation, for a t o t a l s ta ge t h r u s t o f 90,000 pounds.

The S-IV i s i n advanced development by Douglas. The f i r s t "l iv enS-rims flown in ib l a s t hall" of 1963,

The Saturn J w i l l be capzble of la unchi ng about 20,000 pounds i n t o alo-hr-earth orbit. T t w i l l be used to p lace the tbree-aaq Apollo spac ecraf ti n t o e a r t h o r b i t o f up to Lwo weelrs duration.

T o d a t e , the S-T sLage h a s been f l i g h t t e s t e d f o ur t i me s T J ~%h d -wg i .upper s - tnge s and oncp with a n operating second stage a t Cape IC@nnt\dy,F l o r i d a , These Lal~acheswere om October 27, 3.961, A p r i l 2 5 , 1962,November 16, 1952, November 28, 1%3 and January 29, 1964. The fivep e r f e c t flights were dcs ipp - ted SA-I, SA-2, Sk-3, SPA--?& B J I ~ A-5e,

A to ta l . o f t e n S a t w n J v e h i c l e s a r e t o be launched i n th e rcscarchand developmen t posbtion of t h e program. The f i r s t four in t h i s programsimulated three-stage r o cke ls , bu t on ly the first s t a ge w a s powered.Saturn I f l i g h t s wi th two Lir e s l age s began wi th %-5. Bo t h t h e l i v esecond stage and a dumy Apol1.0 sp ac ec ra ft were p lac ed i n e a r t h o r b i t ont h e $4-5 f l i @ t . Wfaile the primary purpose o f t h e f i r s t t ea f l i g h t s i s t oprove t h e veh ic le , f l i g h t SA-6 ~ n d eyond have secondary. nlissioms o ft e s t i n g e a t . 1 ~ ersio:ls of the Apal.Lo three4uan sgscecraf t .

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The Saturn I B , which w i l l be u sed t o t e s t the Apollo spacecraf t i nearth o r b i t , w i l l bc in t er i m s te p between the p resen t S a t w n I axid t heSahrrn V,

The f i r s t s t ag e o f the Saturn I w i l l be mated with t h e t h i r d of t h eSa-turn V to form t h e Sa tu rn XB, a veh icl e capable of orbili-ng 16 tons.The Saturn I B wi1.P place the ApolPo into e,wth o rb i t fo r aqual if i cat i ont e s t s , i n c l u d i ~ g he L r a n e f e r of tw o a s t ~ o n a u t s rom t h e com~anr9modulethe I tmar excursiori m o d e l . This malaeaves w i l l ~Lt~inrdte1.ye done i n lmaro r b i t i n p r e p m a t i o n fo; l.unar landing,

F i r s t s t a ge of the Saturn I D w i l l be powered by a c l u s t e r o f eigl1-tRocketdyne H-9: eazgines fat= a tioLal -t;3.zur;t o f 1,500,OCQ pcunds , Thesecond stage of- t he v eh i c l e wil l be pswc?p.ed by a s in g l e Rocfretdpc hydrogen-f u e l ed 5-2 engine devefopirrg 200,000 pounds of t h r u s t .

Saturn V-

T b e t h i r d and l a r g e s t l au nch v eh i cl e in' t he Srt-turn progrnB;.,.m s theS a t w a V, which will beeom th e workhorse of the. Apollo progaarn, I t will! .be composed of three s tage s , S-IC, S-I1 and S-TV13. Prime con-kactors f o rt h e s e s t ag es are a s follows: Boeing Company (s-Ic) , Space and InformationSystems Division of North American Avia t ion , Inc. (s - IT) , and Douglas

. Aircraft Company (s-NIB).The S-IC s t ag e s t and s 138 fe e t h igh , has a d i a m t e r o f 33 f e e t , and

will weigh ~ l e ~ w l y,000,000 pounds a t l i f k o f f . 1% w i l l be powered by aclusLer of f i v e Rocketdyne F-T en gi ne s f o r a t o t a l stag& tlmxsl of7,5C!9,000 pounds ( f i v e t imes t h a t of t.hs Saturn I ) ,


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The 1,500,000-pound-thsust F-l i s th e mast powerful known so ck et engi ne.F i r s t te s t of th e complete engine a t approximate f l i g h t durat ion of two anda ha l f minu tes a t i t s f u l l t1m1s-L of l , 5 O O , Q Q Q pounds occurred on May 26,1962, a t NASA's High Th ru st Te st Are a, Edwards, C al i f o r n i a ,

The F-I us es kerosene and l i q ~ l i d xygen 'as prope l lan t s . T h e f i r s tengine was de liv ere d to K A U by Rocketdymc in October, 3.963.

The S-IC s tage w i l l be assembled a t the NASA hlichoud Operations plant,New Orleans, Louisiana, S t a t i c te st in g w i l l be conducted a t .the NASAM is si s si p p i T es t F a c i l i t y , 35 mi le s ea s t of New Orle ans, and a t t h e NASAlh.ssha.ll. Space F l i g h t Cente r , I-luntsvill e , Alabcma,

The S-14: s t ag e of %he Saturn TJ i s 82 f e e t t a l l and 33 fe e t wide. Thisst ag e will. bc powered by a c lu s t e r of f i v e 200,000-pou~rl-Lhruat 1iquj.doxygen-hydrogen J-2 e n g i n ~ s , u i lL by Rocketdyne for s t o t a l s h g e t h r u s to f 1,008,000 palmds.

A major, mil est on e in th e development of th e 5-2 occrrrred October 4,1962, when it undervifent i t s f i r s t lo ng -d ur at io n s - t a t i c t e s t a t f u l l t h r u s t .The t e s t , which took plac e a t Rocketdyne's Pzropulsion Fi el d Lahora'ory, was

. a complete success w i t h a l l ob jec t ives aich.ieved. F i r s t de l ivery of a 5-2production engine simulator to NASA was made i .n 1963. The f i r s t f i r e a b l eproduction engine was d e l i v e r ed i n t he s p r in g of 1.964.

The S-11 i s the l ar ge s t hydrogen s tag e thus f a r a t tempted by th eUnites S ta t e s . I t c a r r i e s cl os e t o 1,000,000 pounds of l i qu id oxygen andl i qu id hydrogen f u e l . Suffi cj .e nt propulsive power can be obt ained i f onlyfour of the f i ve eng ines a re oper a t ive , The so-called engine-out c ap a bi li ty( i f one o f t h e engines f a i i s i a f l i g h t , a l l the p rope l lan t in '%be s t ag e w i l lbe eons~uned y the other engines with e a ~ s n t i a l l y o l a s s ixa pcr:formnce)

' g r e a t ly e ~ h n a c e s h e r e l i a b i l i t y o f t h e s L a g e . - more -


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The S-IVB s tage i s 21-i f e e t i n diameter and i s near ly 60 f e e t h igh ,Douglas was selected to develop and prochce the S-KB i n o rd er t o u t i l i z ethe same desiga concept and much of fne same t oo l ing end tes t equipmenta l ready b e i ~ g eveloped fo r the S-IV s tage , The S-IVB w i l l be powered bya s ing le 200,00f3--pouad-tlxk.ust J-2 hydrogen-fueled engine,

Tlle th re e- sl ag e Sa-turn V will s t a ~ d bout 350 f e e t high with payloadand escape tower, I t wi l l have a tak e-o ff weig ht of more tha n 6,000,000pounds, which 5s eyual t o the weight of about 25 fnll~r-loaded. 704 j e ta i r c r a f t , .

I t wi1.1 be able -to hur l in to a 300-mile earth. orbit about 220,000pounds - lmost the eq11ivalen-t o f one 707 a i r c r a f t . O n l y two s t ag e s w i l lbe used for ea.?*-t6hor b i ta l miss iopls, whereas th re e s ta ges wi l l be nasdedfox escape v e l o c i t y o r moon missions, The Sn twn V w i l l be ab ie t o h u r labout 90,080 pounds to escape ve lo ci ty and lunar o r b i t ,

The ult imate mission of $he Se,t.um V w i l l be t o l aunch the Apollos p a c e c r a f t i r l t o a l m a r o rb it . Descent to t he rnooa will then be made bytwo of tho t bzee a s t ronau t s in the 1m.m excu rs ion module (LEJ!),

Fl i gh t t e s t in g of the Sa turn V launch vehic le i s expected to s t a r tl a t e i n the mj.d-1960's. The f l i g h t t e s t p r o g r a m w i l l be an i n t e n s i v e onei n crdw t o d ev el op t h e h ig h r e l i a b i l i t y r eq ui re d f o r e a r t h o r b i t r e n d e z v o u sand s u b s e q ~ e a tL~mn r iissi o n s . The f i r s t rdanned circuralimar missions w i l lbe accomplished w i th Saturn V.

GHl l R e v . 03/06/6lr

project saturn fact sheet

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