Saturn V

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The Saturn V was an American heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. It was also used to launch the Skylab space station. The Saturn V was the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational status and remains the only launch vehicle to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit.

Design and Development[edit | edit source]

The Saturn V was developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with contributions from various aerospace contractors. The rocket was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun, a former German rocket scientist who had been brought to the United States under Operation Paperclip.

Stages[edit | edit source]

The Saturn V had three stages:

S-IC first stage: Built by Boeing, it was powered by five F-1 engines and used RP-1 (refined kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as propellants.
S-II second stage: Built by North American Aviation, it was powered by five J-2 engines and used liquid hydrogen (LH2) and LOX.
S-IVB third stage: Built by Douglas Aircraft Company, it was powered by a single J-2 engine and also used LH2 and LOX.

Apollo Missions[edit | edit source]

The Saturn V was used in 13 launches, including the Apollo 11 mission, which landed the first humans on the Moon. Other notable missions include Apollo 8, the first manned mission to orbit the Moon, and Apollo 13, which suffered an in-flight emergency but returned safely to Earth.

Skylab[edit | edit source]

The final use of the Saturn V was to launch the Skylab space station in 1973. Skylab was the United States' first space station and was occupied by three crews during its operational life.

Legacy[edit | edit source]

The Saturn V remains a symbol of human space exploration and engineering prowess. It is displayed in various museums, including the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.