The Saturn V was the rocket that launched the first human missions to the Moon. It also launched Skylab, the first space station to be launched by the United States.
It was huge. Its height was 364 feet (111 m). That's the height of over 60 people, each six feet tall.
It was a three-stage rocket. The first stage (the bottom one) used highly refined kerosene for fuel whereas the second and third stages used liquid hydrogen. All three stages used liquid oxygen as an oxidizer. (Exception: The Skylab flight had only two stages.)
When fully loaded, the Saturn V weighed 6.5 million pounds. That's the weight of about 24 blue whales. The first stage could lift 7.5 million pounds (so it was able to lift the rocket off the ground).
The first Saturn V launch (Apollo 4) was on November 9, 1967 and the last (Skylab) was on May 14, 1973. There were 13 launches in total. None of them ended in catastrophe.
There are three Saturn V rockets currently on display in the United States, all horizontally (at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Johnson Space Center in Texas, and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama).
The Saturn V rocket on display at the International Spaceflight Museum is displayed vertically.
There is a popular myth that NASA lost, gave away, or destroyed all the blueprints for the Saturn V. In reality, all plans are available on microfilm at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.
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Author(s): Troy McLuhan (unknown date prior to 2007 December 31)
