S-IVB third stage

S-IVB third stage

The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. It had one J-2 engine and used the same fuel as the S-II. The S-IVB used a common bulkhead to insulate the two tanks. 
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It was 58 feet 7 inches (17.86 m) tall with a diameter of 21 feet 8 inches (6.604 m) and was also designed with high mass efficiency, though not quite as aggressively as the S-II. The S-IVB had a dry weight of about 23,000 pounds (10,000 kg) and, fully fueled, weighed about 262,000 pounds (119,000 kg).^[17] Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI Battery

The S-IVB-500 model used on the Saturn V differed from the S-IVB-200 used as the second stage of the Saturn IB, in that the engine was restartable once per mission. This was necessary as the stage would be used twice during a lunar mission: first in a 2.5 min burn for the orbit insertion after second stage cutoff, and later for the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn, lasting about 6 min. Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX Battery

Two liquid-fueled Auxiliary Propulsion System (APS) units mounted at the aft end of the stage were used for attitude control during the parking orbit and the trans-lunar phases of the mission. The two APSs were also used as ullage engines to settle the propellants in the aft tank engine feed lines prior to the trans-lunar injection burn. Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI Battery

The S-IVB was the only rocket stage of the Saturn V small enough to be transported by plane, in this case the Pregnant Guppy.

The Instrument Unit was built by IBM and rode atop the third stage. It was constructed at the Space Systems Center in Huntsville. Sony VAIO VPCEB20 Battery

This computer controlled the operations of the rocket from just before liftoff until the S-IVB was discarded. It included guidance and telemetry systems for the rocket. By measuring the acceleration and vehicle attitude, it could calculate the position and velocity of the rocket and correct for any deviations. Sony VAIO VPCEC20 Battery

Range safety

In the event of an abort requiring the destruction of the rocket, the range safety officer would remotely shut down the engines and after several seconds send another command for the shaped explosive charges attached to the outer surfaces of the rocket to detonate. Sony VAIO VPCEE20 Battery

These would make cuts in fuel and oxidizer tanks to disperse the fuel quickly and to minimize mixing. The pause between these actions would give time for the crew to escape using the Launch Escape Tower or (in the later stages of the flight) the propulsion system of the Service module. Sony VAIO VPCEF20 Battery

A third command, "safe", was used after the S-IVB stage reached orbit to irreversibly deactivate the self-destruct system. The system was also inactive as long as the rocket was still on the launch pad.^[18]

Comparisons

The Soviet counterpart of the Saturn V was the N-1 rocket. Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery

The Saturn V was taller, heavier and had greater payload capacity,^[19] while the N-1 had more liftoff thrust and a larger first stage diameter.^[20] The N1 never became operational; four test launches each resulted in catastrophic vehicle failure early in flight, and the program was canceled. Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery

The first stage of Saturn V used five powerful engines rather than the 30 smaller engines of the N-1. During two launches, Apollo 6 and Apollo 13, the Saturn V was able to recover from engine loss incidents. The N-1 likewise was designed to compensate for engine loss, but the system never successfully saved a launch from failure. Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery

The three-stage Saturn V had a peak thrust of at least 7,650,000 pounds-force (34.02 MN) (SA-510 and subsequent)^[21] and a lift capacity of 118,000 kg to LEO. The SA-510 mission (Apollo 15) had a liftoff thrust of 7,823,000 pounds-force (34.80 MN). The SA-513 mission (Skylab) had slightly greater liftoff thrust of 7,891,000 pounds-force (35.10 MN). Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery

By comparison, the N-1 had a sea-level liftoff thrust of about 9,900,000 pounds-force (44 MN). No other operational launch vehicle has ever surpassed the Saturn V in height, weight, or payload capability. The closest contenders were the US Space Shuttle and the Soviet Energia. Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery

The Space Shuttle generated a peak thrust of 30.1 meganewtons (6,800,000 lbf),^[22] and payload capacity to LEO (excluding the Orbiter itself) was 28,800 kilograms (63,000 lb), which was about 25 percent of the Saturn V's payload. Total mass in orbit, including the Orbiter, Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery

was about 112,000 kilograms (250,000 lb), compared to the Apollo 15 total orbital mass of the S-IVB third stage and Apollo spacecraft, of 140,976 kilograms (310,800 lb).

Energia had the same liftoff thrust as SA-513, 7,900,000 pounds-force (35.1 MN). The Energia had two test flights: Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery

one failure in 1987, and one successful launch of an unmanned Buran shuttle to orbit in 1988. The Energia and Buran programs were cancelled in 1993. Hypothetical future versions might have been significantly more powerful than the Saturn V, delivering 46 meganewtons (10,000,000 lbf) of thrust and able to deliver up to 175 tonnes (390,000 lb) Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery

to LEO in the "Vulkan" configuration. Planned uprated versions of the Saturn V using F-1A engines would have had about 18 percent more thrust and 137,250 kilograms (302,600 lb) payload.^[23] NASA contemplated building larger members of the Saturn family, such as the Saturn C-8, and also unrelated rockets, such as Nova, but these were never produced. Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery

Some other recent launch vehicles have a small fraction of the Saturn V's payload capacity: the European Ariane 5 with the newest versions Ariane 5 ECA delivers up to 10,000 kg to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The US Delta 4 Heavy, which launched a dummy satellite on December 21, 2004, Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery

has a capacity of 13,100 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The yet to be flown Atlas V Heavy (using engines based on a Russian design) delivers up to 29,400 kg to LEO and 8,900 kg to GTO.

S-IC thrust comparisons

Because of its large size, attention is often focused on the S-IC thrust and how this compares to other large rockets. Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery

However, several factors make such comparisons more complex than first appears:

Commonly referenced thrust numbers are a specification, not an actual measurement. Individual stages and engines may fall short or exceed the specification, sometimes significantly. Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery

The F-1 thrust specification was uprated beginning with Apollo 15 (SA-510) from 1.5 million lbf (6.67 MN) to 1.522 million lbf (6.77 MN), or 7.61 million lbf (33.85 MN) for the S-IC stage. The higher thrust was achieved via a redesign of the injector orifices and a slightly higher propellant mass flow rate. Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery

• However, comparing the specified number to the actual measured thrust of 7.823 million lbf (34.8 MN) on Apollo 15 shows a significant difference.

There is no "bathroom scale" way to directly measure thrust of a rocket in flight. Rather a mathematical calculation is made from combustion chamber pressure, Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery

•  turbopump speed, calculated propellant density and flow rate, nozzle design, and atmospheric conditions, in particular, external pressure.

Thrust varies greatly with external pressure and thus with altitude, even for a non-throttled engine. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery

For example on Apollo 15, the calculated total liftoff thrust (based on actual measurements) was about 7.823 million lbf (34.8 MN), which increased to 9.18 million lbf (40.8 MN) at T+135 seconds, just before center engine cutoff (CECO), at which time the jet was heavily underexpanded. Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery

• Thrust specifications are often given as vacuum thrust (for upper stages) or sea level thrust (for lower stages or boosters), sometimes without qualifying which one. This can lead to incorrect comparisons.

Thrust specifications are often given as average thrust or peak thrust, sometimes without qualifying which one. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery

Even for a non-throttled engine at a fixed altitude, thrust can often vary somewhat over the firing period due to several factors. These include intentional or unintentional mixture ratio changes, slight propellant density changes over the firing period, and variations in turbopump, nozzle and injector performance over the firing period. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery

Without knowing the exact measurement technique and mathematical method used to determine thrust for each different rocket, comparisons are often inexact. As the above shows, the specified thrust often differs significantly from actual flight thrust calculated from direct measurements. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery

The thrust stated in various references is often not adequately qualified as to vacuum vs sea level, or peak vs average thrust.

Similarly, payload increases are often achieved in later missions independent of engine thrust. This is by weight reduction or trajectory reshaping. 
Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery

The result is there is no single absolute figure for engine thrust, stage thrust or vehicle payload. There are specified values and actual flight values, and various ways of measuring and deriving those actual flight values. Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery

The performance of each Saturn V launch was extensively analyzed and a Launch Evaluation Report produced for each mission, including a thrust/time graph for each vehicle stage on each mission.^[24]

Assembly

After the construction and ground testing of a stage was completed, it was then shipped to the Kennedy Space Center. Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery

The first two stages were so large that the only way to transport them was by barge. The S-IC, constructed in New Orleans, was transported down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. After rounding Florida, it was then transported up the Intra-Coastal Waterway to the Vertical Assembly Building (now called the Vehicle Assembly Building). Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery

This is in essence the same route which was used by NASA to ship Space Shuttle External Tanks. The S-II was constructed in California and so traveled via the Panama Canal. The third stage and Instrument Unit could be carried by the Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy and Super Guppy, but could also have been carried by barge if warranted. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B Battery

On arrival at the Vertical Assembly Building, each stage was checked out in a horizontal position before being moved to a vertical position. NASA also constructed large spool-shaped structures that could be used in place of stages if a particular stage was late. These spools had the same height and mass and contained the same electrical connections as the actual stages. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D Battery

NASA stacked or assembled the Saturn V on a Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP), which consisted of a Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT) with nine swing arms (including the crew access arm), a "hammerhead" crane, and a water suppression system which was activated prior to launch. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G Battery

After assembly was completed, the entire stack was moved from the VAB to the launch pad using theCrawler Transporter (CT). Built by the Marion Power Shovel company (and later used for transporting the smaller and lighter Space Shuttle), the CT ran on four double-tracked treads, each with 57 'shoes'. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P Battery

Each shoe weighed 900 kg (2,000 lb). This transporter was also required to keep the rocket level as it traveled the 3 miles (4.8 km) to the launch site, especially at the 3 percent grade encountered at the launch pad. The CT also carried the Mobile Service Structure (MSS), which allowed technicians access to the rocket until eight hours before launch, Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W Battery

when it was moved to the "halfway" point on the Crawlerway (the junction between the VAB and the two launch pads).

Lunar mission launch sequence

The Saturn V carried all Apollo lunar missions. All Saturn V missions launched from Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B Battery

After the rocket cleared the launch tower, flight control transferred to Johnson Space Center's Mission Control in Houston, Texas.

An average mission used the rocket for a total of just 20 minutes. Although Apollo 6 and Apollo 13 experienced engine failures, Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D Battery

the onboard computers were able to compensate by burning the remaining engines longer, and none of the Apollo launches resulted in a payload loss.

S-IC sequence

The first stage burned for about 2 minutes and 41 seconds, Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G Battery

lifting the rocket to an altitude of 42 miles (68 km) and a speed of 6,164 miles per hour (2,756 m/s) and burning 4,700,000 pounds (2,100,000 kg) of propellant.^[25]

At 8.9 seconds before launch, the first stage ignition sequence started. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P Battery

The center engine ignited first, followed by opposing outboard pairs at 300-millisecond intervals to reduce the structural loads on the rocket. When thrust had been confirmed by the onboard computers, the rocket was "soft-released" in two stages: first, the hold-down arms released the rocket, and second, as the rocket began to accelerate upwards, Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W Battery

it was slowed by tapered metal pins pulled through dies for half a second. Once the rocket had lifted off, it could not safely settle back down onto the pad if the engines failed. And it should be noted that this was considered by the Apollo astronauts as one of the most tense moments in riding the Saturn V, Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B Battery

for if the rocket did fail to lift off after release they would have the lowest chances of surviving a failed launch, given the large amount of hydrogen propellant in the rocket and the launch pad, such that, according to a member of the Apollo team, if a fully fueled Saturn V exploded on the pad, Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B Battery

it would have had the force of a two-kiloton nuclear bomb, and it would be near impossible to clear the blast using the Launch Escape System.

It took about 12 seconds for the rocket to clear the tower. During this time, it yawed 1.25 degrees away from the tower to ensure adequate clearance despite adverse winds. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/D Battery

(This yaw, although small, can be seen in launch photos taken from the east or west.) At an altitude of 430 feet (130 m) the rocket rolled to the correct flight azimuth and then gradually pitched down until 38 seconds after second stage ignition. This pitch program was set according to the prevailing winds during the launch month. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/D Battery

The four outboard engines also tilted toward the outside so that in the event of a premature outboard engine shutdown the remaining engines would thrust through the rocket's center of gravity. The Saturn V reached 400 feet per second (120 m/s) at over 1 mile (1,600 m) in altitude. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/G Battery

Much of the early portion of the flight was spent gaining altitude, with the required velocity coming later. The Saturn V broke the sound barrier at just over 1 minute at an altitude of between 3 and 4 nautical miles. At this point, shock collars, or condensation clouds, could be seen forming around the bottom of the command module and around the top of the second stage. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/G Battery

At about 80 seconds, the rocket experienced maximum dynamic pressure (max Q). The dynamic pressure on a rocket varies withair density and the square of relative velocity. Although velocity continues to increase, air density decreases so quickly with altitude that dynamic pressure falls below max Q. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/P Battery

Acceleration increased during S-IC flight for two reasons: decreasing propellant mass, and increasing thrust as F-1 engine efficiency improved in the thinner air at altitude. At 135 seconds, the inboard (center) engine shut down to limit acceleration to 4 g (39.2 m/s²). The other engines continued to burn until either oxidizer or fuel depletion is detected by sensors in the suction assemblies. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/P Battery

First stage separation was a little less than one second after cutoff to allow for F-1 thrust tail-off. Eight small solid fuel separation motors backed the S-IC from the interstage at an altitude of about 67 kilometers (42 mi). The first stage continued ballistically to an altitude of about 109 kilometers (68 mi) and then fell in the Atlantic Ocean about 560 kilometers (350 mi) downrange. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/W Battery

S-II sequence

After S-IC separation, the S-II second stage burned for 6 minutes and propelled the craft to 109 miles (175 km) and 15,647 mph (25,182 km/h– 7.00 km/s), close to orbital velocity.

For the first two unmanned launches, eight solid-fuel ullage motors ignited for four seconds to give positive acceleration to the S-II stage, followed by start of the five J-2 engines. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/W Battery

For the first seven manned Apollo missions only four ullage motors were used on the S-II, and they were eliminated completely for the final four launches. About 30 seconds after first stage separation, the interstage ring dropped from the second stage. This was done with an inertially fixed attitude so that the interstage, Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/B Battery

only 1 meter from the outboard J-2 engines, would fall cleanly without contacting them. Shortly after interstage separation the Launch Escape System was also jettisoned. See Apollo abort modes for more information about the various abort modes that could have been used during a launch. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/D Battery

About 38 seconds after the second stage ignition the Saturn V switched from a preprogrammed trajectory to a "closed loop" or Iterative Guidance Mode. The Instrument Unit now computed in real time the most fuel-efficient trajectory toward its target orbit. If the Instrument Unit failed, the crew could switch control of the Saturn to the Command Module's computer, take manual control, or abort the flight. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/G Battery

About 90 seconds before the second stage cutoff, the center engine shut down to reduce longitudinal pogo oscillations. At around this time, the LOX flow rate decreased, changing the mix ratio of the two propellants, ensuring that there would be as little propellant as possible left in the tanks at the end of second stage flight. This was done at a predetermined delta-v. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/P Battery

Five level sensors in the bottom of each S-II propellant tank were armed during S-II flight, allowing any two to trigger S-II cutoff and staging when they were uncovered. One second after the second stage cut off it separated and several seconds later the third stage ignited. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/W Battery

Solid fuel retro-rockets mounted on the interstage at the top of the S-II fired to back it away from the S-IVB. The S-II impacted about 4,200 km (2,600 mi) from the launch site

On the Apollo 13 mission, the inboard engine suffered from major pogo oscillation, resulting in an early automatic cutoff. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC Battery

To ensure sufficient velocity was reached, the remaining four engines were kept active for longer than planned. A pogo suppressor was fitted to later Apollo missions to avoid this, though the early engine 5 cutoff remained to reduce G-forces.

S-IVB sequence

Unlike the two-plane separation of the S-IC and S-II, the S-II and S-IVB stages separated with a single step. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/B Battery

Although it was constructed as part of the third stage, the interstage remained attached to the second stage.

During Apollo 11, a typical lunar mission, the third stage burned for about 2.5 minutes until first cutoff at 11 minutes 40 seconds. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/D Battery

At this point it was 1,640 miles (2,640 km)  downrange and in a parking orbit at an altitude of 118.8 miles (191.2 km)  and velocity of 17,432 mph. The third stage remained attached to the spacecraft while it orbited the Earth two and a half times while astronauts and mission controllers prepared for translunar injection (TLI). Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/G Battery

This parking orbit was quite low by Earth orbit standards, and it would have been short-lived due to aerodynamic drag. This was not a problem on a lunar mission because of the short stay in the parking orbit. The S-IVB also continued to thrust at a low level by venting gaseous hydrogen, Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/P Battery

to keep propellants settled in their tanks and prevent gaseous cavities from forming in propellant feed lines. This venting also maintained safe pressures as liquid hydrogen boiled off in the fuel tank. This venting thrust easily exceeded aerodynamic drag.

For the final three Apollo flights, the temporary parking orbit was even lower (approximately 172 kilometers (107 mi)), Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/W Battery

to increase payload for these missions. The Apollo 9 Earth orbit mission was launched into the nominal orbit consistent with Apollo 11, but the spacecraft were able to use their own engines to raise the perigee high enough to sustain the 10-day mission. TheSkylab was launched into a quite different orbit, Sony VAIO VPCP115KG Battery

with a 434-kilometer (270 mi) perigee which sustained it for six years, and also a higher inclination to the equator (50 degrees versus 32.5 degrees for Apollo).

On Apollo 11, TLI came at 2 hours and 44 minutes after launch. Sony VAIO VPCP116KG Battery

The S-IVB burned for almost six minutes giving the spacecraft a velocity close to the Earth's escape velocity of 11.2 km/s (40,320 km/h; 25,053 mph). This gave an energy-efficient transfer to lunar orbit with the moon helping to capture the spacecraft with a minimum of CSM fuel consumption. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/B Battery

About 40 minutes after TLI the Apollo Command Service Module (CSM) separated from the third stage, turned 180 degrees and docked with the Lunar Module (LM) that rode below the CSM during launch. The CSM and LM separated from the spent third stage 50 minutes later. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/D Battery

If it were to remain on the same trajectory as the spacecraft, the S-IVB could have presented a collision hazard so its remaining propellants were vented and the auxiliary propulsion system fired to move it away. For lunar missions before Apollo 13, the S-IVB was directed toward the moon's trailing edge in its orbit so that the moon would slingshot Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/G Battery

it beyond earth escape velocity and into solar orbit. From Apollo 13 onwards, controllers directed the S-IVB to hit the Moon.^[26] Seismometers left behind by previous missions detected the impacts, and the information helped map the inside of the Moon.

Apollo 9 was a special case; although it was an earth orbital mission, after spacecraft separation its S-IVB was fired out of earth orbit into a solar orbit. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/P Battery

On September 3, 2002, astronomer Bill Yeung discovered a suspected asteroid, which was given the discovery designation J002E3. It appeared to be in orbit around the Earth, and was soon discovered from spectral analysis to be covered in white titanium dioxide paint, the same paint used for the Saturn V. Calculation Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/W Battery

of orbital parameters identified the apparent asteroid as being the Apollo 12 S-IVB stage. Mission controllers had planned to send Apollo 12's S-IVB into solar orbit, but the burn after separating from the Apollo spacecraft lasted too long, and hence it did not pass close enough to the Moon, remaining in a barely stable orbit around the Earth and Moon. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC Battery

In 1971, through a series of gravitational perturbations, it is believed to have entered in a solar orbit and then returned into weakly captured Earth orbit 31 years later. It left Earth orbit again in June 2003. Another near-earth object, discovered in 2006 and designated6Q0B44E, may also be part of an Apollo spacecraft. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/B Battery

Skylab

In 1968, the Apollo Applications Program was created to look into science missions that could be performed with the surplus Apollo hardware. Much of the planning centered on the idea of a space station, which eventually spawned the Skylab program. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/P Battery

Skylab was launched using a two-stage Saturn V, officially called a Saturn INT-21.^[1] It was the only launch not directly related to the Apollo lunar landing program. The only significant changes to the Saturn V from the Apollo configurations involved some modification to the S-II to act as the terminal stage for inserting the Skylab payload into earth orbit, Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/W Battery

and to vent excess propellant after engine cutoff so the spent stage would not rupture in orbit. The S-II remained in orbit for almost two years, and made an uncontrolled re-entry on January 11, 1975.

Originally it was planned to use a 'wet workshop' concept, Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/B Battery

with a rocket stage being launched into orbit by a Saturn 1B and its spent S-IVB outfitted in space, but this was abandoned for the 'dry workshop' concept: An S-IVB stage from a Saturn IB was converted into a space station on the ground and launched on a Saturn V. A backup, constructed from a Saturn V third stage, Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/D Battery

is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

Three crews lived aboard Skylab from May 25, 1973 to February 8, 1974, with Skylab remaining in orbit until July 11, 1979.

Proposed post-Apollo developments

After Apollo, the Saturn V was planned to be the prime launch vehicle for Prospector intended to deliver a 330kg robotic rover on the Moon similar to Lunokhod^[27] Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/G Battery

and the Voyager Mars probes, as well an upscaled version of the Voyagerinterplanetary probes.^[28] It was also to have been the launch vehicle for the nuclear rocket stage RIFT test program and the later NERVA.All of these planned uses of the Saturn V were cancelled, with cost being a major factor. Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/P Battery

Edgar Cortright, who had been director of NASA Langley, stated decades later that "JPL never liked the big approach. They always argued against it. I probably was the leading proponent in using the Saturn V, and I lost. Probably very wise that I lost."^[28]

The (canceled) second production run of Saturn Vs would very likely have used the F-1A engine in its first stage, Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/W Battery

providing a substantial performance boost.^[29]Other likely changes would have been the removal of the fins (which turned out to provide little benefit when compared to their weight); a stretched S-IC first stage to support the more powerful F-1As; and uprated J-2s for the upper stages. Sony VAIO VPCP119JC Battery

A number of alternate Saturn vehicles were proposed based on the Saturn V, ranging from the Saturn INT-20 with an S-IVB stage and interstage mounted directly onto an S-IC stage, through to the Saturn V-23(L)^[30] which would not only have five F-1 engines in the first stage, Sony VAIO VPCP119JC/BI Battery

but also four strap-on boosters with two F-1 engines each: giving a total of thirteen F-1 engines firing at launch.

The Space Shuttle was initially conceived of as a cargo transport to be used in concert with the Saturn V, Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/B Battery

even to the point that a "Saturn-Shuttle," using the orbiter and external tank, but with the tank mounted on a modified, fly-back version of the S-IC, would be used to power the Shuttle during the first two minutes of flight, after which the S-IC would be jettisoned (which would then fly back to KSC for refurbishment) Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/B Battery

and the Space Shuttle Main Engines would then fire and place the orbiter into orbit. The Shuttle would handle space station logistics, while Saturn V would launch components. Lack of a second Saturn V production run killed this plan and has left the United States without a heavy-lift booster. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/D Battery

Some in the U.S. space community have come to lament this situation,^[who?] as continued production would have allowed the International Space Station, using a Skylab or Mir configuration with both U.S. and Russian docking ports, to have been lifted with just a handful of launches, Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/D Battery

with the "Saturn Shuttle" concept possibly eliminating the conditions that caused theChallenger Disaster in 1986.

Proposed successors

U.S. proposals for a rocket larger than the Saturn V from the late 1950s through the early 1980s were generally called Nova. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/G Battery

Over thirty different large rocket proposals carried the Nova name, but none were developed.

Wernher von Braun and others also had plans for a rocket that would have featured eight F-1 engines in its first stage allowing it to launch a manned spacecraft on a direct ascent flight to the Moon. Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/G Battery

Other plans for the Saturn V called for using a Centaur as an upper stage or adding strap-on boosters. These enhancements would have increased its ability to send large unmanned spacecraft to the outer planets or manned spacecraft to Mars.

In 2006, as part of the cancelled Constellation Program that would have replaced the Space Shuttle, Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/P Battery

NASA unveiled plans to construct the heavy-lift Ares Vrocket, a Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicle using some existing Space Shuttle and Saturn V infrastructure. Named in homage of the Saturn V, the original design, based on the Space Shuttle External Tank, was 360 ft (110 m) tall, Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/W Battery

and powered by five Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) and two uprated five-segment Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters, which a modified variation would be used for the crew-launched Ares I rocket. As the design evolved, the Ares V was slightly modified, with the same 33 ft (10 m) diameter as that of the Saturn V's S-IC and S-II stages, Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/W Battery

and in place of the five SSMEs, five RS-68 rocket engines, the same engines used on the Delta IV EELV, would be used. The switch from the SSME to the RS-68 was due to the steep price of the SSME, as that it would be thrown away along with the Ares V core stage after each use, while the RS-68 engine, Sony VAIO VPCP11Z9E/B Battery

which is expendable, is cheaper, simpler to manufacture, and more powerful than the SSME.

In 2008, NASA again redesigned the Ares V, lengthening and widening the core stage and added an extra RS-68 engine, giving the launch vehicle a total of sixengines. The six RS-68B engines, Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery

during launch, would have been augmented by two "5.5-segment" SRBs instead of the original five-segment designs, although no decision was made on the number of segments NASA would have used on the final design.^[31] If the six RS-68B/5.5-segment SRB variant had been used, Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery

the vehicle would have had a total of approximately 8,900,000 lbf (40 MN) of thrust at liftoff, making it more powerful than the Saturn V or the Soviet/Russian Energiaboosters, but less than 50–43 MN for the Soviet N-1. An upper stage, known as the Earth Departure Stage and based on the S-IVB, Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery

would have utilized a more advanced version of the J-2 engine known as the "J-2X," and would have placed the Altair lunar landing vehicle into a low earth orbit. At 381 ft (116 m) tall and with the capability of placing 180 tons^[vague] into low Earth orbit, Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery

the Ares V would have surpassed the Saturn V and the two Soviet/Russian superboosters in both height, lift, and launch capability.

The RS-68B engines, based on the current RS-68 and RS-68A engines built by the Rocketdyne Division of Pratt and Whitney (formerly under the ownerships of Boeingand Rockwell International), Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery

produce less than half the thrust per engine as the Saturn V's F-1 engines, but are more efficient and can be throttled up or down, much like the SSMEs on the Shuttle. The J-2 engine used on the S-II and S-IVB would have been modified into the improved J-2X engine for use both on the Earth Departure Stage (EDS) as well as on the second stage of the proposed Ares I. Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery

Both the EDS and the Ares I second stage would have used a single J-2X motor, although the EDS was originally designed to use two motors until the redesign employing the five (later six) RS-68Bs in place of the five SSMEs.

In September 2011, NASA announced^[32] the Space Launch System (SLS) as the United States' new heavy-lift rocket for manned deep-space exploration, Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery

and which will be comparable in size and capabilities to the Saturn V. The new SLS has an upper-stage powered by a J2-X engine derived from the Saturn V launch vehicle, the first stage powered by five liquid-fueled rocket engines derived from the Space Shuttle's main engines, Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery

along with two strap-on SRBs also derived from the Shuttle program. The initial configuration of the new booster as proposed by NASA could lift approximately 70 metric tons to LEO, with later variants possibly lifting up to 130 metric tons.

Cost

From 1964 until 1973, a total of $6.5 billion ($46.56 billion present day) was appropriated for the Saturn V, Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery

with the maximum being in 1966 with $1.2 billion ($8.6 billion present day).^[33]

One of the main reasons for the cancellation of the Apollo program was the cost. In 1966, NASA received its biggest budget of US$4.5 billion, about 0.5 percent of the GDP of the Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery

United States at that time. In 1969, the cost of a Saturn V including launch was US $ 185 million (inflation adjusted US$ 1.17 billion in 2012).

Saturn V displays

Two at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville: Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery

SA-500D is on horizontal display made up of S-IC-D, S-II-F/D and S-IVB-D. These were all test stages not meant for flight. This vehicle was displayed outdoors from 1969 to 2007 (there is a poignant photo above of Wernher von Braun next to it), was restored, and is now displayed in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery

• Vertical display (replica) built in 1999 located in an adjacent area.

One at the Johnson Space Center made up of first stage from SA-514, the second stage from SA-515 and the third stage from SA-513 (replaced for flight by the Skylab workshop). Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery

With stages arriving between 1977 and 1979, this was displayed in the open until its 2005 restoration when a structure was built around it for protection. This is the only display Saturn consisting entirely of stages intended to be launched. Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery

One at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex made up of S-IC-T (test stage) and the second and third stages from SA-514. It was displayed outdoors for decades, then in 1996 was enclosed for protection from the elements in the Apollo/Saturn V Center. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery

• The S-IC stage from SA-515 is on display at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The S-IVB stage from SA-515 was converted for use as a backup for Skylab, and is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery

The Saturn I was the United States' first heavy-lift dedicated space launcher, a rocket designed specifically to launch large payloads into low Earth orbit. Most of the rocket's power came from a clustered lower stage consisting of tanks taken from older rocket designs and strapped together to make a single large booster, Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery

leading critics to jokingly refer to it as "Cluster's Last Stand". However, its design proved sound and very flexible. Its major successes were launching the Pegasus satellites and flight verification of the Apollo Command and Service Module aerodynamics in the launch phase. Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery

Originally intended as a near-universal military booster during the 1960s, it served only for a brief period and only with NASA; ten Saturn Is were flown before it was replaced by the derivative Saturn IB, which featured a more powerful upper stage and improved instrumentation. Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery

President John F. Kennedy identified the Saturn I, and the SA-5 launch in particular, as being the point where US lift capability would surpass the Soviets, after being behind since Sputnik. That was last mentioned in a speech he gave at Brooks AFB in San Antonio on the day before he was assassinated. Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery

He never lived to see this capability realized.

Origins

The Saturn project was started as one of a number of proposals to meet a new Department of Defense (DoD) requirement for a heavy-lift vehicle to orbit a new class of communications and "other" satellites. Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery

The requirements called for a vehicle capable of putting 9,000 to 18,000 kilograms into orbit, or accelerating 2,700 to 5,400 kg to escape velocity. Existing launchers could place a maximum of about 1,400 kg in orbit, but might be expanded to as much as 4,500 kg with new high-energy upper stages. Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery

In any event, these upper stages would not be available until 1961 or 62 at the earliest, and would still not meet the DoD requirements for heavy loads.

Wernher von Braun's team at the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) started studying the problem in April 1957. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery

They calculated that a rocket with the required performance would require a lower stage booster with a thrust of about 1.5 million pound-force (6.7 MN) thrust at takeoff. As it happened, the Air Force had recently started work on just such an engine, eventually emerging as the F-1, Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery

but this would not be available in the time frame that the DoD was demanding and would be limited to about 1 million lbf in the short term anyway. Another possibility was a Rocketdyne engine, then known as the E-1, which provided about 360,000 to 380,000 lbf (1,700 kN), four of which would reach the required thrust levels. Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery

This approach became the favorite, and in order to quickly provide fuel tankage to supply the engines, a new stage consisting of the tank from a Jupiter wrapped with eight taken from the Redstone would be used along with a thrust plate on the bottom where the engines would be attached. Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery

Von Braun returned the design to DoD in December, 1957 as A National Integrated Missile and Space Vehicle Development Program, outlining the new design, then known simply as "Super-Jupiter". Several variations were proposed, using a common clustered first stage, and upper stages based on either the Atlas or Titan I. Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery

ABMA favored the Titan as the Atlas production was extremely high-priority and there was little or no excess capacity to spare. They proposed using the existing Titan tooling at 120" diameter, but lengthening it to produce a new 200-foot (61 m)-long stage.Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery

A Centaur would be used as a third stage, which was expected to be ready for operational use in 1963, right when the lower two stages would have completed their testing. The resulting three-stage design was much taller and skinnier than the Saturn design that was eventually built. Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was formed in February 1958 as part of DoD and was in charge of the requirements. ARPA asked for only one change to the design; concerned that the E-1 was still in early development, they suggested looking at alternatives in order to ensure the rocket would enter production as soon as possible. Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery

ABMA quickly responded with a slightly modified design replacing the four E-1's with eight H-1 engines, a minor upgrade to the S-3D engine used on Thor and Jupiter missiles. They estimated that changing the engines would save about $60 million and as much as two years research and development time. Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery

Von Braun had earlier referred to Redstone and Jupiter rockets being used as space launchers as the Juno I and Juno II, respectively, and made proposals for multi-stage versions as the Juno III and IV, and so he changed the name of the new design to Juno V. Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery

The total development cost of $850 million ($5.6 billion in year-2007 dollars) between 1958-1963 also covered 30 research and development flights, some carrying manned and unmanned space payloads.

Work begins

Satisfied with the outcome, ARPA Order Number 14-59, dated 15 August 1958, ordered the program into existence: Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery

Initiate a development program to provide a large space vehicle booster of approximately 1,500,000-lb. thrust based on a cluster of available rocket engines. The immediate goal of this program is to demonstrate a full-scale captive dynamic firing by the end of CY 1959. Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery

This was followed on 11 September 1958 with another contract with Rocketdyne to start work on the H-1. On 23 September 1958, ARPA and the Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) drew up an additional agreement enlarging the scope of the program, stating "In addition to the captive dynamic firing..., Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery

it is hereby agreed that this program should now be extended to provide for a propulsion flight test of this booster by approximately September 1960." Further, they wanted ABMA to produce three additional boosters, the last two of which would be "capable of placing limited payloads in orbit." Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

Von Braun had high hopes for the design, feeling it would make an excellent test-bed for other propulsion systems, notably the F-1 if it matured. He outlined uses for the Juno V as a general carrier vehicle for research and development of "offensive and defensive space weapons." Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery

Specific uses were forecast for each of the military services, including navigation satellites for the Navy; reconnaissance, communications, and meteorological satellites for the Army and Air Force; support for Air Force manned missions; and surface-to-surface logistics supply for the Army at distances up to 6400 kilometers. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery

Von Braun also proposed using the Juno V as the basis of a manned lunar mission as part of Project Horizon. Juno could lift up to 20,000 pounds (9,000 kg) into low earth orbit, and he proposed launching 15 of them to build a 200,000 lb (91,000 kg) lunar spacecraft in Earth orbit. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery

Even by this point the name "Saturn", as "the one after Jupiter" was being used. One early ARPA report noted "The SATURN is considered to be the first real space vehicle as the Douglas DC-3 was the first real airliner and durable work-horse in aeronautics." The name change became official in February 1959. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery

Enter NASA

The formation of NASA on July 29, 1958 led to an effort to collect the existing heavy-launch rocket programs and select a single set of designs for future work. At the time, both the Air Force and US Army had teams developing such vehicles, the Army's Saturn and the Air Force's Space Launching System (SLS). Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery

The SLS used a set of common modular components with solid fuel boosters and hydrogen/oxygen upper stages to allow a wide variety of launch configurations and payload weights. Both groups had also developed plans for manned lunar bases, ABMA's Horizon with its Earth Orbit Rendezvous method of building a large lunar rocket in Earth orbit, Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

and the Air Force's Lunex Project which planned on launching a single huge lander using the largest of the SLS configurations. As if this were not enough, NASA's own engineers had started the design of their own Nova design series, planning to use it in the direct ascent profile similar to the Air Force's approach. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery

Von Braun was asked to chair a committee to study the existing efforts and write up recommendations. They presented their report on 18 July, starting with a criticism of how the US program had been mishandled to date and pointing out that the Soviet program was definitely ahead. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery

It went on to describe five "generations" of rockets, starting with the early Vanguard, through the Junos, ICBMs like Atlas and Titan, clustered designs like the Saturn, and finally the ultimate development, a cluster using the F-1 with 6 million pounds of thrust. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery

The report went on to outline a manned exploration program using these rockets as they became available; using existing ICBMs a small four-man space station could be operational 1961, the clusters would support a manned lunar landing in 1965-1966 and a larger 50-man space station by 1967, Sony VAIO VPCEA20 Battery

while the largest of the rockets would support large moon expeditions in 1972, set up a permanent moon base in 1973-1974, and launch manned interplanetary trips in 1977.

In December all of the teams gathered to present their designs. NASA selected von Braun's proposal on January 6, giving it a vital boost. Sony VAIO VPCEB10 Battery

At the end of January NASA outlined their complete development program. This included the Vega and Centaur upper stages, as well as the Juno V and their own Nova boosters. Vega was later cancelled when information on the formerly secret Agena upper stage was released (then known as "Hustler"), and it had performance roughly comparable to NASA's design. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM Battery

Near-cancellation

Progress on the Saturn design seemed to go smoothly. In April the first H-1 engines started arriving at ABMA, and test firings started in May. Construction of the Complex 34 launch sites started at Cape Canaveral in June. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/BI Battery

Then, quite unexpectedly, on 9 June 1959, Herbert York, Director of Department of Defense Research and Engineering, announced that he had decided to terminate the Saturn program. He later stated that he was concerned that the project was taking ARPA money from more pressing projects, and that as it seemed upgrades to existing ICBMs would provide the needed heavy-lift capability in the short term. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/T Battery

As ABMA commander John B. Medaris put it:

By this time, my nose was beginning to sniff a strange odor of "fish." I put my bird dogs to work to try to find out what was going on and with whom we had to compete. We discovered that the Air Force had proposed a wholly different and entirely new vehicle as the booster for Dynasoar, Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/WI Battery

using a cluster of Titan engines and upgrading their performance to get the necessary first-stage thrust for take-off. This creature was variously christened the Super Titan, or the Titan C. No work had been done on this vehicle other than a hasty engineering outline. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX Battery

Yet the claim was made that the vehicle in a two-stage or three-stage configuration could be flown more quickly than the Saturn, on which we had already been working hard for many months. Dates and estimates were attached to that proposal which at best ignored many factors of costs, and at worst were strictly propaganda. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/BI Battery

Looking to head off the cancellation, Saturn supporters from the DoD and ARPA drafted their own memo arguing against the cancellation. Working against them was the fact that neither the Army nor NASA had any in-writing requirement for the booster at that time. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/T Battery

A three-day meeting between 16 and 18 September 1959 followed, where York and Dryden reviewed Saturn's future and discussed the roles of the Titan C and Nova. The outcome was equally unexpected; York agreed to defer the cancellation and continue short-term funding, but only if NASA agreed to take over the ABMA team and continue development without the help of the DoD. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/WI Battery

NASA was equally concerned that by relying on 3rd parties for their boosters they were putting their entire program in jeopardy.

As the parties continued discussions over the next week and agreement was hammered out; Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX Battery

von Braun's team at ABMA would be kept together and continue working as the lead developers of Saturn, but the entire organization would be transferred to NASA's management. By a presidential executive order on 15 March 1960, ABMA became NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/BI Battery

Selecting the upper stages

In July 1959 a change request was received from ARPA to upgrade the upper stage to a much more powerful design using four new 20,000 lbf (89 kN) liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen powered engines in a larger-diameter 160" second stage, with an upgraded Centaur using two engines of the same design for the third stage. Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/T Battery

On this change Medaris noted:

For reasons of economy we had recommended, and it had been approved, that in building the second stage, we would use the same diameter as the Titan first stage – 120 inches. The major costs of tooling for the fabrication of missile tanks and main structure is related to the diameter. Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/WI Battery

Changes in length cost little or nothing in tooling. How the tanks are divided internally, or the structure reinforced inside, or the kind of structural detail that is used at the end in order to attach the structure to a big booster below, or to a different size stage above, have very little effect on tooling problems. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX Battery

However, a change in diameter sets up a major question of tools, costs, and time.

Suddenly, out of the blue came a directive to suspend work on the second stage, and a request for a whole new series of cost and time estimates, including consideration of increasing the second stage diameter to 160 inches. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BI Battery

It appeared that Dr. York had entered the scene, and had pointed up the future requirements of Dynasoar as being incompatible with the 120-inch diameter. He had posed the question of whether it was possible for the Saturn to be so designed as to permit it to be the booster for that Air Force project. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BIC Battery

We were shocked and stunned. This was no new problem, and we could find no reason why it should not have been considered, if necessary, during the time that the Department of Defense and NASA were debating the whole question of what kind of upper stages we should use. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T Battery

Nevertheless, we very speedily went about the job of estimating the project on the basis of accepting the 160-inch diameter. At the same time it was requested that we submit quotations for a complete operational program to boost the Dynasoar for a given number of flights. Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX Battery

As usual, we were given two or three numbers, rather than one fixed quantity, and asked to estimate on each of them.

In order to reach some sort of accommodation, a group pulled from NASA, Air Force, ARPA, ABMA, Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/BI Battery

and the Office of the Department of Defense Research and Engineering formed under the Silverstein Committee in December. Originally skeptical, the Committee convinced von Braun that liquid hydrogen was the way to go on upper stage development.Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/T Battery

Once these changes had been made, NASA's booster project was now entirely free of any dependence on military developments. At that point any sort of upper stage was fair game, and "If these propellants are to be accepted for the difficult top-stage applications," the committee concluded, Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/WI Battery

"there seem to be no valid engineering reasons for not accepting the use of high-energy propellants for the less difficult application to intermediate stages."

The Committee outlined a number of different potential launch configurations, grouped into three broad categories. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM Battery

The "A" group were low-risk versions similar to the Saturn designs proposed prior to the meeting; the original design using Titan and Centaur upper stages became the A-1, while another model replacing the Titan with cluster of IRBMs became A-2. The B-1 design proposed a new second stage replacing the A-2s cluster with a new four-engine design using the H-1 like the lower stage.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/BI Battery

Finally there were three C-series models that replaced all of the upper stages with liquid hydrogen ones. The C-1 used the existing S-I clustered lower, adding the new S-IV stage with four new 15,000 to 20,000 lbf (89 kN) engines, and keeping the two-engine Centaur on top, now to be known as the S-V stage. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/T Battery

The C-II model added a new S-III stage with two new 150,000 to 200,000 lbf (890 kN) engines, keeping the S-IV and S-V on top. Finally, the C-3 configuration added the S-II stage with four of these same engines, keeping only the S-III and S-IV on top. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/WI Battery

The C models easily outperformed the A's and B's, with the added advantage that they were interchangeable and could be built up in order to fit any needed payload requirement.

Saturn emerges

Ironically, of these new stage designs only the S-IV would ever be delivered, and not in the form that was drawn up in the Committee report. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX Battery

In order to meet development schedules a cluster of six Centaur engines were placed in the new 220" stage to produce the "new" S-IV of roughly the same performance as the original four upgraded engines. A large number of small engines is less efficient and more problematic than a smaller number of large engines, and this made it a target for an early upgrade to a single J-2. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/BI Battery

The resulting stage, the S-IVB, improved performance so much that the Saturn was able to launch the Apollo CSM, proving invaluable during the Apollo Project.

In the end the Titan C was never delivered, and the Air Force instead turned to "thrust augmented" Titan II's using clustered solid fuel rockets. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/T Battery

These new designs, the Titan III's, became the workhorse of the Department of Defense's launch needs. A Titan III has about the same lift capability as a Saturn IB but costs less to manufacture and launch. Likewise, the development of the Titan III eliminated the need for the "flexible" staging concepts of the Saturn, which was now only intended to be used for manned launches in the Apollo program. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/WI Battery

With the need for flexibility in launch configuration removed, most of these designs were subsequently dropped. Only the S-V survived in its original form, while the S-IV would appear in modified form and the Saturn V would feature an entirely different S-II stage. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX Battery

The main payload of the Saturn I was the boilerplate version of the Apollo Command and Service Modules and Launch Escape System. It was also considered at one time for launch of the X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane and later, for launching a Gemini capsule on a proposed lunar mission. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/B Battery

The final three were used to launch the three Pegasus micrometeroid satellites.

The S-I first stage was powered by eight H-1 rocket engines burning RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen (LOX) as oxidizer. The propellant tanks consisted of a central Jupiter rocket tank containing LOX, surrounded by a cluster of eight Redstone rocket tanks: Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/G Battery

four painted white, containing LOX; and four painted black, containing the RP-1 fuel. The four outboard engines were mounted on gimbals, allowing them to be steered to guide the rocket. On the Block II vehicles (SA-5 through SA-10), eight fins provided aerodynamic stability in the flight through the atmosphere. 
Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/L Battery

Saturn I Block I vehicles (SA-1 to SA-4) were guided by instruments carried in canisters on top of the S-I first stage, and included the ST-90 stabilized platform, made by Ford Instrument Company and used in the Redstone missile.^[2] These first four vehicles followed ballistic, non-orbital trajectories, and the dummy upper stages did not separate from the single powered stage. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/P Battery

The Block II vehicles (SA-5 to -10) included two powered stages, and went into orbits. Beginning with SA-5, the guidance instruments were carried on a separate stage, the instrument unit (IU), just ahead of the S-IV stage. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W Battery

The first version of the IU was 154 inches (3,900 mm) in diameter and 58 inches (1,500 mm) high, and was both designed and built by Marshall Space Flight Center. Guidance, telemetry, tracking and power components were contained in four pressurized, cylindrical containers attached like spokes to a central hub.^[3] Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX Battery

This version flew on SA-5, 6, and 7.

MSFC flew version 2 of the IU on SA-8, 9 and 10. Version 2 was the same diameter as version 1, but only 34 inches (860 mm) high. Instead of pressurized containers, the components were hung on the inside of the cylindrical wall, achieving a reduction in weight.^[4] Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/B Battery

The guidance computer for Block II was the IBM ASC-15. Other instruments carried by the IU included active components, that guided the vehicle; and passenger components, that telemetered data to the ground for test and evaluation for use in later flights.Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/G Battery

The ST-90 stabilized platform was the active IMU for SA-5 and the first stage of SA-6. The ST-124 was the passenger on SA-5 and active for the second stage of SA-6 and subsequent missions. The IU had an optical window to allow alignment of the inertial platform before launch. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/P Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/W Battery