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Questions about Saturn V

Short answers, pulled from the story.

How many Saturn V rockets were launched and where did they launch from?

Thirteen Saturn V rockets were launched between 1967 and 1973, all from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39. Nine of those flights carried 24 astronauts to the Moon, from Apollo 8 through Apollo 17.

What made the Saturn V F-1 engines historically significant?

The five Rocketdyne F-1 engines powering the Saturn V first stage remain the most powerful single-chamber liquid-fuelled engines ever built. Together they produced 7,500,000 pounds of force at sea level. When tested together at what is now the Stennis Space Center, their noise shattered the window of a bank building 15 miles away in Picayune, Mississippi.

Who designed the Saturn V and which companies built it?

The Saturn V was designed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with technical leadership from Wernher von Braun, Kurt Debus, and Arthur Rudolph. Boeing built the first stage, North American Aviation built the second stage, Douglas Aircraft Company built the third stage, and IBM built the instrument unit.

How tall was the Saturn V and how much could it lift?

With the Apollo spacecraft on top, the Saturn V stood 363 feet tall. It could carry approximately 140,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit and send approximately 43,500 kilograms to the Moon.

How much did the Saturn V program cost?

From 1964 through 1973, $6.417 billion was appropriated for Saturn V research, development, and flights. The peak funding year was 1966 at $1.2 billion, the same year NASA received its largest ever total budget of $4.5 billion.

What happened to the unused Saturn V rockets that were never launched?

Two Saturn Vs originally designated for Apollo 19 and Apollo 20 were never launched. Their stages are now on display at the Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi. A third unused vehicle built as a Skylab backup has its third stage on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.