Saturn V

NASA / Boeing / North American

The legendary American super heavy-lift rocket that carried astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo program.

Developed under Wernher von Braun at the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit. Its first stage, the S-IC, was powered by five F-1 engines burning RP-1 and liquid oxygen — together the most powerful set of liquid-propellant engines ever flown. Saturn V flew 13 times between 1967 and 1973 with a perfect record of delivering its crews safely, even during the near-disaster of Apollo 13. Its final flight launched the Skylab space station.

Fun facts

Each F-1 engine burned ~2,500 kg of propellant per second — more than an entire car weighs.

Saturn V was taller than the Statue of Liberty including its pedestal (93 m).

Apollo 13 was the only mission that returned without landing on the Moon — the crew survived by using the LEM as a lifeboat.

Height

110.6 m

Diameter

10.1 m

Mass

2,970 t

Stages

Thrust