Saturn V Flight Manual

Designed by Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolph at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center the Saturn V rocket represents the pinnacle of 20th Century technological achievement. The only launch vehicle in history to transport astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit the Saturn V delivered 24 men to the moon. To this day it holds records as the tallest (363 feet) heaviest (nearly 7 million lbs.) and most powerful (over 7.6 million pounds-force of thrust) launch vehicle ever produced. It also remains one of the most reliable achieving 12 successful launches with one partial failure - the unmanned Apollo 6 which suffered vibration damage on lift-off resulting in a sub-standard orbit. The Saturn series of rockets resulted from Von Brauns work on the German V-2 and Jupiter series rockets. The Saturn I a 2-stage liquid-fueled rocket flew ten times between 1961 and 1965. A uprated version the 1B carried the first crewed Apollo flight into orbit in 1968. The Saturn V which first flew in 1967 was a three-stage rocket. The first stage which burned RP-1 and LOX consisted of five F-1 engines. The second stage used five J-2 engines which burned LOX and liquid hydrogen (LH2). The third stage based on the second stage of the Saturn 1B carried a single J-2. The Saturn V could carry up to 262000 pounds to Low Earth Orbit and more critically 100000 pounds to the Moon. Created by NASA as a single-source reference as to the characteristics and functions of the Saturn V this manual was standard issue to the astronauts of the Apollo and Skylab eras. It contains information about the Saturn V system range safety and instrumentation monitoring and control prelaunch events and pogo oscillations. It provides a fascinating overview of the rocket that made one giant leap for mankind possible.