The End of 'Saturn'

The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had three stages, and was liquid-fueled. Thirteen Saturn V vehicles were launched, from 1967 to 1973, all from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, nine of which launched 24 astronauts toward the Moon from Apollo 8 to Apollo 17. Its final launch was Skylab, the first American space station, converted from its own third stage. The Saturn V was the first launch vehicle to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), with the only other to do so being the Space Launch System (SLS) for the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026. The Saturn V holds the record for the largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit, 140,000 kg (310,000 lb), which included the S-IVB third stage with remaining propellant to send the Apollo command and service module and Lunar Module to the Moon. At 34.5 meganewtons, it is the fourth most powerful rocket by thrust at launch and the second most powerful to carry humans, after SLS at 39 meganewtons. The largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets, the Saturn V was designed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. The program was managed by American George Mueller; technical design was led by scientists relocated from Nazi Germany, most notably Wernher von Braun, as well as Kurt Debus and Arthur Rudolph. This group had developed the first US launch vehicles, the Redstone rocket family, under the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. All engines were built by Rocketdyne. Boeing built the kerolox S-IC first stage powered by five F-1 engines; these remain the most powerful single chamber liquid-fuelled engines ever built. North American Aviation the hydrolox S-II second stage, and Douglas Aircraft Company the hydrolox S-IVB third stage, powered by five and one J-2 engines respectively. IBM and MSFC designed the rocket's instrument unit. The rocket first launched in the November 1967 Apollo 4 test flight. Two unused Saturn Vs were built, originally designated for Apollo 19 and 20; three ground test articles were also built. Unrealized follow-on concepts included the Saturn II, Saturn MLV, and Saturn V ELV vehicles, which could include UA120 solid rocket boosters, the Saturn C-5N using a NERVA nuclear thermal rocket third stage, and the Saturn-Shuttle. Further flights were proposed for the Skylab B space station, Voyager Mars orbiters and landers, Prospector lunar rover, and a manned Venus flyby.