Saturn V Rocket Essay

The Saturn V was a rocket which was built by NASA in order to launch astronauts to the moon. It is a human-rated expendable rocket, and its country of origin is America. The Saturn V was a powerful rocket which was used for seven years by NASA for Apollo as well as Skylab; it had a history of numerous launches, manned as well as unmanned, and it consisted of three stages which were developed by different companies and had different characteristics.
The purpose of the rocket was to enhance the Apollo lunar program through the exploration of the Moon by humans. However, later its function was also to launch the first American space station named Skylab. It was called a Heavy Lift Vehicle because it was extremely powerful. The Saturn V was so powerful that till date, it is the only launch vehicle that has successfully flown and transported humans beyond the low Earth orbit (LEO) and towards the Moon. Also, it still remains the heaviest and the tallest rocket that has achieved an operational status. This rocket was used by NASA for a span of seven years, from 1966 to 1973.
The Saturn V was a huge rocket with a length of 110.6 meters, a diameter of 10.1 meters, and a mass of 2.9 million kilograms, which is approximately the total mass of 200 elephants. The rocket produced 34.5 million Newtons of upward thrust at its launch. Moreover, the Saturn V also had an immense capacity.It had the capability to propel 118,000 kilograms into the orbit of the Earth. The Saturn V could also launch approximately 43,500 kilograms all the way to the moon. The remarkable rocket still holds the record for the largest capacity launched to low Earth Orbit.
The Saturn V was originated in the United States of America and was established at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Previously, two more Saturn rockets had been built and released by NASA. They had been named Saturn I and Saturn IB, and had been used to launch humans into the orbit of the Earth. The expendable rocket Saturn V had the capability to launch them even beyond, towards the moon. It was tested and released for the first time ever without any crew in 1967, and was named Apollo 4. This was followed by Apollo 6 in 1968. The first Saturn V was launched in 1967. It was called Apollo 4. Apollo 6 followed in 1968. Apollo 6 also did not have any crew and was used solely for testing purposes. The first time any Saturn V was launched with a crew was in 1868, called Apollo 8. This was followed by Apollo 9, the manned flight to successfully complete the low orbit test. Finally, in 1969, the first astronauts landed on the moon through the Saturn V rocket named Apollo 11. This was a landmark achievement in astrology as well as in the history of America. The Saturn V was last used in 1973, when it was launched without a crew to propel the Skylab space station into the orbit of the Earth.
The Saturn V was a multistage rocket. This means that it used two or more stages which consisted of their own propellants, as well as engines. Two or more such rockets attached next to or on top of each other from the launch vehicle. Each stage rocket would detach itself from the launch vehicle whenever it would run out of fuel. Then, the next stage rocket would start providing the fuel, helping it to continue its path into space. The stages help the rocket in attaining acceleration easily at each stage to reach the required height. The Saturn V was a three-stage launch vehicle. The most powerful engine was possessed by the first stage rocket, since it had to lift the entire launch vehicle off the ground, which was a challenging task. The first stage rocket of the Saturn V was reported to have lifted the launch vehicle to an altitude of about 42 miles. Then, the second stage would carry it from there almost into the orbit of the Earth, where the third stage rocket would take charge and push the spacecraft towards the Moon. The first two stage rockets would fall into the ocean after being separated while the third would either stay in space or reach the moon.
The first stage of the Saturn V was built by The Boeing Company in an industry in New Orleans named the MichoudAssembly Facility. It was 33 feet in diameter,138 feet in length, and 300,000 pounds in mass. It had five engines and was the biggest rocket ever produced in the United States of America. After being fueled, the massive rocket would weigh 5 million pounds. The Boeing Company was responsible for designing and the assembling of the rocket, as well as its testing in National Space Technology Laboratories. Furthermore, their responsibility was increased to include the engineering of the system, its vehicle integration, spacecraft assessment as well as mission support. The technical staff was also provided by the company to NASA for their Apollo nuclear program.
The second stage rocket, S-II, was built by the North American Aviation in California. They used liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, had five engines, and transported the Saturn V through the upper atmospheres. Most of its weight was propellant, and it used a common structure having two aluminum sheets. Other than that, the second stage rocket was identical to S-1C in size, barring a few differences.
The third stage rocket, S-IVB, was built by the McDonnel Douglas in California. It used the same fuel as that of the second stage rocket, as well as a common bulkhead. It was 17.86 meters in length with a diameter of 6.604 meters. The S-IVB was designed with high efficiency of mass. It had a dry weight of about 10,000 kg. When fuelled completely, it weighed about 119,000 kg.It may be pertinent to mention here that the third stage rocket was the only stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle which was small enough to be transported by plane.
Throughout the seven years in which the Saturn V was developed, a total of 6.5 billion dollars was spent on the rocket. The extremely high cost was one of the main reasons why the Apollo lunar program was closed down. However, it is an incontrovertible fact that the development of the Saturn V led to the first-ever landing of astronauts on Apollo 11 on the moon and has been one of the most significant achievements in the history of the United States to date. Not only did it give recognition to NASA, but it also paved the way for a large-scale exploration of space throughout the world.

References

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