The largest rocket built at the time of the historic first missions to the moon, the Saturn V carried aloft the 45-ton Apollo spacecraft on earth orbital and lunar missions from 1967 to 1972. It also launched the 120-ton Skylab into earth orbit on May 14, 1973.
Rocket
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Image Credit: Public Domain (NASA)Image Caption: The largest rocket engines built at the time of the first US missions to the moon.Era_date_from: 1967
1980
The RL-10, which served as the power plant for NASA's upper-stage Centaur space launch vehicle, was the first rocket engine to use high-energy liquid hydrogen as a fuel. It has provided precisely controlled, reliable power for lunar and planetary explorations. The RL-10 embodied numerous advanced design features, including multiple use of its fuel with the "bootstrap cycle." The RL-10 is also capable of multiple restarts in space, which enables positioning of satellites or further escape of Earth's gravity.
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Image Credit: Public Domain (NASA)Image Caption: The first rocket engine to use high-energy liquid hydrogen as fuel.Era_date_from: 1958
1979
The Advanced Engine Test Facility was built in 1964, three years after President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to world leadership in aeronautical science. Conceived and designed by Wernher von Braun, the first director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, this facility was used to perform static tests on the booster of the Saturn V rocket, which launched Apollo 11 to the moon on July 16, 1969.
The stand has four concrete legs, each four feet thick and rising 144 feet to a steel superstructure supporting a 200-ton crane.
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Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Saturn V Rocket being lifted onto the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's John C. Stennis Space CenterEra_date_from: 1964
1993