This NASA file
photo shows the first stage of the mighty Saturn V rocket used to
launch the historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969 as the
booster was being built. The five huge F-1 rocket engines were discarded
into the Atlantic Ocean after the July 16, 1969 launch. Credit: NASA |
Lost, that is, until now.
A private expedition financed by Amazon.com founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos has discovered the five F-1 rocket engines used to launch Apollo 11 into space on July 16, 1969 and is drawing up plans to retrieve one or more so they can be publicly displayed.
- See more at: http://www.space.com/15075-apollo-11-moon-rocket-engines-discovered.html#sthash.QnqecjjH.dpuf
This NASA file
photo shows the first stage of the mighty Saturn V rocket used to
launch the historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969 as the
booster was being built. The five huge F-1 rocket engines were discarded
into the Atlantic Ocean after the July 16, 1969 launch. Credit: NASA |
Lost, that is, until now.
A private expedition financed by Amazon.com founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos has discovered the five F-1 rocket engines used to launch Apollo 11 into space on July 16, 1969 and is drawing up plans to retrieve one or more so they can be publicly displayed.
- See more at: http://www.space.com/15075-apollo-11-moon-rocket-engines-discovered.html#sthash.QnqecjjH.dpuf
I being a space nut saw this in the news a couple of days ago and was very excited. I consider the Apollo program the Zenith of the American space program. I do like the shuttles but the Apollo program put us on another planet. I vaguely remember the Apollo program( what can I say...I was young) I did have an Apollo/Saturn plastic model that was my favorite toy. I liked being able to take it apart and pretend that I traveled to another planet. Apollo was back when we as a nation could believe that we could do anything that we set our mind to. After Apollo we were supposed to start planning trips to mars and even further out. Unfortunately Space program took a backseat to the "Guns vs butter" debate. Many people criticized the cost saying that we could feed the world for what it cost for us to do "space". They forgot the point of Space travel, to feed and nurture the spirit and the mind and the quest of knowledge. Instead we ushered in the malaise of the 70's when big brother 1.0 started with the government interference in industry, regulations and other intrusions and the socialist started the inroads into our education systems. I hope to one day see us in space again...in American Spaceships....not Russian or Chinese for that matter.
A conservator has confirmed that one of the F-1 rocket engines that Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos's salvage team recovered from the ocean floor is in fact from Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the Moon.
Beneath all the muck, the serial number reveals the rocket's historic heritage
Bezos – who is funding the salvage effort privately – announced in March that his crew had pulled up enough turbines, heat exchangers, fuel manifolds, and other rocket parts to build two complete engines, five of which powered each Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo program.Confirming just which Apollo mission the parts had come from, however, was another matter. Having spent the last 44 years some 14,000 feet under the sea, the wreckage was understandably somewhat worse for wear, and heavy corrosion of the metal made looking for serial numbers or other identifying marks a difficult task.
But on Friday, Bezos blogged that one of the conservators at the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas had made a breakthrough. By scanning one of the recovered thrust chambers with an ultraviolet light and a special lens filter, the researcher was able to make out the number "2044" stenciled in black paint on the side of the object.
Encouraged, the conservator set about removing corrosion from the base of the thrust chamber and was eventually able to uncover the same number stamped into the metal itself. That information was all the team needed to confirm the object's source.
Black light to reveal black paint: the fateful serial number uncovered
According to Bezos, 2044 is the Rocketdyne serial number that corresponds to the NASA serial number for F-1 Engine #5 from the very Saturn V rocket that hurled Apollo 11 into space on July 16, 1969."44 years ago tomorrow Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, and now we have recovered a critical technological marvel that made it all possible," Bezos wrote.
Of course, lots more work needs to be done to restore the engines to a condition where they can be viewed by the public, and their ultimate fate remains unknown. The wreckage is still technically the property of NASA, so the space agency gets the final say on what to do with the restored engines.
Bezos says he expects NASA will want one to be put on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Since his team was able to recover two engines, however, he says he has asked if the second one can be displayed at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, near Amazon's headquarters. ®
The crew of Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Showing the Saturn flying through a condensation ring.....Very nice Pic
Great posts! Love the astronaut info and was fascinated with that. Went to Houston...space center. Was great!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, and you'll be interested to know they just fired a support engine to the F-1 and are planning to fire one of the few remaining F-1s at full power later this year!
ReplyDeleteI realize it's a couple days late, but I don't think that photo with the flag is main engine jettison.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not a composite, then the altitude is way too low for already ditching the mains (or else that flag is way up in the air somewhere). Also, if you check other photos of the Apollo rocket there is a length of white-painted body between the alternating black and white section below the burst and the tapered section above it, so no separation has happened yet.
Also, the engines aren't firing when the separation occurs.
That is likely a condensation burst from the tapered section of the rocket.
Hi Momma Fargo,;
DeleteGlad you liked the article;)
Hey Old NFO I would love to see them fire that engine....it would be unforgettable
Hey Cordolf; You are correct, I hate posting and making a mistake My bad...I have corrected the pic.