Saturn V, one of humanities finest achievements. The only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO)
Saturn V, one of humanities finest achievements. The only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO)
Saturn V rocket
As of 2024, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The Saturn V holds the record for the largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit, 311,152 lb (141,136 kg), which included unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo command and service module and Lunar Module to the Moon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V
Standing 36 storeys, twice as high as Niagara Falls. Weighing 2.8 million kilograms (6.2 million pounds). Producing 34.5 million newtons of thrust (7.5 million pounds) from its first-stage engines. In all, NASA flew 13 Saturn V rockets, and all of them did their job of delivering 24 humans to the moon — with 12 of those humans walking on the surface — as well as lifting the first American space station, Skylab into Orbit.
-
better view of the scale of the rocket: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Saturn_V_Rocket_--_Johnson_Space_Center.jpg
-
I got to go to see one of the only Saturn V rockets in Houston. The scale is unbelievable. That much rocket to get 3 people to the moon is just mind-numbing.
-
Equally mind numbing is that for decades it was literally just sitting outside. They have built a structure around it to protect it, but I remember seeing it as a kid just out in the elements.
-
