National Register Listing

Saturn V Launch Vehicle

a.k.a. Saturn V Rocket

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

The Saturn V is considered one of the greatest engineering achievements of all time, serving as the launch vehicle for the Apollo program which took the first men to the moon. The Saturn V Launch Vehicle at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, has the distinction of being the only intact Saturn V consisting of all flyable stages. It is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places at the national level of significance, for its technological achievements in transportation, engineering, and space exploration. The Saturn V meets Criteria Consideration G because it is exceptionally significant as one of only three intact Saturn V rockets in the United States and as the only example made of components intended to fly on Apollo missions. The Saturn V need not meet Criterion Consideration B (Moved Properties) as it is a property designed to be moved, and its location at the Johnson Space Center is appropriate because the JSC served as the command center for all Saturn V space flight missions. The period of significance runs from 1970 (construction date of the components) through 1973, the last year Saturn V rockets were used in NASA space missions.

On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy announced the nation's goal to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. The decision to develop the Saturn V was officially announced on January 10, 1962. The Saturn V was the first large vehicle in the U.S. space program to be conceived and developed for a specific purpose - the lunar landing. The extension of NASA's jurisdiction to the moon meant an enormous expansion of its research and development operations, and nearly 20,000 contractor companies across the country contributed to the production of the rocket. NASA began to reorganize and increase its space establishments to carry out Project Apollo, the program to land humans on the moon and bring them safely back to Earth.

The liftoff of the first manned lunar landing mission of Apollo 11 took place on July 16, 1969. The Saturn V successfully conveyed five other Apollo missions to the moon (Apollo missions 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17). The last Saturn V lunar mission liftoff took place on December 6, 1972. The vehicle's last space mission occurred when the first two stages of a Saturn V lifted the Skylab's first Earth-orbiting space station on May 14, 1973.

The Manned Spacecraft Center (renamed Johnson Space Center on August 17, 1973) was created after the formation of NASA to manage the American Manned Space Program. On September 19, 1961, Administrator James E. Webb of NASA formally announced that the new Manned Spacecraft Center would be built in southeastern Harris County, Texas, about twenty-five miles from downtown Houston, at the edge of Clear Lake, an inlet of Galveston Bay. In addition to serving as Mission Control for the Apollo missions, the JSC pioneered in research and development of manned spacecraft systems, astronaut life support systems, integration of experiments for space flight activities, and application of space technology for scientific, engineering, and medical research.

Saturn V Launch Vehicle

The manned Apollo missions were each launched aboard a Saturn V launch vehicle, the largest and most powerful U.S. expendable launch vehicle ever built. The "V" designation originates from the five powerful F-1 engines that powered the first stage of the rocket. When configured to launch the Apollo spacecraft, each Saturn V required three stages: the S-1C, the S-II, and the SA-IVB. Contracts to build these stages were awarded to North American, Douglas, and Boeing during 1961 and 1962.2 The stages were test-fired at the Mississippi Test Facility near Bay St. Louis and at the George C. Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Saturn V performed successfully in all Apollo flight missions.

The Apollo spacecraft, including the Command Module (CM), Service Module (SM) Lunar Module (LM), and emergency escape system sat atop the launch vehicle. In a typical Apollo Saturn V flight, carrying three astronauts launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first stage separated after a 2.5-minute firing duration at an altitude of about 38 miles and a speed of almost 6,000 mph. This stage largely burned up during reentry through the Earth's atmosphere and then fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The second stage fired for six minutes and took the vehicle to 115 miles at a speed of 15,700 mph. This stage also burned upon reentry and fell into the Atlantic. Consequently, only a rocket that was never used for its purpose remains to be displayed as they are at the Johnson Space Center. After a firing duration of about 2.5 minutes, the Apollo's third stage, attached to the Apollo spacecraft assembly, was at an orbital altitude of 118 miles and a speed of 17,520 mph.

For the flight to the moon from Earth orbit, the third stage was re-ignited on the second or third orbit around Earth to take it out of Earth's gravitational pull. Smaller engines helped steer the remaining vehicle toward the moon, while rocket motors separated the third stage from the Apollo Command Module (CM) with the attached Lunar Module (LEM). Altogether, there were 41 rocket motors on the Saturn V, including the main propulsion systems and much smaller control rockets.

On its approach and insertion into an orbit around the moon, the Lunar Excursion Module separated and touched down on the lunar surface, later rejoining the Command Module orbiting the moon. The two lunar explorers climbed into and sealed the Control Module, then jettisoned the remaining part of the Lunar Module to the surface of the moon. The Command Module then rocketed out of lunar orbit toward Earth and eventually reentered the Earth's atmosphere, slowed down partway by parachutes, and landed in the Pacific Ocean where the three astronauts were retrieved by recovery ships. The Saturn V was tested in two unmanned evaluation flights, Apollo 4 and 6. The first manned lunar orbital mission in which the astronauts flew around the moon (not landing) and returned to Earth was made by Apollo 8, launched on December 21, 1968. Apollo 11, launched on July 18, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins, made the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969. NASA planned ten lunar missions (11 through 20) but budgetary constraints during the early 1970s precluded further Apollo missions. In October 1969, a revised launch schedule set the Apollo 18 mission for February 1972 and the Apollo 19 mission for November of the same year, but the last Apollo moon landing flight, Apollo 17, was launched on December 7, 1972.6 The final flight of the Saturn V, launched on May 5, 1973, was a two-stage version of the vehicle which placed the Skylab Orbital Workshop into a 275-mile high orbit.

The Saturn V at the Johnson Space Center is one of three extant Saturn V vehicles belonging to the National Air and Space Museum on loan to NASA Centers (the others are at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama). Of the three, the launch vehicle at JSC is the only one with all three flyable stages, designed for use in Apollo missions. Stages 1 and 3 were manufactured by the end of December 1970 and the second stage was completed in September 1970. The first (S-1C-14) and third (SA-IVB-513) stages were chosen for the Apollo 18 mission, which ultimately was canceled. The second stage (S-II-15) was meant as a backup for the Skylab mission which NASA did not use. The Saturn V was placed on display intact, with little attempt to remove small components from the vehicle prior to exposing it to the elements. The Saturn V vehicle in Huntsville, Alabama, was selected in 1985 to represent the class of Saturn V rockets as a National Historic Landmark because of its integrity and association with its site. While not intended to fly itself, the Huntsville Saturn V was a working vehicle with all of its parts intact and prepared the way for all the Saturn Vs that did fly and were lost after having completed their missions.

Formal accountability for the Apollo/ Saturn hardware now belongs to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, DC. The actual hardware, however, still resides in Texas, Florida, and Alabama where each Saturn V provides those with an abiding interest in space flight with lessons on the history of engine configuration, structural design, and more. The JSC Saturn V is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, under Criterion A, in the areas of Transportation and Space Exploration and Criterion C, in the area of Engineering, as a rare and intact example of the launch vehicle used throughout the Apollo Program.

Local significance of the structure:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2003.