Questions tagged [saturn-v]
Questions pertaining to the launch vehicle developed by Wernher von Braun's team under Arthur Rudolph's supervision at Marshall Space Flight Center for carrying astronauts to the Moon. Saturn V (or C-5 configuration) had three stages with clustered engines F-1 and J-2 and an instrument unit.
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What kept the Soviets from going to the Moon (before the US)?
I know that Saturn V's payload was 140 tons, about 20 times that of Soyuz. The Soviets did not have a functioning rocket with similar characteristics. But why? They had a head start in the space race ...
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What was the exhaust pressure of the Saturn V? [duplicate]
I am trying to write some code to simulate rocket launches, and I am doing a proof of concept using the Apollo 11 as a model, to fill my values. When calculating thrust I am using the equation:
F=m⋅Ve+...
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How high was the Apollo after trans-lunar injection usually?
Nowhere can I find info on how high the Apollo and the S-IVB stage were after engine cutoff following the successful TLI. The S-IVB/Apollo was in a parking orbit usually about 110 mi (180 km) above ...
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Why did the Soviet Union decide to use 30 small engines instead of a few large ones on the N1?
The N1 was a big disappointment after exploding on every single launch attempt. From what I have read, it seems like most of the attempts went wrong because one of the 30 engines exploded causing a ...
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Main engine gimballing in Saturn V
The first stage of Saturn V has 5 main F-1 engines, but only 4 of the outer engines can gimbal and the engine at the center was fixed (Source : https://youtube.com/clip/...
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Whats the exit pressure of the F-1 engine?
I cant find anything online, does anyone know what it is?
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Why are Moon Rockets (Saturn V, N1) so much bigger than the Titan IIIE?
In what little knowledge of space and rockets I have, it seems to me that the further the object your aiming for, the more fuel you’ll need, and the bigger engines you’ll need. Having compared the ...
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Why doesn’t the SLS have a service structure?
Both the Saturn V and the Shuttle had the Mobile Service Structure and the Rotating Service Structure respectively for work on the pad. Why doesn’t the SLS have such a thing?
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Design & selection of Saturn V for Apollo mission [duplicate]
While the Saturn project evolved out of von Braun's efforts to develop more and more powerful rockets to launch heavier payloads into space for the military, Saturn V, it seems was specifically ...
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How and who calculated the thrust required from first stage of launch vehicle Saturn V for moon landing?
Given the lack of clarity about weight of CM, SM and LEM while designing Saturn V, how and who calculated the thrust required from first stage of launch vehicle (Saturn V), for moon landing? were the ...
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basis for designing fins of a space launch vehicle
What was the basis for deciding the size, shape, location and number of fins for the Saturn V (or any other rocket for that matter)? Does it have any calculations or were they designed based on ...
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Relative location of RP1 and LOX tanks in Saturn V [duplicate]
In Saturn V, the 2nd and 3rd stages had their fuel tank located above the LOX tank, but in the first stage, the LOX tank was located above the fuel tank. Is it because the individual stages had their ...
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Was the Saturn V assembly carried out on the crawler-transporter or on the VAB's ground floor?
Were the Saturn V(s) assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), on the Crawler transporter or were they assembled on the ground and then kept over the transporter to be taken to the launch pad? ...
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What does it mean to tune the Saturn F-1 engine to a frequency, and how is the tuning done?
Chapter 10 of Chariots For Apollo remarks the following in discussing the pogo problem of Apollo 4 and 6 and the role of the first stage F-1 engines in that:
The mission analysts later discovered ...
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Two additional Saturn V flights planned in 1967 - but for what?
Per this question, there was no "cancelled" second run of Saturn Vs: only the first fifteen were ordered, and no second batch was ordered and then later cancelled. This had always been my ...
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Could Saturn V lunar stack reach JWST for service?
This is obviously hypothetical question (while there are two Saturn V stacks remaining that were once "flight ready", maybe no longer flight ready enough after so many years in museums). But ...
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What does the ATOLL programming language look like?
During the Apollo program, checkout tests of launch vehicle and spacecraft systems were gradually being automated, moving away from the manual processes during the early years of the space program to (...
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Would deorbiting a crippled Apollo spacecraft using the Saturn V third stage have been a reasonable contingency?
In the event of the loss of all fuel cells in an Apollo mission, would reaching orbit with the third stage, then using the relight to de-orbit somewhat near the normal location in the pacific be a ...
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Evolution of Saturn V for JFK's Man on Moon mission
While reading about history of Saturn family of rockets, I read that all the Saturn rockets were initially designed to meet defense requirements for heavy lift vehicles. I was reading a NASA ...
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The diagonal braces on the Apollo-era Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT) - oh and the vertical and horizontals too
Can anyone give me a lead on where to find the exact dimensions of the diagonal braces used on the original (Apollo-Era) Saturn V Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT)?
In fact, while we are at it, I am ...
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Why did Apollo missions open the propulsive Hydrogen vents during the coast phase?
According to Figure 2-1 of the SA-503 flight manual the LH2 continuous vent was opened during the coast phase, and closed during the ullage stage of the S-IVB restart T_6 + 0:00:42.0 (but open for ...
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Are there any markings that uniquely identify each Saturn-Apollo combination?
This question made me wonder: are there any markings on the Saturn I/IB/V launch vehicle, Apollo service module or command module that uniquely identify each vehicle (i.e. AS-5xx)?
It doesn't have to ...
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Identifying attitude control mode in GNC software?
Launch vehicles will generally have multiple multiple attitude control modes.
At launch, the engine-gimballing thrust-vectoring system is in charge.
In orbit, the reaction control system is (at least ...
user39728
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Space shuttle digital signal processor (DSP): floating point or fixed point?
Digital signal processors can represent irrational numbers using fixed-point or floating-point data types.
Fixed point means fixed number of decimal places, and floating point means floating number of ...
user39728
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Switching logic between throttle modes?
At launch, a vehicle like the space shuttle would command its throttle to do a few things:
Ramp up to max throttle
Hold max throttle
Follow a throttle bucket as function of velocity when near max-Q
...
user39728
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What barge route did the Saturn S-II take from California to Florida?
The first stage (S-IC) of the Saturn V rocket was produced at the Michoud Facility in New Orleans. Too large to be transported by railroad or airplane, it was delivered to Kennedy Space Center by ...
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Why did each F-1 engine have dual fuel feedlines?
Each F-1 engine had two fuel feedlines connecting it to the fuel tank as shown in these contemporary photographs and drawings.
The corresponding LOX system only had one feedline.
The engine had a ...
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Engine failure: how to detect?
Saturn V would automatically initiate launch abort if:
Launch vehicle rates exceeded a threshold (4 deg pitch/yaw, 20 deg roll)
Two or more booster engines dropped below 90 % rated thrust
I'm ...
user39728
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From attitude control malfunction to launch escape Go signal?
I’ve seen and read about launch failures caused by crossed thrust vectoring wires which fed rock and tilt commands to the wrong engine gimbal actuators (rock command going to tilt cylinder and tilt ...
user39728
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Interpolation method in pitchover maneuver: what type?
Consider the space shuttle or the Saturn V.
Launch would begin with an open-loop pitch schedule obtained from simulation with the day’s winds.
The pitch schedule would be specified as a lookup table ...
user39728
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Logic sequencing: From fault detection to launch escape?
So I'm working on fault insertion for my launch simulation.
It's basic: I flip a switch to kill the booster engines of my choice.
If two or more engines die, separation is triggered and the launch ...
user39728
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Drag and lift coefficient tables/plots for Saturn V/Space Shuttle/Other
I'm looking for drag and lift coefficient data to plug into my launch simulation.
I could assume constant coefficients, but I'd like to structure my model to accept lookup tables, so I'm looking for ...
user39728
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Correcting Accelerometer Readings when Offset from Center of Mass: How?
A follow-up to an earlier question.
So I've accepted that I need to correct my accelerometer readings for the accelerometer offset from the center of mass.
The offset means that whenever the rocket ...
user39728
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Jimsphere example data for wind speed/direction vs altitude?
I've added load relief to my thrust-vector controller (TVC) and would like to simulate it with some realistic wind data, ideally up to 80 km or higher.
I know wind speed and direction would be ...
user39728
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What was the volume of the Rocketdyne F-1 engine's main combustion chamber?
In the specifications of the F-1 available online, I can find its dimensions, weight, thrust, etc. but I couldn't find what was the volume of its main combustion chamber. Is this information available?...
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Moment of inertia data for rocket stage?
I'm modeling a rocket launch and would like to compare my calculated moments of inertia to actual real-world data from other rockets.
Any rocket would do, though those similar in size to Falcon 9 ...
user39728
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Does a photo with two Saturn V's on launch pad 39A and 39B exist?
There is a beautiful photo of two Space Shuttles on launch pads 39A and 39B. Apollo 10 was the only Saturn V launch from pad 39B. Were either Apollo 9 or Apollo 11 close enough in time to have two ...
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Were all three Mobile Launch Platforms ever in use simultaneously?
With an optimistic view on the future, NASA built a Vertical Assembly Building with four bays and three Mobile Launch Platforms. They were later repurposed for the Space Shuttle and other launch ...
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Ullage control with single engine stage?
How does a single-engine upper stage, like that of Falcon 9, do ullage control before starting the engine? Does it fire its cold gas thrusters? Does it fire the engine at minimum throttle for a second ...
user39728
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Ullage control on stage shutdown?
Is ullage control a thing only engine startup? Would a rocket like the Saturn V or Falcon 9 leave an engine running for a second or two longer just for ullage control?
user39728
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who decided Saturn V configuration [closed]
Saturn family of rockets were designed to launch heavy payloads into orbits. After 25th of May, 1961, who conceived the idea that various Saturn vehicles can be put together in series to create a ...
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Saturn V's external blueprints
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but I don't know where to ask.
I want to get a high quality orthographic blueprints of NASA's Saturn V rocket with dimensions and everything (I need it ...
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Separation of the stages of Saturn V by pyrotechnics, what about electrical and mechanical connections?
We know that the stages of Saturn V were mounted to each other with explosive bolts. Separation was done by ignition of these pyrotechnics.
But we also know the control computer of the Saturn V was ...
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How much open source is the Apollo program today?
What percentage of NASA's Apollo program is considered to be open source as of today? I mean if I wanted to replicate a lunar mission from scratch exactly the same way they did it, regardless of the ...
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Could the Soviets have gotten to the Moon using multiple Soyuz rockets?
Saturn V's payload was 140 tons, about 20 times that of Soyuz. The Soviets did not have a functioning rocket with similar characteristics. But couldn't they launch 20 Soyuz rockets, assemble the ...
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Noninertial effects a problem in strapdown IMUs?
Unlike stable-platform IMUs, which are fixed in space and therefore inertial, strapdown IMUs are fixed to the vehicle's body and therefore noninertial.
Would noninertial effects distort the strapdown ...
user36480
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Falcon 9 CGT Force?
Curious how much force the Falcon 9 cold gas thrusters produce for steering? I've seen numbers in the range of 25--100 lbf, but not sure where in this range (or outside it) the Falcon 9 falls.
If you ...
user36480
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How do they determine dynamic pressure has hit a max?
Max-Q is a key event during launch, and dynamic pressure is closely monitored so they know when a max is hit.
But how exactly do they know when Q hits a max? If you track the rate at which Q is ...
user36480
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Purpose of Initial yaw Maneuver?
I've read the Saturn V began launch with a short yaw maneuver which lasted from t+1 through t+8.25.
The purpose mentioned for the maneuver is to avoid contact with the launch tower.
But now that I ...
user36480
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Saturn V launch footage from in/on first S-IC stages
There first launches of each Saturn-class rocket were instrumented with, among other sensors, video cameras to learn about the vehicles’ behavior. The cameras were jettisoned at some point and then ...
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