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40 years ago: Saturn I-B

Published on Jul 5, 2006 at 4:48 pm. No Comments.
Filed under NASA, rockets, space exploration.

40 years ago, today, July 5, 1966, was the launch of the second Saturn 1-B rocket from Cape Canaveral.Â The Saturn 1-B was part of the Saturn family of rockets, the first US launch vehicles designed from the drawing board upwards as rocket boosters, not missiles.Â That is not to say that some missile technology was not used, for military rocket technology was certainly used, but that rather the rocket itself was never intended to be used for military purposes.Â Twelve Saturn 1-B rockets were built, andÂ nine were launched.

The Saturn 1-B’s first stage is a strange looking sort of clump of cyllindrical structures.Â Essentially, the Saturn 1-B first stage was eight Redstone rocket propellant tanks clustered around a Jupiter missile fuel tank.Â As I indicated, the Saturn family or rockets used military technology, but they were not simply redesigned military rockets.Â Four of the Redstone tanks, as well as the Jupiter tank held liquid oxygen, and the remaining four Redstone tanks held RP-1, which is highly refined kerosene.Â Eight H-1 engines propelled the Saturn 1-B from the launch pad.Â Four engines were fixedÂ in a tight cluster near the center of the base of the stage, and an additional four engines were mounted in a square around this central cluster.Â The outer engines could be gimbaled (tilted) to steer the rocket.

The second stage of the Saturn 1-B is the Saturn IV-B stage.Â Fueled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, and propelled by a single J-2 engine, the Saturn IV-B upper stage of the Saturn 1-B is the same as the third stage for a Saturn V rocket.Â The Saturn IV-B was originally designed with a cluster of engines and was to be the fourth stage of a proposed rocket that was never built.Â However, the development of the J-2 engine permitted the cluster of engines to be replaced with the single more powerful J-2.Â This engine was designed to be used in space to be restartable.Â Most rocket engines started once, and never again.Â A restartable engine was needed for lunar missions.

Saturn 1-B rockets were launched from Launch Complex 34 and Launch Complex 37 on Merritt Island at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.Â Launch Complex 34 was retired after the Apollo use, and so was Launch Complex 37.Â However, LC 37 has been reactiviated and completely redesigned for use with DeltaÂ IV rockets.Â A modification to the mobile launch platform for Launch Complex 39 permitted the post-Apollo Saturn 1-B launches be be make from Kennedy Space Center itself.

TheÂ flight 40 years ago was a test of the Saturn IV-B upper stage.Â An earlier Saturn 1-B flight had tested the ApolloÂ Command Module.Â Apollo 7, a test of Apollo hardware in Earth orbit was launched from a Saturn 1-B.Â After Apollo 7 in 1968, Saturn 1-B rockets were not used again until May 25, 1973, when a Saturn 1-B lifted an Apollo capsule to Skylab to deliver the first manned mission to our first space station.Â Two other Skylab crews were delivered by Saturn 1-B rockets.Â Also, the Apollo capsule for the joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was launched on a Saturn 1-B, July 15, 1975 — the last Saturn 1-B launch.Â There was one Saturn 1-B ready for launch at KSC, to be used as a rescue craft to Skylab if needed.Â It was never used, as were the last two Saturn 1-B rockets built.

So, there you have a little summary of the Saturn 1-B rocket.

-Astroprof