Steps To Saturn

[Music] in the ancient world men of science cataloging the visible Universe observed a star of Greater brightness than the first magnitude and named it Saturn later in the first decade of the Space Age men of science again applied the name Saturn to a giant rocket vehicle an instrument of far greater magnitude than its predecessors created for the peaceful invasion of space this Saturn promises to enrich the experience and knowledge of man far beyond existing limits the discovery of Saturn the planet and the birth of Saturn the space transport are separated by a span of 3,000 years yet only a little more than 3 years elapsed between the decision to produce the Saturn rocket and its preparation here for flight this accomplishment of a series of achievements the steps to Saturn is in itself an historic chapter in the evolution of rocketry key to the conquest of space the origins of rocketry are very deep in history yet there is a point at which the rocket principle became a practical consideration as the means of investigating matters beyond Earth in 19 26 Dr Robert H Goddard an American college professor successfully demonstrated the fundamentals of controlled rocket flight his theories still valid shaped first outlines of a now Dynamic and vital area of science rocket technology Dr Godard the Practical Visionary thus took the first steps to Saturn yet in the wake of of World War II United States developmental efforts were largely directed at producing military rockets in 1953 the United States fired its first crew ballistic missile the Redstone redstone contributed heavily to the technical capability of the infant American rocket industry thus later the intermediate range ballistic missiles and the larger InterContinental missiles could dwarf the performance figures of earlier Rockets Dr Godard measured his successes in linear feat Jupiter and irbm could precisely Target an objective 15500 miles distant Jupiter flew first in 1957 and in that year Sputnik 1 was placed in orbit with that single act of rocketry the character of international Endeavor was abruptly altered scientific achievement for the first time became a popular barometer of national reputation and the area of ambition shifted from the tiny confines of Earth outward to the measureless arena of space this too was a step to Saturn it made mandatory the immediate utilization of military rocket systems as space taxis off in January of 1958 a Jupiter sea vehicle hurled into orbit the first US satellite Explorer 1 an impressive achievement score was rung up by many subsequent space Pros but these steps to Saturn taken together paid a far more important dividend they advanced the whole new technology of space rocket they enlisted and trained a space core cading technicians Engineers planners researchers theoreticians all were permitted to learn sometimes through bitter failure but the technical establishment grew matured and so the Saturn project able to build build on proven experience and capability became a practical Enterprise in August of 1958 the advanced research projects agency gave the go-ahead on Saturn development to the Army ballistic missile agency Saturn was later transferred to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration upon creation of the space agency development as a priority NASA project continues at the George C Marshall space flight Center Huntsville Alabama defined Saturn is a rocket vehicle system of great flexibility designed to serve over an extended period as the multi-purpose Workforce of peaceful space exploration Prime objective to contribute to the priority National Space goal Mann lunar Landings yet the space payoff the mission can only be as rich as the basic capability of the carrier rocket so working toward the moon began with the development problems of lifting great bulk and weight free of the Earth the requirement a booster of enormous Brute Force to muscle upper payload carrying stages into near space so a significant step to Saturn was the executive decision develop quickly the big booster use available Reliable Hardware create a flyable first stage producing thrust in the order of 1 and2 million pound this power output was almost four times the power of any rocket propulsion system in this country indicated was a task involving clustering proven engines tankage feed system systems and Associated Hardware all combined in totally unprecedented multiples first the basic engine chosen was an improved and uprated unit of high reliability seasoned in the irbm and ICBM programs the H1 a liquid propellant engine using rp1 Fuel and liquid oxygen could produce 188,000 lb of thrust multiplied by 8 it would when successfully clustered give us space Ambitions the big lift engine development was rapid First full power firing at the Santa Susanna test site in California took place only 3 months after the go-ahead [Applause] date and 4 months later the first engine reached Alabama to the basic engine many engine engineering refinements had been applied these worked toward functional simplification which greatly increased reliability and efficiency repositioning of key components improved the overall unit configuration reduced weight and allowed easier boattail maintenance the eight engines are set in two square patterns inner engines are rigidly Ed and caned slightly to concentrate thrust vectors close to center of gravity in the outer pattern engines are caned outward to a greater degree and can be gimb gimblin or swiveling is the means of directional control of the vehicle for by command signals from the guidance computer the engine gimblin can alter the direction of its thrust and thus the direction of the entire rocket maintaining the clustering concept booster tankage which forms the basic thrust carrying structure could also be utilized in multiples tooling for tankage in Redstone and Jupiter diameters was readily available thus development time to prove Out Tank configurations was reduced sharply by using existing facilities and experience booster super structure then was designed to comprise nine propellant tanks Center tank of Jupiter d diameter and four Redstone diameter outer tanks carry liquid oxygen fuel is carried in the four remaining outer tanks a Thrust frame assembly links together all tanks and supports the booster tanks carry a total of 750,000 lb of propellant which through a manifolding system can be gulped dry by the engines in less than 2 minutes the manifolds delivering the propellant have an interchange capability so that any tank can feed any engine and propellant levels in all tanks are maintained equal during depletion at the top end of the booster 48 fiberglass spheres store the gaseous nitrogen used to pressurize fuel tanks this during operation helps to maintain uniform propellant flow liquid oxygen tanks are pressurized by gaseous oxygen tapped from engine heat exchangers fabrication of the booster goes forward but before this every component every piece of Hardware of any size or function must prove Itself by actual operational test testing qualifies the component's performance probes for hidden unsuspected Flaws by endless repetition determines the reliability and sometimes fixes the precise limit of life the breaking point the test program proving point of the development cycle puts the stamp of acceptance or rejection on every item there are no unimportant items final assembly complete the booster is ready for functional testing captive within the test Tower the engines will be fired as a cluster unit for the first time now the specters of rocket propulsion the intangible the unpredictable combustion instability structural weaknesses excessive vibration Sonic stress all rise to haunt the test engineer at ignition everything is committed from the first performance met all [Applause] expectations on April 29 1960 all eight engines firing as a unit according to plan for the first time produced more than 1 million pounds of [Applause] trust while the booster emerged as the major accomplishment other steps to Saturn thousands of them were being taken each Development Day hundreds of industrial contractors contributed greatly Diversified skills and products to nourish the growth process of the overall vehicle throughout the nation Personnel Services material all the knowhow of Highly specialized firms and agencies were integrated uniquely into this single space Venture AT Marshall management teams wrestled with the intricate combinations of time capability and funding and a first citizen looking toward the problems of space noted carefully the details of the complex Mosaic of the total Saturn plan and in the Laboratories of the Space Center the routine assault on detail the minute attention to the tiny Hardware organisms of a great rocket continue quietly persistently study the little known destructive vaporization of material and tissue in a space regime and with space captured in a bottle discover an effective lubricant for moving Parts functioning in a total vacuum endlessly examine the environmental deterioration of matter especially metal search for answers to the questions of space existence search in fact for the questions and in the meantime new facilities must be developed to meet the accelerated needs of the program and it is axiomatic that facilities Pace all other effort facilities for fabrication engineering Personnel for development for testing and inevitably for launch and flight for Saturn there was launch complex 34 2 years in the making dominating the North End of the cape with its towering 300t Gantry complex 34 awaited Saturn from Alabama to Cape Canaveral is 2,000 mil by water too huge for a conventional transport the Saturn vehicle floated the first leg of the journey to space on the back of a [Music] barge in a summer Dawn Saturn appears off the Florida coast the piggyback passenger prone and peacemeal is tugged a final short step toward the launch site toward [Music] fulfillment the Inland River routes to canav are line the throngs the young the Curious all those who sense in the arrival of the recumbent giant a meaningful appointment with history and some waiting who know intimately the history of the appointment assembly into flight position begins first the booster now vertical in Flight position on the launch pedestal for the first research and development flights of Saturn the two upper stages are not powered the second stage here is merely a water-filled passenger and aerodynamic component in later versions this Saturn stage will be powered by high energy liquid hydrogen liquid oxygen engines the third stage a modified Centaur is also inert here Pro to ride with water ballast this stage may also be powered in later Saturns by two similar high energy engines to complete the vehicle the nose cone is m to the upper stage this the first Saturn does not carry an active payload but later when the giant has matured the installation of the nose cone filled with instruments and detection and recording devices or communication systems will be of over riding importance and in time the descendants of Saturn will be topped by a spacecraft bearing humans on route to the Moon Saturn is ready for [Music] flight 3 years plus a few months and now only a few hours away from the absolute test countdown was initiated at 11:00 p.m. October [Music] 26th all right Bo tank pressurizing coming [Music] up on after daylight the Gantry moved back on schedule Saturn stood [Music] [Applause] alone shortly after 9:00 a.m. a short hold occurred to wait out a weather [Music] condition [Music] weather okay countdown resumed 10:05 a.m. October 27th 33 1 minute 34 35 36 38 15 40 PSI unlocked tanks 41 42 and A2 43 off tank pressurized jumping seconds transfer complete top plug [Music] disconnected 20 [Music] seconds [Music] ignition all engin running bu commit launch commit right on 16 stories tall weighing nearly 500 t TS Saturn flew all objectives were achieved all [Music] satisfactory but beyond the moment of great accomplishment the engineering and scientific Triumph what does the first Saturn flight bring in return earlier this was said space is open to us now and our egist to share its meaning is not governed by the efforts of others we go into space because whatever mankind must undertake free men must fully share I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of Landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth no single Space Project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long range exploration of space and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish thus toward that goal a giant step the first Saturn a product of directed human talent and energy which will be followed by other steps to eventually give to all mankind a freedom from the restraints of Earth to probe toward the enlargement of knowledge to move toward the far reaches of the unknown to bring the visible and invisible Universe into the catalog of human experience these steps to Saturn [Music] [Applause] continue [Music]