Its 1961 and you are having a suburban backyard BBQ before the launch of a moon rocket. You gather inside after that Jello dessert and circle the shaggy olive green carpet in front of that black & white TV to see the NASA launch of a Saturn I rocket. This nostalgic trip will take us back in time to 1961-1965 as we experience what life was like during vintage spaceflight times.
Saturn I Rocket
Stages & Design
The American orbital launch vehicle developed by Wernher von Braun and his team at the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency was called the Von Braun launch vehicle, or "Cluster's Last Stand." It featured a unique design with eight Redstone missile tanks arranged around a Jupiter missile tank core, powered by eight Jupiter engines. Originally intended for the Apollo manned circumlunar flights, it was developed so early that no payloads were available for it.
To save money in its development, the Saturn 1 rocket used existing hardware, specifically a lengthened Jupiter missile tank in the center with eight lengthened Redstone missile tanks around it. The United States launched a total of 32 Saturn rockets between 1961 and 1975, including the Saturn I (10 launches), Saturn IB (9 launches), the three-stage Saturn V (12 launches), and the two-stage Saturn V (1 launch). While some flights experienced significant problems, no Saturn rocket failed catastrophically in flight.
60s Nostalgia
Why are you still up watching tv? Oh that’s right. They all stayed up late to stay tuned to Walter Cronkite and his newscast delivery of every step of the launch. Living rooms back in the 60s had style and vibrant life. I do apologize since most of us these days will never be able to purchase a home, let alone convert a home into a 60s era replica space age home.
The first Saturn rockets to fly were the Saturn I, with ten successful launches between 1961 and 1965. The first four missions were known as block 1, flying with an S-I first stage and dummy upper stages. The last six missions were known as block 2, which included an uprated S-I stage and an S-IV second stage. Several block-2 missions orbited boilerplate Apollo spacecraft and Pegasus satellites, with the latter being among the largest payloads in orbit at the time and designed to detect micrometeoroid hits.
To The Moon!
Go For Re-Entry!
The Saturn rockets played a vital role in supporting the Apollo lunar missions, launching the Skylab space station, ferrying crews to and from Skylab, and launching the American half of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The Saturn I rocket was developed by the ABMA in 1957, and its unique first stage was composed of clustered tanks. This innovative design allowed for the use of tooling from the Redstone and Jupiter missile programs.
The Saturn I design evolved into the Saturn IB rockets of the Apollo era, which continued to be used for manned spaceflight missions until 1975. Well if you enjoyed this 1960s journey into vintage spaceflight please check out our other timeline rockets or head over to our articles section for the latest modern spaceflight journalism news. See you out on the launch pad!
