The Replica Prop Forum

The Replica Prop Forum
Very cool site I am also a member of

Thursday, January 24, 2013

NASA opens the closet and reaches into the past

"HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - A vintage rocket engine built to blast the first U.S. lunar mission into Earth's orbit more than 40 years ago is again rumbling across the Southern landscape. The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit in 1969, when NASA sent Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts to the moon for the first time. The flight went off without a hitch, but no thanks to the engine - it was grounded because of a glitch during a test in Mississippi and later sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where it sat for years.?

The pic isn't that enlightening, but the whole article is very interesting.  Such as this quote. 

"This wouldn't be your daddy's F-1," Coates said. "We'd use new materials and try to simplify it, update it."

This wasn't a full up F-1 Rocket Engine test, but the smaller engine which helped to power the pump that ran the F1.  Considering that the F1 developed about 1.5 million pounds of thrust and the Saturn V had 5 of them in the first stage, I don't think the neighbors in Huntsville would like a full up test.  

Some more info about the F1 Engine is available at the following links.

F-1 Engine Fact Sheet - PDF File

F-1 Engine Diagram - Wikimedia Commons

Apollo 11 Moon Rocket's F-1 Engines - SPACE.com


Saturn V's F-1 Engines being installed - Wikimedia Commons - 5.15 MB photo
Encyclopedia Astronautica-F1 Engine entry


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