F-1 Engine F-4023 (While Stored Behind Building 4205)

One of the stops on my fall 2008 tour of MSFC was a bay on the south end of Building 4205 which building housed a plywood and PVC pipe full-scale mockup of the Ares I frustum, interstage, and aft end of the second stage used to verify that the components can be serviced in the VAB or on the pad.

While that was interesting enough, I couldn't help but notice a fairly nice-looking F-1 rocket engine (along with a separate nozzle extension and spare F-1 engine nozzle extension handling fixture) located a short distance away from what I was supposed to be be paying attention to.

After the tour guide was done giving his presentation, I excused myself and photographed the F-1.

This is F-1 engine serial number F-4023; the nozzle extension is from F-5034. Alan Lawrie tells me that F-4023 was originally installed on Apollo 8 (S-IC-3) and underwent static firing with that stage. The stage was delivered to KSC for launch but the engine failed a later test and was removed in May 1968.

At that time, Alan was attempting to identify and locate the remaining F-1 rocket engines. Excited that I reported this engine's location, Alan collaborated with Robert Pearlman (of collectSPACE) to write an article about the engine. Entitled "Engine That Almost Launched Apollo 8 Moonshot Found 40 Years Later," a "teaser" version appeared on the front page of Space.com; the full story ran on collectSPACE.

The nozzle extension displayed nearby is from F-5034. That engine was the spare engine assigned to S-IC-5 (from Apollo 10). F-5036, originally installed in the stage, was removed and F-5034 was installed in its place; F-5034 ultimately went on to power the Apollo 10 mission. During the swap-out, the crew apparently retained F-5036's nozzle extension and installed it on F-5034, leaving F-5034's extension behind for us to enjoy today.

I later learned that F-4023 and the nozzle extension had been stored in a Marshall warehouse as late as December 2006, retrieved from storage and refurbished for display, and subsequently stored outdoors here. About a year after my visit, on October 21, 2009, F-4023 and nozzle extension F-5034 were mated and installed in front of Building 4205, the inaugural engine installed in what was to be known as "Propulsion Park".