F-1 Engine Dome Sealing Plug

The forward face of the F-1's LOX dome had sixteen threaded holes through which inner-dome attach bolts passed to help secure the injector to the LOX dome.

Dome sealing plugs were screwed into the threaded holes to protect these bolts. They worked so well that, on the F-1 engines recovered from the Atlantic ocean, the bolts were in pristine condition and still had grease on them after decades on the ocean floor.

I noticed that the Museum's F-1 engine had some missing dome sealing plugs and that several of the remaining ones were only loosely screwed into the LOX dome. Before I reported the loose dome sealing plugs to a docent, I obtained permission from a museum employee to remove one of the plugs to photograph.

I've also photographed one of the dome sealing plugs from a recovered F-1 engine.