F-1 Rocket Engine Inner-Dome Attach Bolt

The Rocket Center was a recipient of some of the F-1 rocket engine parts which were recovered from the Atlantic ocean. In addition to larger, easily-identifiable objects (such as a thrust chamber), they also received several boxes of smaller, assorted hardware, much of it difficult to identify.

However, I recognized an inner-dome attach bolt, used to help secure the LOX dome to the injector. The bolts sit in recessed holes which are then covered by dome sealing plugs.

I visited the recovered F-1 engine parts in December 2013, early in the conservation process. The lead conservator told me that, when the dome sealing plugs were removed from the LOX domes, the grease on the bolts was still fresh.