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The sign which accompanied the stage when it was located in the Rocket Park. It reads


NASA Saturn V Launch Vehicle
S-IC Stage

This was the first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Commonly called the Saturn V booster, it propelled the 2,720 metric ton (3,000 ton) rocket 56 km (35 mi) high and 92 km (57 mi) downrange before separating. It consumed 2,049,000 liters (543,000 gallons) of liquid oxygen and kerosene during a burn time of 150 sec. (two and one-half minutes). The S-IC stage housed five F-1 engines that produced a combined thrust of 33,375,000 Newtons (7.5 million lbs). Its energy output at launch was equal to that of 85 Hoover Dams and the acoustical output it created at liftoff was equivalent to that of 2,000,000 one-hundred watt stereos playing at full blast. Because it took a number of seconds for thrust to build up prior to liftoff, several centimeters of concrete were vaporized off the launch pad during a launch.

Length: 138 ft (42 m)
Diameter: 33 ft (10 m)
Weight: 4,881,000 lbs (21,720,000 N)
Thrust: 7,500,000 lbs (33,375,000 N)
Propellant: liquid oxygen and kerosene

Contractors: The Boeing Company


The photo on the sign shows the stage being loaded into Marshall's S-IC test stand. The S-IC static test stage (S-IC-T) and the first three flight stages were static-fired in this stand. Later stages were test-fired at the Mississippi Test Facility, later renamed to Stennis Space Center.

 
Sign accompanying Saturn V S-IC (First) Stage at U.S. Space and Rocket Center
Time picture taken Sat Jul 27 09:46:54 2002
Location picture taken Rocket Park
U.S. Space & Rocket Center
Huntsville, AL
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