The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

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A 6.5-m ring fixed to the top of the S-IVB contained
an Instrument Unit (IU) that handled all electronic
commands for control and guidance during ascent.
Saturn IBs used for manned flights carried a space
capsule and a launch escape system. Located at the
top of the rocket, these components were attached to
the IU by an adapter. The fourth scheduled launch of
an Apollo Saturn IB, with a vehicle and mission designation
of AS-204, met with tragedy. AS-204 was
planned as the first manned Apollo flight. Launch of
the 14-day mission had been set for February 1967.
During a countdown rehearsal at Launch Complex 34
on January 27, 1967, Virgil Grissom, Ed White, and
Roger Chaffee were killed when their capsule caught
fire. In honor of the men, NASA later changed the
designation of mission AS-204 to Apollo 1. The Saturn
IB that would have launched Apollo 1 carried
instead an unmanned Lunar Module into low Earth
orbit on January 22, 1968. After the Apollo lunar program
ended, Saturn IBs were used to ferry astronauts
to Skylab. The Skylab Saturn IB was nearly identical
to its Apollo sibling but featured uprated H-1 engines.
The last Saturn IB flight supported the Apollo-Soyuz
Test Project. Two unused Saturn IBs were later
released by NASA for display purposes. (See table,
“Saturn I and IB Statistics.”)
Saturn V
The largest member of the Saturn family, developed at
the Marshall Space Flight Center under the direction
of Wernher von Braun. The three-stage Saturn V
was taller than a 36-story building and the largest,
most powerful rocket ever successfully launched (see
N-1); fifteen of them were built. Among the facilities
specially constructed to accommodate this huge rocket
were the Kennedy Space Center, including the Vehi-
Saturn I and IB Statistics
Saturn IB The Saturn IB launch vehicle carrying the Skylab
4 crew lifts off on the final mission to the orbiting
space station. NASA
cle Assembly Building, the Saturn V crawler/transporter,
and launch pads 39A and 39B.
The Saturn V was flight-tested twice without a crew.
The first manned Saturn V sent Apollo 8 into lunar
orbit in December 1968. After two more missions to
test the Lunar Module, a Saturn V sent Apollo 11 on
its way to the first manned landing on the Moon.
In a typical Saturn V Apollo flight, the five F-1 first
Saturn I
Block I Block II Saturn IB
Length (m) 50 58 68.3
Diameter (m) 6.6 6.6 6.6
Payload to LEO (kg)
Thrust (N)
— 17,200 18,600
1st stage 5,900,000 6,760,000 7,300,000
2nd stage — 400,000 1,000,000