NASA’s Saturn V rocket carried astronauts to the moon between 1968 and 1972. Standing 363 feet tall, it was a bit taller than the Statue of Liberty including her base, and weighed about 6.5 million pounds fully fueled. It’s still one of the most powerful machines humans have ever built and operated.
Five massive engines fired at the same time at the bottom of the first stage, producing 7.6 million pounds of thrust. At full burn, they swallowed around 20 tons of fuel and liquid oxygen every single second. The shockwave from the launch could be felt several miles away and was loud enough to crack concrete on nearby test stands.
Thirteen Saturn V rockets flew between 1967 and 1973. All thirteen launched successfully, which is an astonishing record for a machine so complicated. After the Apollo program ended, NASA put the remaining Saturn Vs in museums, where you can still walk underneath one and look up at its giant engine bells.
