Apollo 1st stage engines recovered

[Waspie_Dwarf]

March 20, 2013

What an incredible adventure. We are right now onboard the Seabed Worker headed back to Cape Canaveral after finishing three weeks at sea, working almost 3 miles below the surface. We found so much. We’ve seen an underwater wonderland – an incredible sculpture garden of twisted F-1 engines that tells the story of a fiery and violent end, one that serves testament to the Apollo program. We photographed many beautiful objects in situ and have now recovered many prime pieces. Each piece we bring on deck conjures for me the thousands of engineers who worked together back then to do what for all time had been thought surely impossible.

Many of the original serial numbers are missing or partially missing, which is going to make mission identification difficult. We might see more during restoration. The objects themselves are gorgeous.

Read more...

[wolfknight]

Cool what a find. I was at the Cape last week

[Waspie_Dwarf]

The F-1 Engine Powered Apollo Into History, Blazes Path for Space Launch System Advanced Propulsion

Saturn V Engines Recovered in Atlantic

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6418/635088main19808563226.jpg

Some of the powerful engines that sent the first humans to the moon have been recovered from the sea. Jeff Bezos, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the aerospace company Blue Origin and Amazon.com, announced on Wednesday, March 20, that his expedition has recovered two of the Saturn V's first-stage engines from the Atlantic Ocean.

The F-1 engine -- the most powerful single-nozzle, liquid-fueled rocket engine ever developed -- boosted the Saturn V rocket off the launch pad and on to the moon during NASA's Apollo program during the 1960s and 1970s. NASA is again looking at the large gas generator cycle engine to help develop the nation's next heavy-lift launch vehicle the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Related: Engineers Resurrect and Test Mighty F-1 Engine Gas Generator

Five F-1 engines were used in the 138-foot-tall S-IC, or first stage, of each Saturn V, which depended on the five-engine cluster for the 7.5 million pounds of thrust needed to lift it from the launch pad. Each mighty engine stands 19 feet tall by 12 feet wide and weigh over 18,000 pounds. The F-1 was developed by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and its industry team.

http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/5190/635086main16523540226.jpg

The cluster of five F-1 engines burned a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel at more than 15 metric tons per second during its two-and-one-half-minutes of operation. Each F-1 engine had more thrust than three space shuttle main engines combined to lift the vehicle to a height of about 36 miles and to a speed of about 6,000 mph.

The F-1 engine had roots outside NASA, born as an Air Force program developed by the aerospace firm Rocketdyne in 1955. NASA inherited it during a transfer of projects, conducted its own feasibility studies and awarded Rocketdyne a follow-on contract to step up work on the gargantuan propulsion system not long after NASA's formation, in 1960.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden released a statement congratulating Bezos and his team on the recovery: "Nearly one year ago, Jeff Bezos shared with us his plans to recover F-1 engines that helped power Apollo astronauts to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. We share the excitement expressed by Jeff and his team in announcing the recovery of two of the powerful Saturn V first-stage engines from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

"This is a historic find and I congratulate the team for its determination and perseverance in the recovery of these important artifacts of our first efforts to send humans beyond Earth orbit.

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/1388/635084main16521185226.jpg

"We look forward to the restoration of these engines by the Bezos team and applaud Jeff’s desire to make these historic artifacts available for public display.

"Jeff and his colleagues at Blue Origin are helping to usher in a new commercial era of space exploration and we are confident that our continued collaboration will soon result in private human access to space, creating jobs and driving America’s leadership in innovation and exploration."

The decision to develop an engine capable of lofting large orbital payloads into space was bolstered by Russian successes in that arena and also by U.S. plans for circumlunar missions, or missions around the moon and human excursions to the moon.

The development of the F-1 was a major step forward in rocket engine technology -- a major design advancement.

The heart of the engine was the thrust chamber, which mixed and burned the fuel and oxidizer to produce thrust. A domed chamber at the top of the engine supplied liquid oxygen to the injectors, and also served as a mount for the gimbal bearing which transmitted the thrust to the body of the rocket. Below this dome were the injectors, which directed fuel and oxidizer into the thrust chamber for mixing and combustion.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5986/635082main16413912226.jpg

Fuel was supplied to the injectors from a separate manifold; some of the fuel first travelled in 178 tubes down the length of the thrust chamber -- which formed approximately the upper half of the exhaust nozzle -- and back in order to cool the nozzle.

The mighty F-1 remains the most powerful American liquid-fuel rocket engine ever developed. The F-1 still holds the record as the largest single-chamber, single-nozzle liquid fuel engine ever flown.

The larger, evolved SLS vehicle will require more thrust than any existing U.S. liquid- or solid-fueled booster. The F-1 engine’s impressive lift performance makes a modernized and simplified version of the original Apollo-era rocket engine a logical candidate for NASA’s SLS advanced booster. NASA is working with Dynetics Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (hyperlink to news release: http://www.nasa.gov/...S_Boosters.html) to explore modern manufacturing techniques that would enable enhanced F-1 affordability and performance while maintaining the excellent safety and reliability of the engine system.

For images and more information about the F-1 engine, visit:

http://history.nasa....206/ch4.htm#110

http://history.msfc....cket_Engine.pdf

by Sanda Martel

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

Media Contact:

Jennifer Stanfield, 256-544-0034

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.

Jennifer.M.Stanfield@nasa.gov

Source

[Merc14]

I remeber the Apollo program and the excitement and pride it generated. Just shy of 10 years old and totally in awe.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA Administrator Congratulates Apollo Engine Recovery Team

March 20, 2013

David Weaver/Bob Jacobs

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1600

david.s.weaver@nasa.gov / bob.jacobs@nasa.gov

RELEASE : 13-082

NASA Administrator Congratulates Apollo Engine Recovery Team

WASHINGTON -- The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the successful recovery of Apollo Saturn V first stage engines announced Wednesday by Jeff Bezos, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the aerospace company Blue Origin and Amazon.com.

"Nearly one year ago, Jeff Bezos shared with us his plans to recover F-1 engines that helped power Apollo astronauts to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. We share the excitement expressed by Jeff and his team in announcing the recovery of two of the powerful Saturn V first-stage engines from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

"This is a historic find and I congratulate the team for its determination and perseverance in the recovery of these important artifacts of our first efforts to send humans beyond Earth orbit.

"We look forward to the restoration of these engines by the Bezos team and applaud Jeff's desire to make these historic artifacts available for public display.

"Jeff and his colleagues at Blue Origin are helping to usher in a new commercial era of space exploration and we are confident our continued collaboration will soon result in private human access to space, creating jobs and driving America's leadership in innovation and exploration."

For more about the Saturn V's F-1 engine and NASA, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/ZdnMo2

and

http://www.nasa.gov

For more on the Bezos Expeditions, visit:

http://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html

- end -

___________________________

Source

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Apollo F-1 rocket engines raised off ocean floor by Amazon CEO

http://collectSPACE.com — Long thought to be lost on the ocean floor, the massive engines that launched astronauts to the moon more than 40 years ago have been recovered by a private expedition led by the founder of Amazon.com.

"We found so much," said Jeff Bezos, the online retailer's CEO, in an update posted Wednesday (March 20, 2013) on the Bezos Expeditions website. "We have seen an underwater wonderland -- an incredible sculpture garden of twisted F-1 engines that tells the story of a fiery and violent end, one that serves testament to the Apollo program."

Read more: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news...

Video credit: Bezos Expeditions

Source: collectSPACE - YouTube Channel

[DONTEATUS]

Do we know where it will come to be seen ?

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Do we know where it will come to be seen ?

I went back to the original story I posted when these engines were first found, almost exactly a year ago (HERE). Looking at the original article I linked to on Space.com (HERE) I found this:

If one of the Apollo 11 F-1 engines is ultimately recovered, it will be turned over to NASA, Bezos added.

"Though they've been on the ocean floor for a long time, the engines remain the property of NASA. If we are able to recover one of these F-1 engines that started mankind on its first journey to another heavenly body, I imagine that NASA would decide to make it available to the Smithsonian for all to see.," Bezos wrote. "If we're able to raise more than one engine, I've asked NASA if they would consider making it available to the excellent Museum of Flight here in Seattle."

But ultimately it's up to NASA.

According to the latest release:

We’re bringing home enough major components to fashion displays of two flown F-1 engines.

Personally I think the most appropriate places to display these engines would be one at the Smithsonian and the other at Kennedy Space Centre. I think there is no more appropriate place for one of these engines than at the place it was launched from.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Recovered Apollo-Era Saturn V F-1 Engines Arrive at Cape Canaveral

Two F-1 engines that powered the first stage of the Saturn V rockets that lifted NASA’s Apollo missions to the moon were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean March 20, 2013 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the aerospace company Blue Origin and Amazon.com and arrived at Port Canaveral March 21. The engines will be restored by Bezos’ team for public display.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia

[Rafterman]

That's awesome. I could see them ending up at the Cape or Air & Space.