First Saturn 1B rocket flightIn 1966, the first Saturn 1B rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an unmanned suborbital test flight in the Apollo moon program. The AS-201 mission demonstrated the structural integrity of the Saturn 1B rocket and the compatibility of the launch vehicle to carry Apollo loads. It successfully tested the separation of the first and second stages of the rocket and tested the operations of Saturn's propulsion, guidance and control, and electrical subsystems. There were several malfunctions, but it did fly for about 37-min travelling 5264 miles (8472 km) and reaching a sub-orbital altitude of 303 miles (488 km). The massive Saturn rocket combined five F-1 rocket engines to yield more than 7.5 million pounds of thrust. |
