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NASA Apollo program - Saturn rockets: books

A book on the NASA Apollo space program? Here are books on the history, development and technology of the Saturn V carrier rockets.

NASA Saturn V Manual (1967-1973) - Apollo 4 to Apollo 17 & Skylab - An insight into the history, development and technology (Haynes Space Manual)

Few launch vehicles are as iconic and distinctive as NASA's behemoth rocket, the Saturn V, and none left such a lasting impression on those who watched it ascend.
Developed with the specific brief to send humans to the Moon, it pushed rocketry to new scales. Its greatest triumph is that it achieved its goal repeatedly with an enviable record of mission success.

Pages of the book NASA Saturn V Manual (1967-1973) (1)

Haynes' Saturn V Manual tells the story of this magnificent and hugely powerful machine. It explains how each of the vehicle's three stages worked; Boeing's S-IC first stage with a power output as great as the UK's peak electricity consumption, North American Aviation's S-II troubled second stage, Douglas's workhorse S-IVB third stage with its instrument unit brain - as much a spacecraft as a rocket.

From the decision to build it to the operation of its engines' valves and pumps, this lavishly illustrated and deeply informative book offers a deeper appreciation of the amazing Saturn V.

Pages of the book NASA Saturn V Manual (1967-1973) (2)

Author:David Woods
Specs:176 pages, 27.5 x 22 x 1.6 cm / 10.8 x 8.7 x 0.63 in, hardback
Illustrations:numerous b&w and colour photographs
Publisher:Haynes Publishing (GB, 2016)
Series:Haynes Space Manual
Book: NASA Saturn V Manual (1967-1973) - Apollo 4 to Apollo 17 & Skylab - An insight into the history, development and technology (Haynes Space Manual)

NASA Saturn V Manual (1967-1973) - Apollo 4 to Apollo 17 & Skylab - An insight into the history, development and technology

Language: English

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Saturn V - Die Mondrakete

Die Saturn V ist bis auf den heutigen Tag die grösste und schubstärkste bemannte Rakete. Durch sie wurden die Flüge zum Mond überhaupt erst realisierbar. Die Triebwerke und fast alle Komponenten waren technisches Neuland und in dieser Grösse noch nie gebaut worden. Der geistige Vater und verantwortlich für die gelungene Konstruktion war kein Geringerer als der Deutsche Wernher von Braun.
Die spannende Geschichte dieser Entwicklung bis hin zu den erfolgreichen Mondflügen und den letzten Skylab-Missionen werden in diesem Buch kompetent und packend beschrieben.

Author:Eugen Reichl
Specs:144 pages, 20.5 x 14 cm / 8.1 x 5.5 in, paperback
Illustrations:46 b&w and 113 colour photographs
Publisher:Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2015)
Book: Saturn V - Die Mondrakete

Saturn V - Die Mondrakete

Language: German

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Saturn V - Flight Manual (SA 503)

Designed by Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolph at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the Saturn V rocket represents the pinnacle of 20th Century technological achievement. The only launch vehicle in history to transport astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit, the Saturn V delivered 24 men to the moon. To this day it holds records as the tallest (363 feet), heaviest (nearly 7 million lbs.) and most powerful (over 7.6 million pounds-force of thrust) launch vehicle ever produced. It also remains one of the most reliable, achieving 12 successful launches with one partial failure, the unmanned Apollo 6 which suffered vibration damage on lift-off, resulting in a sub-standard orbit.
The Saturn series of rockets resulted from Von Braun's work on the German V-2 and Jupiter series rockets. The Saturn I, a 2-stage liquid-fueled rocket, flew ten times between 1961 and 1965. A uprated version the 1B carried the first crewed Apollo flight into orbit in 1968. The Saturn V, which first flew in 1967, was a three-stage rocket. The first stage, which burned RP-1 and LOX, consisted of five F-1 engines. The second stage used five J-2 engines which burned LOX and liquid hydrogen (LH2). The third stage, based on the second stage of the Saturn 1B, carried a single J-2. The Saturn V could carry up to 262,000 pounds to Low Earth Orbit and more critically, 100,000 pounds to the Moon.

Created by NASA as a single-source reference as to the characteristics and functions of the Saturn V, this manual SA503 was standard issue to the astronauts of the Apollo and Skylab eras. It contains information about the Saturn V system, range safety and instrumentation,monitoring and control, prelaunch events, and pogo oscillations. It provides a fascinating overview of the rocket that made "one giant leap for mankind" possible.

Author:NASA
Specs:262 pages, 25 x 20.5 x 1.4 cm / 9.8 x 8.1 x 0.55 in, paperback
Illustrations:numerous photographs and drawings
Publisher:Periscope Film (USA, 2011)
Book: Saturn V - Flight Manual (SA 503)

Saturn V - Flight Manual (SA 503)

Language: English

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Saturn V - Flight Manual (SA 507)

Designed by Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolph at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the Saturn V rocket represents the pinnacle of 20th Century technological achievement. The only launch vehicle in history to transport astronauts beyond Low Earth Orbit, the Saturn V delivered 24 men to the moon.
To this day it holds records as the tallest (363 feet), heaviest (nearly 7 million lbs.) and most powerful (over 7.6 million pounds-force of thrust) launch vehicle ever produced. It also remains one of the most reliable, achieving 12 successful launches with one partial failure - the unmanned Apollo 6 which suffered vibration damage on lift-off, resulting in a sub-standard orbit.

The Saturn series of rockets resulted from Von Braun's work on the German V-2 and Jupiter series rockets. The Saturn I, a 2-stage liquid-fueled rocket, flew ten times between 1961 and 1965. A uprated version the 1B carried the first crewed Apollo flight into orbit in 1968. The Saturn V, which first flew in 1967, was a three-stage rocket.
The first stage, which burned RP-1 and LOX, consisted of five F-1 engines. The second stage used five J-2 engines which burned LOX and liquid hydrogen (LH2). The third stage, based on the second stage of the Saturn 1B, carried a single J-2. The Saturn V could carry up to 262,000 pounds to Low Earth Orbit and more critically, 100,000 pounds to the Moon.

Created by NASA as a single-source reference as to the characteristics and functions of the Saturn V, this manual was standard issue to the astronauts of the Apollo and Skylab eras. It contains information about the Saturn V system, range safety and instrumentation, monitoring and control, prelaunch events, and pogo oscillations. It provides a fascinating overview of the rocket that made "one giant leap for mankind" possible.

Author:NASA
Specs:250 pages, 24.5 x 19 x 1.3 cm / 9.7 x 7.5 x 0.51 in, paperback
Illustrations:b&w photographs
Publisher:Books Express Publishing (GB, 2012)
Book: Saturn V - Flight Manual (SA 507)

Saturn V - Flight Manual (SA 507)

Language: English

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Saturn I B / Saturn V - Rocket Payload Planner's Guide

Developments of America's first heavy lift space rocket Saturn I, the Saturn IB and Saturn V propelled America's space program during the Apollo and Skylab eras. First launched in 1966, Saturn IB replaced the Saturn I's S-IV second stage with the more powerful S-IVB. It could carry a partially fueled Apollo Command / Service Module or fully fueled Lunar Module into low Earth orbit, allowing critical testing of these systems to be conducted long before the Saturn V was ready.
It also flew one orbital mission without a payload, with the extra fuel used to demonstrate that the S-IVB's J-2 engine could be restarted in zero gravity - a critical operation for translunar injection.

The Saturn IB produced thrust equivalent to 1.6 million pounds force, and could carry 46,000 pounds of payload to low Earth orbit. Saturn IB flew nine times, including three Skylab missions and for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Saturn V was simply the heaviest, tallest, and most powerful rocket ever built, and capable of carrying the heaviest payload.
It could take payloads up to 100,000 pounds beyond Earth orbit or 262,000 pounds into low Earth orbit. It flew thirteen times, including eight times to the moon and (in a two-stage version) on the Skylab I mission.

First launched in 1967, the rocket consisted of three stages, with the S-IVB serving as its third stage. Taller than the Statue of Liberty, Saturn V had a mass of 3000 metric tons and five F-1 engines capable of producing thrust thrust of 7.6 million pounds-force.

Originally prepared by the Missile and Space Systems Division of NASA contractor Douglas Aircraft, this book was created to acquaint payload planners with the capabilities of the Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets.
It shows methods by which Saturn vehicles can accommodate payloads of various weights and volumes for different missions, and methods by which they might be modified to allow even greater performance. It's a wonderful reference for anyone who ever wondered how these mighty rockets were designed and built.

Author:Douglas Aircraft
Specs:142 pages, 25.5 x 20.5 x 0.7 cm / 10 x 8.1 x 0.28 in, paperback
Illustrations:numerous photographs and drawings
Publisher:Periscope Film (USA, 2012)
Book: Saturn I B / Saturn V - Rocket Payload Planner's Guide

Saturn I B / Saturn V - Rocket Payload Planner's Guide

Language: English

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The Saturn V F-1 Engine : Powering Apollo into History

When the mighty Rocketdyne F-1 engine was conceived in the late 1950s for the U.S. Air Force, it had no defined mission and there was no launch vehicle it could power. It was a bold concept to push the technological envelope of rocket propulsion in order to put massive payloads into Earth orbit. Few realized at the time that the F-1 would one day propel American astronauts to the Moon.

In "The Saturn V F-1 Engine", Anthony Young tells the amazing story of unbridled vision, bold engineering, explosive failures during testing, unrelenting persistence to find solutions, and ultimate success in launching the Saturn V with a 100 percent success rate. The book contains personal interviews with many Rocketdyne and NASA personnel involved in the engine's design, development, testing and production. It is lavishly illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs, many never previously published.

This is the first complete history of the most powerful rocket engine ever built. The F-1 engine remains the high point in U.S. liquid rocket propulsion - it represents a period in American history when nothing was impossible.

Contents:
- Evolution of the Moon rocket
- Origin and development of the F-1 engine
- F-1 engine project management by MSFC
- F-1 engine description and operation
- Manufacturing the F-1 engine at Rocketdyne
- MSFC, Boeing and the S-IC stage
- Testing the F-1 engine and S-IC stage
- KSC and Apollo Saturn
- The F-1A: the engine that might have been.

Author:Anthony Young
Specs:304 pages, 24 x 17 cm / 9 x 6.7 in, paperback
Illustrations:90 b&w and 50 colour photographs
Publisher:Springer-Verlag New York Inc. (USA, 2008)
Book: The Saturn V F-1 Engine : Powering Apollo into History

The Saturn V F-1 Engine : Powering Apollo into History

Language: English

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Related titles:

NASA Skylab - News Reference

NASA Skylab - News Reference

NASA

English | paperback | 500 p. | 2012

Skylab Saturn IB - Flight Manual

Skylab Saturn IB - Flight Manual

NASA

English | paperback | 282 p. | 2013

Skylab a Guidebook

Skylab a Guidebook

Leland F Belew, Ernst Stuhlinger

English | paperback | 178 p. | 2012

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Last update:15-04-2024