Saturn V

space exploration · rockets · Apollo program

Three stages tall. The Saturn V had three sections stacked on top of each other, each with its own engines and fuel. As each stage used up its fuel, it dropped away to make the rocket lighter, letting the next stage push it higher and faster.

Moon mission master. Between 1967 and 1973, thirteen Saturn V rockets blasted off, carrying nine missions that landed 24 astronauts on the Moon. Every single one launched from the same spot: Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Impossibly powerful. The Saturn V was the strongest rocket humans have ever successfully launched. Its first stage alone was taller than a 36-story building and burned fuel so fast it could empty an Olympic swimming pool in just 2.5 seconds.

Built a space station. The last Saturn V rocket didn't go to the Moon. Instead, it launched Skylab, America's first space station, by converting the rocket's own third stage into an orbiting laboratory where astronauts could live and work.