Beginning May 24, people can now view the largest production model among all Saturn rockets- the Saturn V- in a Kansas museum.
The Saturn V rockets were all created and launched for all Apollo lunar missions. During its 2.5-minute launch, it releases some its parts before it proceeds to its destination. This engine was able to survive the power of the launch but not the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
The remains of the two engines were recovered by a team funded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos and will have it preserved in a Kansas museum so that the current and future generations may see this magnificent creation. The government had 17 Saturn rockets: 2 for testing, 13 launched, and 2 unused. The first launch was in 1967 while the latest was 1973.
Jim Remar, president of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, was not sure of the exact speed of the Saturn rockets during its first stage of launch but he was certain that the rocket itself accelerates by 6,000 miles per hour. The impact of it falling in the ocean may be really tremendous.
The Bezos expeditions began in 2012 and have successfully recovered the engine weighing 25,000 pounds from the seafloor in March this year. It was then brought to the Cosmosphere's SpaceWorks conservation facility for it to be stabilized, preserved and documented.
The F-1 engine is currently planted in two large wooden basins and is sprayed with a corrosion inhibitor from time to time. They will do this to the larger parts as well. Once stabilized, they will proceed with the reassembling process.
"Our objective is to remove all the corrosive process, halt it and then preserve it for generations to come," Remar said.
For now, visitors are allowed in the Cosmophere to witness the conservation process.
