posted 03-29-2010 01:55 PM               

50 years since Saturn's first light

Sunday was a half-century since the first test fire of the first Apollo Saturn I booster stage. What ultimately evolved into the rocket stage that launched the first Apollo astronaut crew into space began as the Saturn test booster (SA-T), which on March 28, 1960 was used to test two H-1 engines (eight such engines would be used to launch the Saturn I and IB rockets). The 7.83-second firing took place in Alabama on the Army Ballistic Missile Agency's (later NASA Marshall Space Flight Center) test stand. Today, 50 years later, the SA-T test booster is displayed at the test stand's base.

There are no photos that are positively identified as being that first firing. However, here are two photos of two of the first eight firings (between March and June 1960) as evident by the test stand having "US Army" painted on its side (the Army Ballistic Missile Agency became Marshall Space Flight Center in July 1960).

The first photo may possibly be that first firing. It is on the NASA image site but displayed back to front (corrected here). The fact that it's a bit blurred and that it has an ID number (9808562) that shows that it was located and archived much later shows that someone made an effort to save this photo even though there are clearer photos of this type of test.

Credit: NASA

Credit: Mike Jetzer

Author Alan Lawrie with SA-T. Credit: Alan Lawrie

posted 04-02-2010 08:00 AM               

The Redstone Arsenal's history web site has several pages of old STT photos, in various stages of construction and renovation (be sure to click through to "next page"). "US ARMY" was only painted on the north side, so you can tell whether a photo of a given test was performed in the east or west position.