posted 08-15-2008 10:43 AM               

Friday, Aug. 15, will mark a milestone in the history of NASA and the Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA did not officially open for business until Oct. 1, 1958. However, Aug. 15 is the 50th anniversary of the official U.S. Army order granting specific instructions to the Wernher von Braun Team in Huntsville to begin development of what would eventually become the Saturn rocket, one of the most famous icons in the history of the Marshall Center.

Before the Marshall Center was created in July 1960, however, the U.S. Army had responsibility for Saturn. It was 50 years ago this week that the Army's Advanced Research Programs Agency issued specific orders to the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, granting authority and authorizing funds for a vehicle first called Juno V, later renamed Saturn.

In April 1957 members of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) initiated studies to establish possible vehicle configurations to launch a payload of 20,000 to 40,000 pounds for orbital missions and 6,000 to 12,000 pounds for escape missions.

By July 1958, representatives of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) showed interest in a clustered booster that would achieve 1,500,000 pounds thrust with available engine hardware. ARPA formally initiated the development program by issuing ARPA Order 14-59 on 15 August 1958. The immediate goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of the engine clustering concept with a full scale captive test firing, using Rocketdyne H-1 engines and available propellant containers. In September 1958, ARPA extended the program to include four test flights of the booster. ARPA Order 47-59, dated 11 December 1958, requested that the Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) design, construct and modify the ABMA captive test tower and associated facilities for booster development, and determine design criteria for suitable launch facilities.

In November 1958, ARPA approved the development of a clustered booster to serve as the first stage of the multi-stage carrier vehicle capable of performing advanced space missions. The project was unofficially known as Juno V until, on 3 February 1959, an ARPA memorandum made the name "Saturn" official.