Fifty years ago man walked on the moon for the first time. The crew of Apollo 11 could not have reached the moon without the three-stage Saturn V rocket. This incredibly complex and powerful vehicle was developed in a record time to meet President Kennedy's challenge to land men on the moon's surface by the end of the 1960s.Although the Saturn V was an engineering marvel, and the brave astronauts risked their own lives, the unsung heroes were the men and women who worked around the clock for many years to ensure that the engineering worked safely. These individuals have rarely been named publicly but without their efforts, skills and dedication the moon landings would never have taken place.
The Saturn V third stage propelled the astronauts from earth orbit towards the moon for the first time in history. These vehicles were tested and static fired by the Douglas Company in Sacramento.
Fifty years later these men and women retirees still gather every year to quietly reminisce about their incredible contribution to the moon landing.
Many of the retirees kept professionally-taken photographs from the rocket-testing days and these are shown in this book for the first time together with images of the retirees themselves as a celebration of their dedicated work half a century ago.