Image #231018

The five Rocketdyne F-1 engines on the first stage of the Saturn V rocket on display at the Apollo-Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center as seen at night.

According to the National Air and Space Museum, “The Saturn V used five F-1 engines for the first stage, giving a total thrust of 7.5 million pounds. The engines were arranged with a fixed center engine surrounded by four outboard engines that could gimbal (swivel) for steering. During a launch, the F-1s on the first stage burned for just over two and a half minutes. Traveling at 6,000 miles per hour, the first stage lifted the rocket roughly 40 miles above the launch pad. When its fuel was spent, the first stage released, landing in the Atlantic Ocean. The second and third stages (with Rocketdyne J-2 liquid-hydrogen/LOX engines) then provided the force needed to get into orbit and subsequently put the spacecraft on a trajectory to the Moon.”