Apollo 17
December 7, 1972
Apollo 17 launched at 12:33 AM on December 7th — the only night launch in the history of the Apollo program. A technical hold pushed it past midnight. From a hundred miles away, people said it turned night into day. On my television, the Saturn V rose into the darkness…
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Technology
March 3, 1972
The last Saturn V has been built. The production line is shutting down. There will be no more Saturn V rockets after the ones already in the inventory.
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Apollo 13
April 11, 1970
Apollo 13 launched today and the newspapers barely mentioned it. "Routine Moon mission," one headline said. Routine! I watched from home and felt obscurely offended on behalf of the crew. Three men are riding a Saturn V to another world. Nothing about this is routine. We've forgotten how hard this…
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Apollo 11
July 16, 1969
The Saturn V launched at 9:32 AM this morning and everything worked. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins are on their way to the Moon.
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Apollo 11
July 16, 1969
This morning the Saturn V carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins lifted off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The engine ignited at 9:32 AM. They are going to the Moon. I watched with my family and none of us spoke when the rocket rose. There are…
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July 13, 1969
The Saturn V rolled out to Pad 39A last month and photographs show it standing there under the Florida sun, waiting. Three days until they light it.
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December 21, 1968
Apollo 8 launched this morning. The Saturn V worked. The translunar injection burn worked. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders are on their way to the Moon.
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April 4, 1968
Apollo 6 flew yesterday, and it was not the clean second Saturn V test everyone hoped for. The rocket experienced severe oscillation and engine failures.
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Technology
November 9, 1967
The Saturn V rocket fired for the first time today. Unmanned. All five engines. 7.5 million pounds of thrust. They say people thirty miles away felt it in their chests. They say the sound cracked windows. The cameras at the press site showed the shock wave rolling toward them through…
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November 9, 1967
The Saturn V flew for the first time today. All three stages, no crew, and it worked. The noise reached Washington D.C.
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