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The Saturn V rocket: built to take us to the moon. To date it’s the largest, most powerful rocket ever built and is the only one that has taken humans out of low Earth orbit (in other words, beyond the International Space Station’s altitude).
In my family, things like this are awe-inspiring. Like my experiences in May witnessing the reenactment of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Point, seeing these engineering marvels reminds me of what humankind is capable of with innovation and teamwork.
I won’t go into the specs of the Saturn V; this NASA website explains it well to a middle-school-aged audience. Those who want to learn more will get a lot from the Wikipedia page, it seems well-detailed. The part I do want to explain is the allocation of the vehicles that were never launched.
Eighteen Saturn V rockets were built, in some way, shape, or form. Three were built expressly for testing, with no intentions of being launched. Two were built for space flight but didn’t get launched due to budget cuts to their intended programs. Thirteen of those 18 were launched. Of the five that weren’t used, they have been cannibalized quite a bit, with assorted stages on display at museums across the United States.
