A program progress film from 1959 describing the US Army’s “Saturn” rocket. This would soon be transferred to NASA, eventually becoming the Saturn I (then Ib). The basic layout of the first stage would remain, but the upper stages would change utterly; as shown here, they are derivatives of the Titan ICBM. Note that the first stage is shown being recovered. This feature lasted a surprising length of time, with components being built into the early NASA Saturns. The idea was that the stages would be parachute recovered with solid rocket motors firing at the last second to cushion splashdown. The motor firing would be set off by a trigger that would be released from the booster to dangle some distance below. As soon as the trigger hit the water, it would signal the motors to fire. The stage would splash down soft enough to be recovered, but it was assumed it’d be damaged beyond refurbishment. The idea was to examine the stage to see how it did, and introduce incremental improvements until *eventually* it was able to be recovered intact enough for cost effective refurbishment and reuse.
3 responses to “Saturn when it was Army”
Nice! Looks like an Atlas as second AND third stages?
Andrew, the 2nd and 3rd stages look more like they stacked a standard Titan I ICBM atop the new first stage.
Side note – the Title Music was used in the old “Space Angel” Synchro-Vox cartoons.
No computer models in those days. Everything was done with mockups and models and actual physical testing.