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The Rocketdyne J-2 Liquid-Fuel Motor, using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, was the powerplant for the second and third stages of the Saturn V launch vehicle that took astronauts to the Moon in the Apollo program. John G. Baldwin was a US Navy veteran and engineer who worked for North American Aviation, Inc.'s Space and Information Systems Division where he was part of the Saturn S-2 Stage testing team. This collection consists of photographs and ephemera relating to testing of the Rocketdyne J-2 Liquid-Fuel Motor used in the Saturn S-2 Stage which took place in 1964 and 1965 at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Southern California.
The J-2 Liquid-Fuel Motor, using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, was the powerplant for the second and third stages of the Saturn V launch vehicle that took astronauts to the Moon in the Apollo program. The J-2 was developed and built by Rocketdyne, then a division of North American Aviation, Inc., and entered production in 1963. The first production engine was delivered in April 1964 and underwent testing at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Southern California. John G. Baldwin was a US Navy veteran and engineer who worked for North American Aviation, Inc.'s Space and Information Systems Division where he was part of the Saturn S-2 Stage testing team. Baldwin also worked for successor contractors Rockwell International and Boeing, and later for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) where he continued to contribute to the Apollo program.
NASM.2023.0003
Baldwin, John G.
1964-1967
Nina Baldwin, Gift, 2022, NASM.2023.0003.
0.03 Cubic feet (1 folder)
National Air and Space Museum Archives
This collection consists of twenty-three photographs relating to testing of the Rocketdyne J-2 Liquid-Fuel Motor used in the Saturn S-2 Stage which took place in 1964 and 1965 at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Southern California. The photographs all measure 8 by 10 inches and are a blend of color and black and white photography. Several show detailed views of the water spraying mechanism on the test stand used for cooling and noise suppression. The collection also includes the August 13, 1965 issue of Skywriter, the newspaper of North American Aviation, Inc.'s Space and Information Systems Division. John Baldwin appears in a photograph on page 3 where he can be seen monitoring a console that indicates temperature during one of the tests. Also in the collection are a letter to Baldwin from W. F. Parker, Vice President, Saturn S-II Program Manager at North American's Space and Information Systems Division congratulating Baldwin on the success of the full-duration firing test of the J-2 engine that took place in December 1965. The letter is in a folio that has an 8 by 10 inch color photograph taken during the test attached inside the front cover. The final item in the collection is a cover of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration technical report (dated November 2, 1967) entitled, Launch Vehicle Operations for Support of Space Vehicle Launch Countdown that includes a handwritten note that reads, "S-II C2SP Pressurization Panel, Manned by J. Baldwin, 11/9/1967." The cover, which is laminated, also includes handwritten notations on the reverse and a number of signatures on the front including Wernher von Braun, and John H. Glenn, Jr.
Collection is arranged by type of material and then chronologically.
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Rocketdyne Saturn J-2 Liquid-Fuel Motor Testing Collection, NASM.2023.0003, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Astronautics
Space vehicles -- Propulsion systems
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Newsletters
Ephemera