Collection Item Summary:

The F-1 rocket engine produced 1.5 million pounds of thrust. Five of the engines made up the first stage of the giant 363-foot long Saturn V launch vehicle that took the first astronauts to the Moon in the Apollo program between 1969 and 1972 in the Project Apollo program. The total lift-off thrust of of the rocket was 7.5 million pounds while the fully-fueled Saturn V weighed 6.1 million pounds. The F-1 used RP-1, a type of kerosene, and liquid oxygen as propellants. The F-1 was developed and built by the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International. This engine was donated by Rocketdyne to the Smithsonian Institution in 1976.