The Saturn V rocket took a dozen astronauts toward the Moon during 1969-1972 and is considered one of the greatest engineering achievements in history. The vehicle shown here has an S-IC-T or All Systems Test Stage, used for for the first ground-firing tests of the F-1 engine cluster. The second (S-II-14) stage was meant for the Apollo 18 mission that was cancelled. The third (S-IV-B-514) stage was meant for the Apollo 19 which was also cancelled. The Apollo Command Module spacecraft with the rocket was originally used for ground tests. However, the vehicle is painted in the colors and markings of the Apollo 11 Saturn V Apollo 11 mission, the first of the the Moon landing flights. The rocket was transferred by NASA to the Smithsonian in 1979 and is on loan to the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Smithsonian has two other Saturn Vs, at the Johnson Space Flight Center, Houston, Texas; and at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, at Huntsville, Ala.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.