Part IV: Building the Saturn V

It might seem logical to narrate the story of Saturn V’s various stages from the bottom up, beginning with the S-IC stage. However, the stages were not built that way. The Saturn V third stage, the S-IVB, evolved first, based on upper stages of the Saturn I and Saturn IB. As the first large unitary Saturn tankage (not a cluster of individual tanks), a rather detailed discussion in chapter 7 of some of the procedures used in S-IV-IVB fabrication and manufacture eliminates repetitious discussion of similar procedures for other stages in succeeding chapters.

The S-IC and S-II stages, while sharing a common diameter, used different propellants. Although S-II contracts were let prior to those of the S-IC, the S-II became the pacing item in the Saturn program, completing its firing tests later than the other components. Chapter 8 explores S-IC and S-II commonalities and contrasts, emphasizing the imbroglio of the S-II program and its eventual recovery.

Computer technology played a consistent role in the evolution of the Saturn vehicles. Chapter 9 surveys computer activity from manufacturing, through stage test, to launch. In flight, the computers of the instrument unit guided and controlled the Saturn V, including the fiery separation of Saturn V stages during their journey into space.