Saturn V: The Largest Rocket Ever Made

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[AnimalFacts]

The Crawlers that carry the rockets to the pad would be a great video.

[pgm]

Michael Collins later became the first director of the Smithsonian' Air and Space Museum, a job he typically took quite seriously. On Gemini 10 he had become the first person to EVA twice on the same mission. During Apollo 11 he became the most isolated person in history as he would travel alone to the far side of the moon. He wrote poetry on the far side. He's still around, aged 90; he wrote a good autobiography called "Carrying the Fire", and Jethro Tull wrote a song about him. We should remember his name, even in jest.

[marqedman]

To add another comment: I’ve heard many people complain about the cost of the Apollo program. When I think of the technological advances that were made by the Apollo Guidance Computer project alone, not to mention the EVA suits, life support systems, thermal & radiation shielding, and so on, it starts to put it into a better perspective. The program directly and indirectly employed over 400, 000 people through contractors, their subs, and all of their associated suppliers. We accomplished technical feats never thought possible. We shrank a computer from a room-sized tape-drive device down to a box that was less than 2 cubic feet with solid-state core memory. MIT’s demand for logic chips was so high that annual output increased 100-fold in the first year of the project alone, which immediately made them suddenly affordable and practical for other uses. Software theory that is still used today was invented by the pioneers that wrote the software for the Apollo landings.

Without the Apollo program, and yes, the billions of dollars that it cost, we would be at least 10-15 years behind where we are today in terms of technological progress.

[rickieodem]

For years I drove past the Saturn V at JSC sitting out in the open and corroding, and it broke my heart. When they finally decided to enclose it and restore it back in the 2000's, it became a place that I love to take family to see what I saw back in the day. I watched the last 3 launches in person, and I will never forget the feeling of the rocket firing miles away. I remember thinking that we would have bases and people living on the Moon by now, and now I can only hope that someday that will still happen.

[zyxxy]

‘I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of 2 million parts — all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.’ - John Glen 1962

[Robert-rtho]

To continue with Apollo do the nasa crawler

[sixstringedthing]

RIP Michael Collins, "the loneliest man in history". Thank you for all that you did Sir, farewell and godspeed.

[Studebaker]

Apollo 9 seems to always be forgotten about. It's the only Saturn 5 manned mission that never left low Earth orbit but without the tasks it was set out to do NASA would never have known if the LM could dock with the CM. This is a mission that needs more coverage by documentary makers. Even it's crew seems to be forgotten about by the passage of time, how many people out there can name the crew without looking it up?

[PaxSierra]

Von Braun: "I aimed for the stars... But I kept hitting London!"

[sycodeathman]

I want to point out that the center engine on the first stage was actually shut off 26 seconds before first stage cut off in order to reduce Gs, not 26 seconds after takeoff.
The Saturn V had quite a low thrust to weight ratio on liftoff, famously appearing to crawl off the pad, but 142 seconds after liftoff the thrust to weight ratio due to the amount of propellant drained would have started to become unreasonably high, producing acceleration of more than four Gs. It was at this time the center engine would be shut down, and the acceleration rate would drop closer to 3 Gs, and then continue to climb to a maximum of nearly 5 Gs for the remaining 26 seconds of flight, at which point the stage would shut down and drop away.

[crazeycelt]

I grew up with the Saturn 5 my father set up the computer center in Shidel La. and I met Dr. von Bran and many of the sciences involved with the Saturn 5 and the Astronauts involved.

[SnoopysVet]

My dad was a computer contractor (Control Data Corporation) and as a kid, about ten years old. I witnessed close hand the launch of Apollo 13, 14, 15 and 16. Watching the launch on TV does not do the Saturn V justice.

[zhubajie]

Showing my age, I feel fortunate to have grown up in the area and seen Apollo 10 through 17 launches from KSC in Titusville (as well as the Skylab missions). For Apollo 11, I never have witnessed any event which generated so much overpowering enthusiasm. It was if it was launched by the mere cheers of crowds there. Apollo 17 was also so beautiful as it was a night shot and was like a sun rising into the sky.

[That_Thicc_Cat]

I don’t know if you’d want to do this, but maybe you could make a video on the Union Pacific Big Boy, it’s the biggest steam locomotive in history

[Colonel_Overkill]

about a decade ago I was at Kennedy Center for a shuttle launch and was killing time a few days early touring the area. As I was about to go into a building Buzz Aldrin came out and I spoke to him for a few minutes, he was genuinely surprised that I knew him on sight. I can honestly say that he was a great fellow to talk with and passionate about space still so many years later.

[alxjcaboose]

“I guess the question I'm asked the most often is: "When you were sitting in that capsule listening to the count-down, how did you feel?" Well, the answer to that one is easy. I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts -- all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.” - John Glenn

[stringmanagmaildcom]

My dad was the Project Chief for the dynamic test stand in Huntsville during the Apollo Program. They would put the F-1 engine in there and shake it to simulate the vibration during launch to make sure it all held together. They also had a test stand where they test ran the engines. They would sound air raid sirens all around the area before the test runs. Our house and school were several miles away and the house would rattle and shake during the test runs. It was great to feel and witness history being made.

[stefanklass]

7:20 the original quote is this:
“I guess the question I'm asked the most often is: "When you were sitting in that capsule listening to the count-down, how did you feel?" Well, the answer to that one is easy. I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts -- all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.”
- John Glenn

[robertgoss]

Simon: This is another one of your typically superb videos. I would love to see one on the development of the legendary F-1 engine, the most powerful engine ever built. It's a story of brilliant engineering, setbacks, and triumphs...the kind of story that is just your cup of tea. Thanks a million.

[taintsweatnope]

"And while you're down there, smash the like button!" is what Simon says to his wife on Valentine's day.