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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn V | 10/10 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:12:08.190587+00:00 | kb-cron |
There is one Saturn V on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. SA-500D is on horizontal display made up of its S-IC-D, S-II-F/D and S-IVB-D. These were all test stages not meant for flight. This vehicle was displayed outdoors from 1969 to 2007, was restored, and is now displayed in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. There is one at the Johnson Space Center made up of the first stage from SA-514, the second stage from SA-515, and the third stage from SA-513 (replaced for flight by the Skylab workshop). With stages arriving between 1977 and 1979, this was displayed in the open until its 2005 restoration when a structure was built around it for protection. This is the only display Saturn consisting entirely of stages intended to be launched. One at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, made up of S-IC-T (test stage) and the second and third stages from SA-514. It was displayed outdoors for decades, then in 1996 was enclosed for protection from the elements in the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The S-IC stage from SA-515, originally at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, is now on display at the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi. The S-IVB stage from SA-515 was converted for use as a backup for Skylab, and is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
== Discarded stages == On September 3, 2002, astronomer Bill Yeung discovered a suspected asteroid, which was given the discovery designation J002E3. It appeared to be in orbit around the Earth, and was soon discovered from spectral analysis to be covered in white titanium dioxide, which was a major constituent of the paint used on the Saturn V. Calculation of orbital parameters led to tentative identification as being the Apollo 12 S-IVB stage. Mission controllers had planned to send Apollo 12's S-IVB into solar orbit after separation from the Apollo spacecraft, but it is believed the engine burn lasted too long, and hence did not send it close enough to the Moon, so it remained in a barely stable orbit around the Earth and Moon. In 1971, through a series of gravitational perturbations, it is believed to have entered in a solar orbit and then returned into weakly captured Earth orbit 31 years later. It left Earth orbit again in June 2003.
== See also ==
Comparison of orbital launchers families Comparison of orbital launch systems Space exploration Comet HLLV (a Saturn-derived launch vehicle design from the 1990s)
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== External links == Media related to Saturn V at Wikimedia Commons