You may disagree, but I think that launch actually caused the American space program to leapfrog ahead of the Soviets in their "Space Race" from that day on.; just months after JFK sponsored Project Apollo.
Today SA-1 and the Saturn C-1 program itself would be called a massive waste of money, but in 1961 it was worth every penny. - Ed Kyle
I like the flexible “outside the box” thinking at the time that gave us Saturn I. It was like, what can we do with what we have now? Whip-out the slide rules, it’s good to go… Great move…Happy BirthdaySaturn I! Robert
Quote from: Rocket Science on 10/27/2011 02:54 pmThere are different descriptions about who actually did the "outside the box" thinking! - Ed Kyle
SA-1 lifted off at 10:06 AM EST on October 27, 1961 from LC 34. It was the heaviest object launched at the time. The flight was absolutely a watershed event for NASA, but even before it flew Saturn C-1 was obsolete. During the months prior to the SA-1 launch, Von Braun's team, responding to JFK's May announcement, had abandoned Saturn C-2, the growth version of Saturn C-1, and had already begun thinking about shelving its Saturn C-3 designs, which had already moved away from the C-1 cluster stage itself. Saturn C-1's S-IV stage would not fly for more than two years, but MSFC was already working on plans to abandon it in favor of bigger stage. In following months, NASA would abandon plans to fly manned Apollo missions on Saturn I (C-1), leaving a truncated flight test program with no real payloads.Today SA-1 and the Saturn C-1 program itself would be called a massive waste of money, but in 1961 it was worth every penny. - Ed Kyle
Don't forget von Braun was a late convert to clustering, opposed to the idea until told he would be replaced if he couldn't agree to get on with it. He may have been the darling of the Disney world but at this stage von Braun had little clout and was not doing the running.
Quote from: dbaker on 10/27/2011 04:53 pmDon't forget von Braun was a late convert to clustering, opposed to the idea until told he would be replaced if he couldn't agree to get on with it. He may have been the darling of the Disney world but at this stage von Braun had little clout and was not doing the running. True that his detailed technical choices did not always make the final cut, but I can't agree with your "little clout" description. In 1958, von Braun had just won a vast ocean of credibility with the Explorer I launch. It was he, ultimately, who won the funding for the continued ABMA space projects, including what would be by-far the most costly of the U.S. launch vehicles - Saturn. It was he who convinced LBJ, and thus JFK, that the Moon was the logical goal for bettering the Soviets. It would be his Center that built much of what we call NASA today (MSFC, Stennis, Kennedy Space Center - which began as a launch "laboratory" for Marshall, etc.) It was he that ultimately "made" NASA's lunar mode decision, when he accepted LOR. Much clout he had. - Ed Kyle
Even though it got nicknamed Cluster's last stand the decision to build it was a wise one as it allowed early testing of the Apollo spacecraft.
Because we know rocket science now. The first 12 flights of Corona would also qualify as waste today.
Quote from: Jim on 10/27/2011 03:35 pmBecause we know rocket science now. The first 12 flights of Corona would also qualify as waste today.Was there ever a good reason for Saturn 1? Couldn't they have used Titan instead?
Quote from: Patchouli on 10/27/2011 05:48 pmEven though it got nicknamed Cluster's last stand the decision to build it was a wise one as it allowed early testing of the Apollo spacecraft.Here's a terrific NASA video that shows some fascinating background on Saturn I development. What is especially interesting are the descriptions of early plans for its use that never panned out. There's a Saturn with wings, and even a propellant depot with a sunshade! - Ed Kyle
Interesting to see a very “Dragonesque-looking” Apollo spacecraft in the video…
Quote from: Rocket Science on 10/27/2011 10:19 pmInteresting to see a very “Dragonesque-looking” Apollo spacecraft in the video… There was a time when we called the gum drop shape a Soyuz shape...So was that shape for an LEO only Apollo, or was it seriously proposed for Lunar Apollo? We do know the Gum Drop shape worked with Zond.
Quote from: dbaker on 10/27/2011 04:53 pmDon't forget von Braun was a late convert to clustering, opposed to the idea until told he would be replaced if he couldn't agree to get on with it. He may have been the darling of the Disney world but at this stage von Braun had little clout and was not doing the running. True that his detailed technical choices did not always make the final cut, but I can't agree with your "little clout" description. Much clout he had. - Ed Kyle
Quote from: mmeijeri on 10/27/2011 08:09 pmWas there ever a good reason for Saturn 1? Couldn't they have used Titan instead?Titan then (1958) was a smallish (by comparison) two-stage LOX/kerosene ICBM under development. Saturn was conceived to carry much heavier payloads than Titan could carry.
Was there ever a good reason for Saturn 1? Couldn't they have used Titan instead?