Saturn-Apollo 1 (SA-1) launched on October 27 ,1961, was the first flight of the Saturn I space launch vehicle, the first in the Saturn family, and first mission of the American Apollo program. The Saturn I booster was a huge increase in size and power over anything previously launched. It was three times taller, required six times more fuel and produced ten times more thrust than the Jupiter-C rocket that had launched the first American satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit in 1958.
|
A "SpaceCraft" illustrated cachet cover cancelled on the day of the first launch of Saturn 1, PAFB October 27, 1961. |
|
Photo: Saturn test conductor, Bob Mosier (right), and launch operations director, Dr. Kurt H. Debus (right) at discussion after the simulated launching of Saturn rocket at Cape Canaveral. |
At the time, NASA had decided to not use all-up testing, when an entire system is tested at once. The agency planned to test each rocket stage in separate launches, so for SA-1 the only live stage was the S-I first stage. This first flight was designed to test the structure of the launch vehicle during a suborbital flight using the nose cone from a Jupiter rocket.
|
A Saturn 1 launch cover cancelled Port Canaveral, October 27, 1961. |
(Reference from
Saturn I SA-1)