CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos recovers Apollo 11's Saturn V F-1 engines

[quagmire]

NASA news keeps on rolling in the past few days it seems..... NASA has announced and congratulated Jeff Bezos who is the CEO of Amazon.com on successfully recovering the F-1 engines from the first stage of the Saturn V that powered Apollo 11 to the moon.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013...Statement.html

Pictures of the engines here:

http://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html

[jav6454]

To the museum!

[quagmire]

Originally Posted by jav6454

To the museum!

We know the Smithsonian will get one. Who will get the other is up for grabs. Bezos wants it to go to Seattle( he has no control over it since the F-1's still belong to NASA)

Also, I should clarify that they believe these are Apollo 11's F-1's. Serial numbers on the engines are damaged or partially missing so identifying the specific mission these flew on will be difficult.

[jav6454]

We had how many Apollo missions? Trying to decipher if they were the 11's is going to be skeptical at best without that serial # info.

[obeygiant]

That awesome! I wonder how much it cost and who paid for it?

[quagmire]

Originally Posted by jav6454

We had how many Apollo missions? Trying to decipher if they were the 11's is going to be skeptical at best without that serial # info.

13 Saturn V's were launched( not all Apollo missions used the Saturn V. Some used the Saturn IB which the first stage used the H-1 engine). So that is 65 F-1's that they have to track down and determine if the two that were recovered were apart of the Saturn V that launched Apollo 11. NASA tracked where each first stage fell, so chances are these are Apollo 11's F-1's. But, of course the serial #'s are needed to confirm.

[ucfgrad93]

Wow, that is amazing. It is still hard to believe and very sad that we have not returned to the moon in over 40 years.

[ratsg]

Originally Posted by obeygiant

That awesome! I wonder how much it cost and who paid for it?

Assuming that you are a Amazon customer, the answer is probably you and me.

[filmbuff]

To the Museum of When America Could Get Something Done!

[Sayer]

Quick reverse-engineer those suckers!

Congress demanded that NASA destroy all blueprints/designs for Saturn V rockets as part of kicking off the Space Shuttle program in the 1970's. Brilliant move, elected dunderheads.

Of course Space-X (private/commercial space company) already has a kinda-heavy lift vehicle design that delivered an unmanned supply module to the ISS already, having a reliable alternative (design) is always a good thing.

[quagmire]

Originally Posted by Sayer

Quick reverse-engineer those suckers!

Congress demanded that NASA destroy all blueprints/designs for Saturn V rockets as part of kicking off the Space Shuttle program in the 1970's. Brilliant move, elected dunderheads.

Of course Space-X (private/commercial space company) already has a kinda-heavy lift vehicle design that delivered an unmanned supply module to the ISS already, having a reliable alternative (design) is always a good thing.

For the Saturn V? Maybe, but they are considering reviving the F-1's to be used on a strap on booster for the 130t version of their upcoming SLS rocket to replace the 5 segment SRB's.

SpaceX is also developing a Falcon Heavy rocket as well. Which is like the Delta IV heavy, just three core stages strapped together.

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by ratsg

Assuming that you are a Amazon customer, the answer is probably you and me.

I don't mind spending all my money on Amazon when it leads to stuff like this.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

I don't mind spending all my money on Amazon when it leads to stuff like this.

Neither do I. This is an amazing find.

[filmbuff]

Originally Posted by Sayer

Quick reverse-engineer those suckers!

Congress demanded that NASA destroy all blueprints/designs for Saturn V rockets as part of kicking off the Space Shuttle program in the 1970's. Brilliant move, elected dunderheads.

None of that is true.

[DisMyMac]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

It is still hard to believe and very sad that we have not returned to the moon in over 40 years.

That is hard to believe- you're absolutely right.

[Neil McRae]

i always thought Bezo's was an arse but my view has changed after seeing this.

[Schmitty11]

If this is how the money i spend on Amazon is being used, I will continue to be a costumer.

[GermanyChris]

This is cool , I shall remain a prime member

[KaraH]

Originally Posted by filmbuff

To the Museum of When America Could Get Something Done!

I never could understand how we were able to go from nothing to the moon in just a few years. Then in the decades since we have not sent human beings further than in orbit around the Earth.

Oh sure, I have heard plenty of reasons like 'robots make more sense' and such. In the 60s it was not about what would make the most sense or we would have done more with something like the Surveror line than the Apollos ..... like the Russian space program did with their lunar unmanned flights.

We sent Apollos vs robots for one reason: to inspire. Why the powers-that-be think we do not need inspiration anymore is beyond me.