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This Week in NASA History: First Launch of Saturn V – Nov. 9, 1967

This week in 1967, the Apollo 4 mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
This week in 1967, the Apollo 4 mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

This week in 1967, the Apollo 4 mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The mission marked the first launch of the Saturn V rocket. Mission objectives included testing of structural integrity, compatibility of rocket and spacecraft, heat shield and thermal seal integrity, overall reentry operations, launch loads and dynamic characteristics, stage separation, rocket subsystems, the emergency detection system and mission support facilities and operations. All mission objectives were achieved. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center designed, developed and managed the production of the Saturn family of rockets that took astronauts to the Moon. Today, Marshall is developing NASA’s Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built, capable of sending astronauts to the Moon, Mars and deeper into space than ever before. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage. (NASA)