This week in 1965, workers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center hoisted a dynamic test version of the Saturn IB’s second stage into the Dynamic Test Stand as they assembled a complete launch vehicle to test structural soundness. The Saturn IB, which was designed, managed and built at Marshall, launched the Apollo spacecraft into Earth orbit to train for manned flights to the moon. The launch vehicle also carried three separate crews to the Skylab space station and was used for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Today, Marshall is developing NASA’s Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built that will be capable of sending astronauts deeper into space than ever before, including to an asteroid and Mars.
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 History Program’s webpage.
Image Credit: NASA