The Saturn V was – and still is – an engineering marvel. But how did they go through the design process? I’m familiar with the concept of the rocket equation, but how did they know how much power they would get out of the engines before they had built them, how did they know how big to make the fuel tanks to be able to get each stage to launch the stages above it (which were also still under design) to orbit, especially when the final mass was unknown? Even more so, how did they do this before computers were common place?
In: Engineering
The Saturn V was the product of an evolution in rocket design. What’s really amazing is most of that evolution occurred in about 10 years. The early Redstone rockets of the 1950s progressively were enlarged. Each progression taught new things and advanced design.
The design began in 1960. They knew approximately what size payload would be needed and scaled up to reach that.
You can do a lot with enough money and engineers.
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