Original subtitles

(dramatic instrumental music)

- [Narrator] July, 1969.

Apollo 11 is go for launch.

- [Man] T-minus 25 seconds and counting,

we are go.

- [Man] GBS go.

- [Man] Bermuda--

- [Man] Guidance release, 15.

- [Narrator] After a decade of work,

NASA is less than four days

from putting a man on the Moon.

- [Man] Nine.

- [Man] Ignition sequence start.

Six, five, four, three, two, one,

lift off.

We have lift off.

(rocket engine running)

- [John] I believe that this nation should commit itself

to achieving the goal

of landing a man on the Moon

and returning him safely to the Earth.

- [Narrator] But in 1961 when Kennedy pledged

to put man on the Moon,

NASA had little idea of how to get there.

- It was the most audacious thing NASA

has ever attempted in its history.

(rocket engine running)

- When America says it's gonna do something,

it does it.

- [Narrator] A new rocket was needed

to rise to the challenge,

but developing such a colossal machine

would push science and engineering to its limits.

- These were people who weren't gonna accept

that failure was an option.

(rocket exploding)

What they achieved is little short of remarkable.

(rocket engine running)

- It is still the most powerful rocket ever built.

- [Narrator] This film tells the incredible story

of how NASA built the machine

that flew man to the Moon.

- [Man] We have you go for orbit.

You're go for orbit.

(electronic beeping)

(plane engine running)

(dramatic instrumental music)

- [Narrator] November, 1961,

NASA pilots test the X-15 Rocket Plane.

- [Bob] We're clear to go.

Launch.

(missile engine running)

- [Man] Your angle looks good, Bob.

- [Narrator] Speeding to Mach 6,

NASA reaches out for the edge of space.

- [Man] At 12.6, still good.

- [Bob] It's fantastic up here.

- [Narrator] But unbeknown to the American public,

these rocketry milestones have been built

on technology from an unlikely source.

(siren ringing)

(bombs exploding)

1940, World War Two rages as London burns

under relentless aerial bombardment,

but deep within Nazi Germany,

Hitler's plans for a new long range super weapon

are being hatched.

(rocket engine running)

(dramatic instrumental music)

The V-2 Rocket is the world's first ballistic missile

and will leave Britain defenseless,

(weapon exploding)

but the V-2 has come at great cost to the Nazi war effort.

(rocket engine running)

(rocket exploding)

However, these early lessons in rocketry

will mark the surprising first steps

towards manned spaceflight,

and the mastermind behind the V-2 rocket,

scientist Werner Von Braun,

will later become an unlikely giant

of the American space program.

(gentle instrumental music)

At the end of the war,

U.S. agents capture over 100 German scientists,

including Von Braun,

and recruit them to develop weapons for the U.S. Army.

- The story of Von Braun's arrival in the States

dates back much further than that.

It was very clear that the Allies were winning the war.

They had to decide who they should surrender to.

They were too concerned about the treatment

that they would get from the Russians,

and that left the United States.

Von Braun and his team were shipped

over to the States in September, 1945,

along with 15 tons of paperwork

and more than 100 V-2 rockets.

- [Narrator] On arrival in America,

Von Braun continues to develop the V-2 rocket

for the U.S. Army,

working on the rockets captured from Nazi Germany.

- [Nigel] Von Braun and his team were clearly interested

in pushing the technology forwards,

improving the performance of the V-2,

refining some of the systems that controlled the flight.

Eventually, they started flying two stage rockets,

where the V-2 was the first stage,

and they had an additional booster as the second stage.

- [Man] With this small, young missile

called the Whack Corporal,

fresh out of Pasadena, California.

The V-2 Whack Corporal combination marked

for the first time the blending in action

of American and German rocket brains,

a combination that was destined

to have its rendezvous with history.

(rocket engine running)

(gentle instrumental music)

- [Narrator] As the Cold War gathers momentum,

both superpowers realize the conflict will be won

or lost on the power of technology.

(rocket engine running)

(weapon exploding)

With missiles reaching higher and higher altitudes,

it becomes clear that the ultimate symbol

of superiority will be the conquest of space.

- The space race was essentially an arms race,

but rather than using weapons of war,

it was about the development of space technology.

- This battle between two competing super powers,

Communism, Capitalism,

the United States and the Soviet Union,

and what better stage could there be for you

to convince the rest of the world

that your system was superior,

than the stage of space exploration?

- Supremacy in space was vital.

It said to the world,

"We have the technological superiority over our rivals,"

and this is why it came as such a shock

to the United States

when the Russians launched the first artificial satellite

to orbit the Earth.

(electronic beeping)

(gentle instrumental music)

- [Man] All the people on this fast shrinking planet

heard about it.

Many of them watched it.

All of them read about it.

- [Narrator] In 1957, the U.S. learns

of several spectacular Soviet space victories

that send shock waves across America.

On October the 4th, 1957,

the Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1,

the world's first artificial satellite.

(rocket engine running)

- Sputnik really put the United States into crisis.

- It was a global event.

The Americans were absolutely shocked

that a dictatorship suddenly beats them

to the first hurdle,

which was to put the first object

into orbit around the Earth.

(electronic beeping)

Every day it was orbiting the Earth 16 times,

and every day it was passing over American territory.

There was nothing they could do about it,

and that's why it had such a powerful effect

on their psyche.

(rocket engine running)

- [Man] On November 3rd, 1957,

the Earth's second artificial satellite went into orbit.

- [Narrator] One month later,

America suffers further humiliation

as Sputnik 2 carries life into orbit,

a dog named Laika.

- This hasn't got a primitive radio transmitter inside.

This has got a living complex organism onboard,

Laika the dog.

It was a massive leap in the eyes of the public

and technologically as well.

(dramatic instrumental music)

- [Man] In desperation,

the United States look to the vanguard.

Nearly 200 newsmen from all over the world

were flown down for the big turkey shoot,

and inside the blockhouse,

the tension steadily mounted.

(rocket engine running)

America's prestige had never been lower,

than at this moment, December 6th, 1957.

- It's a terrible feeling when things don't go right,

and it's also a terrible feeling

when things don't go right for your colleagues.

You feel dreadfully for other engineers.

- As people were basking in the awe over Sputnik,

this was called Flopnik

because of course it got nowhere.

It was at that point the American Army,

with Werner Von Braun,

were unleashed to launch a satellite within 60 days,

and Von Braun and his Army team

launched the first American satellite

on the 31st of January, 1958.

- [Man] Tank pressurized, missile power.

Ignition, main stage,

(rocket engine running)

lift off.

(gentle instrumental music)

(machine whirring)

- [Narrator] In 1958, Washington forms

a research organization to accelerate

an American space program.

NASA is born.

- Von Braun was enveloped

within this expanding NASA organization,

that hoovered up all of those different departments

of Air Force, Army, and civilian activities

to create the infrastructure

that could mobilize major programs.

- [Narrator] Von Braun and his men immediately begin work

on a heavy lift vehicle that they believe

will give America the lead in the space race.

(gentle instrumental music)

- Having stumbled at every hurdle in the race,

there was further humiliation for the United States

with the launch of Yuri Gagarin.

He was the first human being to orbit the Earth,

and that's all he did,

one complete orbit, and then lands successfully.

I say that's all he did,

but we need to remember of course

that every second he was traveling five miles,

(mumbling)

and he landed as a global hero.

He was feted by the Soviet Union

as a triumph of what was possible

under a Communist society.

(crowd cheering)

- It really put a lot of pressure on the White House.

How could you have let our country fall behind so badly?

How could it be possible that the Russians

could launch an artificial satellite

and then secondly launch a human being?

So the Americans felt this very, very deeply indeed.

(crowd cheering)

- Kennedy said at the time,

"We're gonna have to take more hits

"before we pull ahead,"

and that was the view.

Simply head down, focus, keep going.

- [Narrator] One month later,

the United States responds with Project Mercury

and launches Astronaut Alan Shepard

to become America's first man in space.

- Your attention please.

On my mark, T-minus 15 minutes.

T-minus 15 minutes and counting.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- Status check, pressurization.

- [Man] Go.

- [Man] LOX tanking.

- [Man] You are go.

- Water systems.

- [Man] Go.

- [Man] Range operations.

- [Man] Clear to launch.

- [Man] Mercury Capsule.

- [Man] Go.

- [Man] All pre-start panel lights are correct.

The ready light is on.

Eject Mercury umbilical.

Oil evacuate.

- [Man] Mercury umbilical clear.

Lights on.

- All recorders to fast.

T-minus eight seconds and counting.

Engine start.

(rocket engine running)

- [Man] Bolts and lift off.

- [Alan] All right there,

lift off and the clock has started.

This is Freedom 7 reading you loud and clear.

Control is smooth.

What a beautiful view.

(helicopter engine running)

- [Narrator] Although Shepard's flight is a success,

President Kennedy believes America must now show the world

they can supersede all Soviet achievements.

- [Man] President Kennedy begins a tour

of four space installations at Huntsville, Alabama,

where he is greeted by Dr. Werner Von Braun,

space pioneer and director

of this research and development center.

- I believe that this nation should commit itself

to achieving the goal

before this decade is out

of landing a man on the Moon

and returning him safely to the Earth.

No single space project in this period

will be more impressive to mankind

or more important for the long range exploration of space,

and none will be so difficult

or expensive to accomplish.

(rocket engine running)

- [Man] God speed, John Glenn.

- [John] Roger, zero G, and I feel fine.

Oh, that view is tremendous.

(gentle instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Kennedy's pledge will inspire

the American people, calm hysteria,

and unite an army of engineers

to take up his challenge,

(machine whirring)

but in 1963, NASA has little idea

of how to build a rocket capable

of flying beyond Earth orbit.

Von Braun's favored design is a colossal rocket,

known as the Nova,

capable of launching a large lunar lander.

This heavy spacecraft would fly directly

to the Moon to land on its surface

before returning to Earth.

- When NASA was doing the very early designs

for the whole Apollo mission,

they developed a specification for a rocket

which was never built called the Nova rocket,

which would have been absolutely immense in size.

- The whole front end of which

would have been a spacecraft

weighing about 45 or 50 tons.

This would have been such a colossal spacecraft,

with such weight that people did not know

even if the surface of the Moon was sufficient

to support the weight of such a colossal stage.

- [Narrator] The Nova design is eventually abandoned

due to cost and complexity.

NASA commit to an alternate design,

a smaller launch vehicle comprised of three main stages.

(metal clanging)

Consisting of fuel tanks and engines,

each individual stage will burn

at a specific time during launch.

This staged design allows the heavy fuel tanks

and engines to be discarded once used up,

reducing the weight of the rocket

as it climbs higher.

This rocket will become an iconic symbol

of the Apollo Program, the mighty Saturn V.

(gentle instrumental music)

The Saturn V will send a small Apollo spacecraft

to the Moon.

Unlike Nova, the Apollo spacecraft will be made

of two modules with only a lightweight lander

descending to the Moon's surface.

This lander can then rendezvous with the main spacecraft

and return to Earth,

(dramatic instrumental music)

but before building the Saturn V,

NASA must expand their understanding

of multi-stage rockets.

Work begins immediately on the Saturn 1,

a smaller test vehicle needed for trialing stage designs.

Just five months after Kennedy's pledge,

the first Saturn 1 is ready for launch.

- [Man] Five, four, three, two, one.

- [Man] All engines running.

Launch commit.

Launch Commit.

Lift off.

(rocket engine running)

- [Man] Go, go.

(yelling)

(mumbling)

- [Narrator] Over the next four years,

NASA successfully launches a total

of 10 Saturn 1 Rockets,

helping perfect the liquid fuel dynamics

and multi-stage designs needed for the larger Saturn V.

(engine firing)

By 1963, construction on the mighty Saturn V has begun.

With the most powerful engines ever built,

capable of launching man beyond Earth orbit,

the Saturn V will secure America's dominance

in the space race,

but building such a colossal vehicle

will require precision engineering

on an unprecedented scale.

- The Apollo Lunar Program

was an absolutely enormous undertaking.

At the height of the program,

they had 375,000 people working on the project.

The range of skills that were required

was much, much broader than any single company could cover.

The chance of success would be maximized

by bringing together the very best minds

from the top companies in the United States.

- [Narrator] Under the direction of Von Braun,

Boeing, North American Aviation,

Douglas Aircraft Company,

and the leading computer giant IBM

are all contracted to the Saturn project,

and new launch sites, control centers,

and vast support complexes are built across America.

(metal clanging)

The first stage of the Saturn V

consists of two main components,

the fuel tanks and the giant F-1 engines.

The 42 meter high first stage

will be the largest section of the Saturn V,

with most of its mass being made up of rocket fuel.

Two tanks will hold kerosene and liquid oxygen

for five F-1 engines.

(gentle instrumental music)

- Many people forget about the fuel tanks,

but you must remember the challenges.

The coldest temperature on the Earth, normally,

it's about minus 88 centigrade in Antarctica.

We have to go well below those temperature

for the fuel tanks to work efficiently.

Oxygen has to be cooled down massively

until it becomes a liquid to have

the amounts of oxygen we need

to get the Saturn V into orbit,

so first of all your fuel tanks

have to function as some

of the best cryogenic thermos flasks in the world,

but you can't make them so heavy

that you're never gonna get it off the ground,

so when you consider all of these challenges,

it really was pushing the science to its very limits.

- [Narrator] The five F-1 engines will do the heavy lifting,

pushing the 3,000 ton vehicle

to over 8,000 kilometers per hour.

- When you think about the Saturn V, the mind boggles,

but it wasn't gonna go anywhere

unless it had the right power plant,

and this is where the F-1 Engine came in.

Each of its engines could produce

more than 620 tons of thrust.

- [Narrator] The F-1 has actually been

in development since 1955,

but a cluster of five engines needed

for the first stage will push

current technology to its limits,

(rocket engine running)

but during testing,

a discovery is made that threatens

the entire Apollo mission.

(dramatic instrumental music)

- One of the biggest problems they faced

was the issue of combustion instability.

- The individual motors burn three tons of fuel a second.

Imagine three tons of fuel

just disappearing every second.

It's quite extraordinary.

The flow of that amount of fuel into a cauldron

of burning gas is a very complex physical process.

- [Narrator] The cause lies deep within the engine.

Inconsistent fuel flow increases thrust,

raising pressure and restricting the fuel supply,

which in turn reduces thrust.

The decreased pressure now causes a surge of fuel,

again boosting the engine.

The cycle continues with fatal consequences.

- They were actually getting a thrust flame,

which was streaking around the inside

of the combustion chamber,

faster and faster and faster.

This is leading to massive instabilities,

that engine after engine were failing

after just a few seconds,

and believe me, when an engine of the power

of the F1 fails,

it does so spectacularly and catastrophically.

(engine exploding)

(gentle instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Thousands of engineers work tirelessly

to solve the problem,

eventually discovering that installing baffles

to balance the fuel flow leads

to a smoother, more stable burn.

- When I look back at the challenges that they faced

in a time when we didn't have

computational fluid dynamics modeling on super computers,

what they achieved in those few short years

is little short of remarkable.

These were people who weren't gonna accept

that failure was an option.

They knew the time pressure.

They felt there was a national goal.

They were putting their hearts and souls into it,

so when they encountered difficulties,

and when we look at the F-1 testing regime,

boy, were there difficulties,

they didn't give up.

They just learnt from the lessons,

and they moved on.

- [Narrator] With the F-1 stable,

the first five engine cluster

on a fully developed first stage is test fired.

(siren ringing)

(rocket engine running)

Collectively the five engines now produce

an astounding 7.5 million pounds of thrust,

meeting Von Braun's original specifications.

The four outer engines are then fitted on gimbals

to direct their thrust for in flight course corrections.

- It's the nearest thing you can see to an explosion

that isn't quite an explosion.

It's quite stupendous to see something

that is so nearly out of control,

and yet being controlled so precisely.

It's that balance that makes you respect

the people who can design and build equipment like that.

- [Narrator] Although the F-1 engines

will only burn for two and half minutes,

they are a feat of engineering,

and to this day remain the most powerful

single chamber liquid fueled rocket engines ever built.

(gentle instrumental music)

In parallel to the development of the first stage,

work has begun on building the Apollo spacecraft

that will fly the astronauts to the Moon and back,

but to flight test this Apollo hardware,

a new rocket is needed.

Construction of the Saturn IB begins immediately.

(dramatic instrumental music)

With a new more powerful second stage,

this vehicle will launch a manned Apollo spacecraft

into orbit for flight testing.

(rocket engine running)

NASA selects 16 new astronauts

for 10 pioneering manned missions

named Project Gemini.

Gemini will develop the techniques critical

to the future success of a lunar mission.

With the space program gathering momentum,

the American people share a new sense of optimism,

but one day in 1963, everything changes

(gentle instrumental music)

- [Man] Things are rather confused at this moment.

Shots definitely were fired at the presidential motorcade

as it passed through downtown Dallas.

All--

- [Man] We have just received word that shots

have been fired at the Kennedy motorcade.

We just talked to the police department here

with that conversation.

- [Man] No one yet has any authoritative reports

upon the nature of the wounds to the President--

- [Man] One policeman fell to the ground,

pulled his pistol and screamed, "Get down,"

and a man across the street--

- [Man] It is now reported that Governor Connolly

and the President perhaps have been wounded

in this assassin's attempt.

It is an unofficial report that both the President

and Governor Connolly were wounded in this shooting event.

- [Man] Ladies and Gentlemen, the President is dead

at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

(cloth flapping)

- There at the time you could feel it,

a terrible sense of loss.

It enshrined in the memory of all those

who were there at the time in the United States,

the fact that what Kennedy had begun

was to ignite a dream,

that a post war world

and that a young and far sighted leadership

could begin the process of transforming a world

endangered by the threat of nuclear war,

that essentially the American people

could themselves be mobilized

to make the world a better place,

but instead of creating a demoralization,

it brought a response of an absolute,

resolute determination that come what may,

they would get Americans on the Moon

by the end of the decade.

(dramatic instrumental music)

- [Narrator] NASA defiantly presses on with Project Gemini.

- [Gus] The clock has started.

- [Man] You're on your way, Molly Brown.

- [Narrator] They make huge steps

towards fulfilling Kennedy's dream

and showing the world the America he believed in.

- [Man] Oh man.

- [Ed] This is the greatest experience.

I feel like a million dollars.

- Gemini played an absolutely crucial role.

10 manned Gemini missions had to prove

all of the technologies that were gonna be essential

if Project Apollo was going to meet its challenge

of landing on the Moon.

- [Man] Staring right down the old line.

- [Anu] How do you get two spacecraft,

orbiting the Earth at five miles a second,

to rendezvous and achieve a docking?

- [Man] Roger, how do it look?

- [Man] It looks great.

- Would a human being be able to survive 14 days

in what we call the micro-gravity environment?

- [Man] How does it feel for the United States

to be the new record holder?

- [Man] At last, huh?

- [Man] Roger, congratulations.

(rocket engine running)

- [Narrator] Longer flight durations,

docking maneuvers, and spacewalks are all practiced

and perfected by the Gemini crews

for the forthcoming Apollo Program.

(helicopter engine running)

(gentle instrumental music)

Construction of the Saturn V's third stage

is well underway at the Douglas Aircraft Company.

(metal clanging)

Stage Three has two main roles

requiring its single J-2 engine to fire twice.

The engine will first boost the spacecraft

into Earth orbit and later re-ignite,

setting the ship on course for the Moon,

but during J-2 testing,

engineers encounter another serious engine problem.

- The entire assembly exploded,

destroying the motor

and damaging the test stand very severely.

(rocket engine running)

(siren ringing)

The spherical tanks designed to pressurize

the fuel system had ruptured,

so a weld had failed,

and the shrapnel created an enormous explosion

that destroyed the motor

and also seriously damaged the test stand.

(helicopter engine running)

In subsequent investigations,

it was found that the weld for that sphere

was out of specification,

and in combination with multiple tests

of over pressuring the sphere,

the assembly had weakened and lead to that failure.

(electronic buzzing)

- [Narrator] Welding the fuel tanks of the Saturn V

has proved to be a major challenge.

Sophisticated modifications are made

to equipment in order to produce the flawless welds

needed to withstand the extreme in flight stresses.

All welds are inspected and subject

to a new policy of over testing to destruction.

(tank exploding)

(water rushing)

- The big secret with the engineering on the Saturn V

lay in the experience of the German rocket pioneers.

(machine whirring)

It was the uncompromising commitment to test,

test, and re-test,

(steam hissing)

and the very systematic development

of one system after another,

that were the core of why the Saturn program

worked so well.

- [Narrator] Despite steady progress

on the first and third stages,

the second stage of the Saturn V

at North American Aviation is proving more difficult.

Due to redesigns of the Apollo spacecraft,

the Saturn V is too heavy,

and the weight reduction must somehow come

from the second stage.

The original design of Stage Two

uses two separate fuel tanks,

but designing a single fuel tank

with a common bulkhead separating the two liquids

will shorten Stage Two and dramatically reduce its weight,

but this leaves Stage Two engineers

facing one of the greatest challenges

of the entire build.

Two intensely cold, highly flammable liquids

will now be separated

by only a thin layer of insulation.

(gentle instrumental music)

- This common bulkhead was one

of the really challenging,

potentially show stopping problems.

A difference of nearly 130 degrees

across those two cryogenic fluids,

hydrogen at minus 423,

oxygen, just the other side

of this very thin wall, minus 297.

You couldn't have heat leak between the two,

and the technology was stretched

to the very limit in terms of the materials

that were required for this common bulkhead,

and all this was happening in parallel

as these various stages were being developed.

- [Narrator] By May, 1965, the shorter

and lighter second stage is near completion,

and in parallel the instrument unit

is also under construction.

This circular section of the vehicle,

22 feet in diameter,

will sit above the Third Stage.

Manufactured by IBM,

this collar holds all of Saturn V's flight guidance,

detection systems, and flight control gyros.

- During motor burn,

you've got to control the flow of fuel

into the combustion chambers.

You've got to control the direction

in which the thrust is pointing.

- The engines are designed to move

to steer the vehicle.

Those engines have to keep moving just to keep it on track.

- So you needed the control computers

that took signals from the various sensors,

telling it how to gimbal the motors

so that the thrust was pointing

in the direction that was necessary.

Of course, you've got to think back to the 1960s

and what computers were like then.

Probably your electric watch

has got more computing capacity than this had,

but as with many aspects of the Apollo Program,

the small steps to advance technology,

to apply them in new areas,

are all part of the story

that leads up to laptops and computers in our car

and things like that.

It accidentally threw off all of these benefits

which society now feeds on.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile the Lockheed Propulsion Company

has designed and built the Launch Escape System.

- The Saturn V vehicle stood 110 meters.

The final 10 meters,

attached to the top of the Command Module

that the astronauts actually sat in,

was the Launch Escape Tower.

The Launch Escape Tower was essentially

to take the astronauts to a safe place

in the event of a vehicle failure.

(rocket engine running)

The rocket motor would pull the Command Module

containing the astronauts away from the rocket,

and it would divert them out towards the sea,

and the Command Module would come down

into the water under its parachutes.

(water splashing)

- [Narrator] With the astronauts out of harm's way,

they can be recovered by the U.S. Navy.

(helicopter engine running)

(mumbling)

Throughout 1966, success follows success,

and it seems nothing can stop the Apollo Program,

(rocket engine running)

but in January, 1967, disaster strikes.

(gentle instrumental music)

Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White,

and Roger Chaffee board a Saturn IB

for a routine static launch test.

Once locked inside the capsule,

a fire breaks out.

In the pure oxygen environment,

the fire flashes through the spacecraft

killing the trapped astronauts in seconds.

- The Apollo fire was a shock.

The expectation was that we would have

difficulties and problems.

There was no realization that within the design

of the spacecraft itself lay deeply embedded,

serious engineering design flaws,

and so the shock was a deeply incisive and damaging,

to a great extent, impact on morale.

Gus Grissom himself said we expect to loose people

in this business,

and he said it must not stop if lives are lost.

Sadly he was one of those whose life was lost,

but there was a sense that,

just as the death of Kennedy had deepened the resolve

to fulfill his commitment,

so too were the loss of these three lives

not going to reduce in any way the effort

and the determination and the resolution,

to press on and get on the Moon

by the end of the decade.

- [Narrator] The Apollo Program is delayed

while NASA engineers apply new fire safety measures,

(dramatic instrumental music)

but with the end of the decade looming,

NASA bypasses its reliable incremental testing strategy

and proceeds with a high risk all up flight test.

All stages of the vehicle are assembled

at the Kennedy Space Center,

and the first Saturn V rocket

will be launched as Apollo 4.

- [Man] We are go.

30 seconds and counting.

- [Narrator] After years of pioneering

rocket design and engineering,

NASA's first $135 million Saturn V

is ready for lift off.

- [Man] Okay, all flight controllers, let's play it cool.

Final status check, booster.

- [Man] Go.

- [Man] Retro.

- [Man] Go.

- [Man] Fido.

- [Man] Go.

- [Man] Guidance.

- [Man] Go.

- [Man] Verify you are go for launch.

- [Man] Roger, we are go for launch.

(rocket engine running)

- [Man] We have ignition.

All engines are running.

We have lift off.

We have lift off at 7:00 A.M. Eastern Standard time.

- It was the most remarkable scene.

It was the most impressive sight.

The weight of a warship lifting vertically into the air,

it was just breathtaking.

- [Narrator] Apollo 4 brings the dream

of landing a man on the Moon a huge step closer,

but before astronauts can pilot

the mighty Saturn V, further testing must take place.

NASA launches Apollo 6,

their second unmanned Saturn V, in April, 1968.

(rocket engine running)

- [Man] Five, four, three, two, one, zero.

We have commit.

We have lift off.

Lift off at 7:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time.

Five seconds into the flight,

we're looking good.

- [Man] Pitch and roll program started.

Vehicle going now to an Azimuth heading of 72 degrees.

All five F-1 engines firing.

They're looking good.

They're given a green light at this time from range safety.

- [Narrator] NASA expects another perfect flight,

but shortly after launch,

the Saturn V starts shaking violently.

If these vibrations continue,

the vehicle will break itself apart.

This vibration is known as pogo.

NASA engineers have encountered pogo before,

but never on this scale.

- Pogo is essentially a vibration

that occurs along the rocket.

It's created by the motion of the rocket,

changing the way that fuel flows along the fuel lines,

which then varies the thrust,

(rocket engine running)

and it can become so violent

that it actually destroys the vehicle.

- [Narrator] As the first stage burn ends,

the vibrations subside,

but the damage caused is about to become clear.

Four minutes into the second stage burn,

two of the J-2 engines lose power and shut down.

- [Man] We have a report of the loss

of engines two and three.

- [Narrator] With two engines out,

NASA prepares for a mission abort,

but the remaining engines gimbal

to correct the trajectory,

and the rocket just reaches orbit.

(gentle instrumental music)

After this precarious flight,

NASA investigates the pogo problem.

Engineers discover the pogo vibrations

ruptured a fuel line,

causing the engines to fail.

(rocket engine running)

Apollo 6 flight data also reveals

that astronauts would not have survived

the violent vibrations had they been onboard.

NASA must stop pogo.

- At one point in time,

NASA had about 1,000 engineers

working on the pogo problem.

NASA decided that the pogo suppression systems

that had been developed

but hadn't been fitted because of the complexity

and the cost and delays that they would have caused

should then be fitted to all subsequent Saturn Vs.

- [Narrator] Although engineers fit suppression measures

to the first stage F-1 engines,

it will be several manned missions

before they address the severe pogo

of the second stage J-2s.

In October, 1968, astronauts Eisele,

Schirra, and Cunningham fly

aboard a Saturn IB on Apollo 7,

(rocket engine running)

the first manned mission of the program.

- [Man] Thrust is okay.

- [Man] Right on the old button.

- [Man] Roll.

- [Man] Roger roll.

We have you go for orbit.

You're go for orbit.

(electronic beeping)

- [Narrator] They give the Apollo spacecraft

a comprehensive system checkout in orbit.

- [Man] Roger, good morning to everyone

in television land.

Three, two, one, mark.

- [Man] Houston is go for the burn.

- [Man] We're burning.

The rates are good.

It's a good burn.

We're go.

- [Man] Beautiful job.

- [Narrator] All hardware works perfectly,

and the stage is set for further exploration.

December, 1968,

NASA chases Kennedy's deadline with Apollo 8.

Apollo 8 will be both the first manned flight

of the Saturn V and the first time man

will attempt to fly beyond Earth orbit to the Moon.

- It was the most audacious thing NASA

has ever attempted in its history.

- The challenge was not just to go to the Moon,

but to get back again.

Apollo 8 was arguably the boldest decision

that NASA has ever made in the history

of human space flight.

- [Narrator] After years of design,

development, and testing,

the Saturn V is handed over to the crew of Apollo 8,

Astronauts Anders, Lovell, and Borman.

- [Man] Our status board indicates

that all aspects are ready,

spacecraft ready as we come up

on the 60 second mark on our flight to the Moon.

(rocket engine running)

T-minus 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, nine,

we have ignition sequence start.

The engines are armed.

Four, three, two, one,

we have commit.

- [Man] We have lift off.

(dramatic instrumental music)

- [Man] Clock's started flight.

- [Man] Roger, clock.

- [Man] Cleared the tower.

- [Man] Copy tower, Houston copies.

- Any big rocket launch is an assault on all your senses.

It rattles the fillings in your teeth.

I mean, it literally shakes you internally.

- The knowledge of where the vehicle was going

and the hopes that were contained,

not just within the three people on board

and not just within the thousands of people

who worked on the program,

but within the spirit of humanity

that Project Apollo represented.

- [Man] Apollo 8, Houston trajectory

and guidance look good, over.

- Here we were,

leaving Earth and breaking that bond with our home planet

to place men within the gravitational grip

of another world in space.

My body was full of goose pimps.

- [Man] Apollo 8, you are go for TLI, over.

- [Man] We are go for TLI.

- When that third stage was re-lit

to head toward the Moon,

to see the velocity going up and up and up and up,

the counters on the consoles,

it was awesome.

- I think the Apollo 8 crew saw our home planet

from a perspective that people have dreamt

about for thousands of years.

They were the first human beings to be able

to blot out every aspect of human history,

everyone they'd loved,

everyone they'd dreamt about,

all of their successes, all of their failures,

just to blot it out with a thumb.

- It's the first time that the Earth was seen

not as the place that we live,

but as a planet floating in a black sky,

seemingly insignificant among the vastness of the stars.

- [Narrator] Apollo 8 successfully orbits

the Moon 10 times,

and on Christmas Eve 1968,

makes a historic television broadcast to the world.

- [Man] For all the people back on Earth,

the crew of Apollo 8 has a message

that we would like to send to you.

In the beginning, God created the Heaven

and the Earth,

and the Earth was without form and void,

and darkness was upon the face of the deep,

and God said, "Let there be light,"

and there was light.

- When I hear the reading of the passages from Genesis,

it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,

and that's 40 years later.

- I think Apollo 8 is certainly a contender

for the proudest moment of the Saturn V.

- [Man] And from the crew of Apollo 8,

we close with goodnight, good luck,

and Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you,

all of you on the good Earth.

(gentle instrumental music)

(dramatic instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Now with a fully functioning Saturn V,

NASA accelerates towards a Moon landing.

(rocket engine running)

In March, 1969, Apollo 9 orbits the Earth for 10 days,

conducting the first manned flight test

of the Lunar Module.

- [Man] Three, two, one, retro fire.

- [Man] Mission confirmed.

- [Narrator] Two months later,

Apollo 10 returns to the Moon

to practice landing procedures,

flying the Lunar Module just eight miles above the surface.

- [Man] We is down among them, Charlie.

- [Man] Roger, you're weaving your way up the freeway.

- [Man] It might sound corny,

but the view is really out of this world.

- [Narrator] With all testing complete,

the stage is now set to attempt a lunar landing.

July 16th, 1969,

Apollo 11 Astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin,

and Collins board their Saturn V.

- [Man] We are go, 20 seconds.

- [Man] Balance go.

- [Man] CBM.

- [Man] CBMs go.

- [Man] 11, 10, nine,

we have ignition sequence start.

Six, five, four, three, two, one,

all engines running.

- [Man] Lift off.

We have a lift off.

- [Man] 32 minutes past the hour,

lift off on Apollo 11.

- [Narrator] Four days later,

Neil Armstrong sets foot on the Moon,

realizing Kennedy's dream

and securing America's superiority in the space race.

(electronic beeping)

- [Neil] That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

(crowd clapping)

(rocket engine running)

- [Narrator] For the next six missions,

the Saturn V maintains its 100% record.

Between 1968 and 1972,

24 men fly to the Moon,

and 12 walk upon its surface.

- [Gene] This has got to be one of the most proud moments

of my life, I guarantee you.

- [Narrator] As NASA grows in confidence,

crews land in mountainous and valley terrain

and explore vast areas of the Moon

in surface missions lasting up to three days.

- [Charlie] Boy, Houston the beauty

of this place is absolutely incredible.

- [Narrator] But on December 7th, 1972,

man leaves the Moon for the last time.

- [Man] What a ride.

- [Narrator] Apollo 17 closes a remarkable chapter

in the history of space flight.

(crowd clapping)

In 1973, the final flight of the Saturn V

launches America's first space station,

and the service of this remarkable vehicle

comes to a distinguished end.

(dramatic instrumental music)

- The legacy of the Saturn V is

the number of scientists and engineers and teachers

who were inspired by the sight of that magnificent,

outrageous rocket standing on the launch pad.

(rocket engine running)

- I'm one of that generation that are referred to

as the children of Apollo.

It drove my interest in science and maths

for as long as I can remember.

- Saturn V was a totally remarkable vehicle.

You just didn't question it.

It was a pinnacle of engineering

and a pinnacle of man's defiance

of the laws of nature almost.

You know, I can do what I want.

Get out of the way.

- It is still the most powerful rocket

ever launched from the surface of the Earth.

- Its whole purpose,

the whole embodiment of what it represented,

was to go in search of answers to questions

that had been asked since the beginning of time,

what we are?

What is out there?

What is that Moon?

What is it like to walk upon it?

- The Saturn V showed us that we could do it.

It's about time we did it again.

- When people imagine the Moon landings,

I think you see an astronaut standing

on the surface of the Moon,

and you also see that amazing rocket

leaving the launch pad.

- [John] This generation does not intend

to flounder in the backwash of the coming age of space.

We mean to be a part of it.

We mean to lead it.

- And I can feel the hairs on the back

of my neck stand up.

- [Man] All engines running.

Launch commit.

Launch commit.

Lift off.

- [Man] We have lift off.

We have lift off at 7:00 A.M. Eastern Standard time--

- [Man] Go, go, go, go, man, go--

- [Man] Tower has been cleared.

Tower has been cleared.

- But really, beyond all that,

it stimulated dedicated workmen to shed tears

when they saw that thing rise,

(rocket engine running)

the fulfillment and the culmination of their dreams

carried forward into the cosmos

by such an extraordinary vehicle.

- We'd like to give a special thanks

to all those Americans who built those spacecraft,

who did the construction, design, the tests,

and put their heart and all their abilities

into those craft.

To those people, tonight we give a special thank you.

God bless you.

Goodnight from Apollo 11.

- [Narrator] The Saturn V remains

the most powerful vehicle ever built

and will always be considered one

of mankind's greatest technological achievements.

(dramatic instrumental music)