Marshall Space Flight CenterThe Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo program.Michoud Assembly FacilityThe Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is an 832-acre (337-hectare) industrial complex for the manufacture and structural assembly of aerospace vehicles and components. It is owned by NASA and located in New Orleans East, a section of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States.
Saturn VAmerican super heavy-lift expendable rocketThe Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had three stages, and was liquid-fueled. Thirteen Saturn V vehicles were launched, from 1967 to 1973, all from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, nine of which launched 24 astronauts toward the Moon from Apollo 8 to Apollo 17.
RocketVehicle propelled by ejection of gasesA Soyuz-FG rocket launches from "Gagarin's Start" (Site 1/5), Baikonur CosmodromeA rocket (from Italian: rocchetto, lit. ''bobbin/spool'', and so named for its shape) is an elongated flying vehicle that uses a rocket engine to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed.
Multistage rocketA multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket stages, each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage; a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or attached next to each other. Two-stage rockets are common, but rockets with as many as five separate stages have been successfully launched.
Liquid oxygenLiquid oxygen, sometimes abbreviated as LOX or LOXygen, is a clear, pale cyanliquid form of dioxygenO2. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an application which is ongoing. Physical propertiesLiquid oxygen has a clear, pale cyan color and is strongly paramagnetic: it can be suspended between the poles of a powerful horseshoe magnet.
SeattleCity in Washington, United StatesCity in Washington, United StatesSeattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It is the 18th-most populous city in the United States with a population of 784,777 in 2025, while the Seattle metropolitan area at over 4.15 million residents is the 15th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation.
BoeingAmerican aerospace and defense corporationThe Boeing Company ( ) is an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support services. Boeing is among the largest global aerospace manufacturers; it is the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world based on 2022 revenue and is the largest exporter in the United States by dollar value.
RP-1RP-1 (Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) and similar fuels like RG-1 and T-1 are highly refined kerosene formulations used as rocket fuel. Liquid-fueled rockets that use RP-1 as fuel are known as kerolox rockets. In their engines, RP-1 is atomized, mixed with liquid oxygen (LOX), and ignited to produce thrust.
Rocketdyne F-1The F-1 is a rocket engine developed by Rocketdyne. The engine uses a gas-generator cycle developed in the United States in the late 1950s and was used in the Saturn V rocket in the 1960s and early 1970s. Five F-1 engines were used in the S-IC first stage of each Saturn V, which served as the main launch vehicle of the Apollo program. The F-1 remains the most powerful single combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket engine ever developed.
QuincunxA quincunx ( KWIN-kunks) is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry (depending on the orientation of the outer square), the (two-dimensional) five-point stencil in numerical analysis, and the five dots tattoo.
GimbalA gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of the rotation of its support (e.g. vertical in the first animation).*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.