S-IC-T

S-IC-T

S-IC-T being lifted into the B-2 Test Stand
Manufacturer	Boeing for NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center
Country of origin	United States
Used on	Static testing of the S-IC stage, used on the Saturn V rocket program
General characteristics
Height	42 m (138 ft)
Diameter	10 m (33 ft)
Gross mass	5,030,000 lb (2,280,000 kg)
Propellant mass	4,400,000 lb (2,000,000 kg)
Empty mass	290,000 lb (130,000 kg)
Launch history
Status	Display at Kennedy Space Center's Apollo-Saturn V Center museum
Total launches	None, static test stage at NASA Mississippi Test Facility, now known as Stennis Space Center
Successes (stage only)	18 test fires from 1965 to 1967
Engine details
Powered by	5 × F-1
Maximum thrust	34,500 kN (7,750,000 lbf) [1]
Specific impulse	263 s (2.58 km/s)
Burn time	150 seconds
Propellant	LOX / RP-1

S-IC-T is a non-flight test article of the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V super-heavy lift launch vehicle system. S-IC-T was built by Boeing Company, under contract from National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to be a static test rocket. The main role of the S-IC-T was the integrated testing of the five liquid fuel rocket engines to be used in the Apollo program. S-IC-T was assembled at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, where it underwent its initial static fire testing on April 10, 1965. S-IC-T was then test fired at the NASA Mississippi Test Facility, now known as Stennis Space Center. S-IC-T was given the nickname T-Bird (Test Bird). S-IC-T is now on display at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

History

Further information: S-IC, Rocketdyne F-1, and Saturn V

S-IC-T being taken to the B-2 Test Stand on March 1, 1965

S-IC-T at Kennedy Space Center in 2017, before being put in the indoor display hall

S-IC-T is strictly a ground-based test article to be used for integrated testing as the "all systems test stage". ^[5] Before S-IC-T, the first integrated test S-IC stage built, Boeing built prototype stages SA-500F and SA-500D. These prototypes were used for testing the new S-IC first stage. S-IC-T, like all following Saturn V's S-IC rockets used five Rocketdyne F-1 engines. The Rocketdyne F-1 engine was first tested in March 1959 and delivered to NASA in October 1963. The S-IC-T tests were to verify that the S-IC stage could support the firing of all five Rocketdyne F-1 engines at the same time. The testing was also a test of the two large fuel tanks. The five Rocketdyne F-1 engines produced 34,500 kN (7,750,000 lbf) of thrust, the first burn of the most powerful rocket ever. The powerful rockets caused ground shaking and smoke filled the area from the engine flames. ^{[2] [3] [4]} Thus, B-2 Test Stand earned the nickname the land of the earth shakers.^{[ citation needed ]} Boeing Company was awarded the contract to build S-IC-T on March 6, 1963, from NASA.^{[ citation needed ]} The S-IC-T test stage was built at MSFC, starting in 1963 and complete in 1965, with the intention of static firing the article there. ^[6] On March 1, 1965, the booster test stage was lifted into the newly constructed MSFC Test Stand 4670 ahead of its fully-integrated static fire test campaign. Numerous tests from single engine to the very first five-engine static fire tests were performed with the test article while at MSFC. ^[7] S-IC-T was loaded onto the barge Poseidon^{[ when? ]}. Barge Poseidon was then floated 1,086.7 miles for six day, arriving at the B-1/B-2 Test Stand in Mississippi. The Barge Poseidon trip is 1,086.7 miles miles up the Tennessee River and then down the Mississippi River. ^[6] The S-IC-T was test fired at a newly built test firing facility, called the B-2 Test Stand (S-IC-T stage), in the west test area. B-2 Test Stand is now part of the Stennis Space Center.

A crane was used to install S-IC-T into the B-2 Test Stand. Then the five F-1 engines were installed. The S-IC-T was filled with RP-1 rocket fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) oxidizer. On the B-2 Test Stand, 18 test firings were completed over almost two years. On April 10, 1965, the first S-IC-T test was to fire one engine for 16.73 seconds. On April 16, S-IC-T fired all five engines for the first time for 6.5 seconds and reached the record 7.5 million pounds (33.36x106N) of thrust for the first time. The 7.5 million pounds of thrust was the power Wernher von Braun specified for Apollo to depart to the moon. ^[8] On August 5, 1965, a full burn test was done for 2+1⁄2-minute (150 seconds) on all five engines. Two more 2+1⁄2-minute full burn test were done. ^[7] The last test was done in 1967. The test included testing the gimbaled thrust movement on the four outing engines. With the successful tests of S-IC-T, the Apollo program's Saturn V rocket was able to move forward to the next step, SA-501/Apollo 4 with S-IC-1. With all testing completed, Boeing removed the S-IC-T from B-2 Test Stand on March 24, 1967. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

S-IC-T is now on display on its side, inside the Apollo-Saturn V Center museum at the Kennedy Space Center. Visitors are able walk under S-IC-T. The complete Saturn V rocket, that S-IC-T is part of, has been restored for display. S-IC-T is a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, listed in July 1980. Two other Saturn V Rocket sites were listed at the same time: Saturn V Rocket at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and the one at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration in Huntsville, Alabama. ^{[4] [9] [10] [11]}

S-IC-T specifications

S-IC-T configuration

S-IC-T specifications: ^{[4] [12]}

• Height: 42 m (138 ft)
• Diameter: 10 m (33 ft)
• Mass: 5,030,000 lb (2,280,000 kg)
• Fuel, liquid oxygen and kerosene: 4,400,000 lb (2,000,000 kg)
• Kerosene RP-1: 810,700 L (178,300 imp gal; 214,200 US gal)
• Liquid oxygen: 1,311,100 L (288,400 imp gal; 346,400 US gal)
• Empty: 290,000 lb (130,000 kg)
• Intertank: 7.9 m (26 ft)
• Five F-1 engines, each 10 tons
• Static test of S-IC, first stage of Saturn V Rocket
• Power: 34,500 kN (7,750,000 lbf) thrust or about 160 million horsepower, a record

B-2 Test Stand

B-2 Test Stand part of large Rocket Propulsion Test Complex at the Stennis Space Center
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Static Test Firing S-1C Saturn V Mississippi Test Facility MTF
Show map of Mississippi Show map of the United States
Location	Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Hancock County, Mississippi [13]
Coordinates	30°21′45.96″N89°36′00.72″W / 30.3627667°N 89.6002000°W / 30.3627667; -89.6002000
Area	13,500 acres (55 km2)
Built	1961 to 1965
Architect	NASA
NRHP reference No.	85002805
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 3, 1985 [14]
Designated NHL	October 3, 1985 [15]

Further information: Stennis Space Center

To test S-IC-T a special test stand was built, the B-2 Test Stand, this held the rocket in place under full power test. B-2 Test Stand was designed in 1961 and construction started in June 1961. B-2 Test Stand was completed in spring 1965 at the NASA Mississippi Test Facility and the Pearl River Site, then the NASA Mississippi Test Operations, now known as Stennis Space Center since May 20, 1988 after John C. Stennis. B-2 Test Stand was built to be able to hold down 53,000 kN (12,000,000 lbf) of thrust. S-IC-T was first rocket tested on the B-2 Test Stand. Also on the B-2 Test Stand, was the testing of S-IC-1 (Apollo 4), fired two times; S-IC-2 (Apollo 6) fired once; and S-IC-3 (Apollo 8) fired one time. In 1974, the B-2 Test Stand was reconfigured to test engines, RS-25, for the Space Shuttle program. Next the stand was change to test Russian RD-180 rocket engine in 1998, used on the Atlas rockets. The Space Launch System liquid oxygen feed line was tested in 2014 on stand. ^{[16] [17] [5]}

A total of 12 S-IC stages were tested on B-2 stand. The first in April 1967 and the last was in October 1970. S-IC 15 was tested but was not used, S-IC 15 is on display at the Stennis Space Center's Infinity Space Center. ^[18] The RS-68 used on the Delta 4 Common Booster Core was tested from November 1999 to May 2001. ^[19] Stennis Space Center has other test stands including: A-1/A-2 Test stands, A-3 Test stand, H-1 Test stand and E Test stand complex. ^{[20] [4]}

The B-2 Test Stand specifications: ^[16]

• Concrete: 12,000,000 lb (5,400,000 kg)
• Foundation depth: 12 m (40 ft)
• Four concrete foundation leg walls: 15 m (48 ft) thick and 44 m (144 ft) tall
• Crane with a 41 m (135 ft) boom, lift up to 195 tons
• Max height: 140 m (450 ft), including crane, (largest structure in Mississippi at the time)
• Base floor space: 58 m (190 ft) by 50 m (165 ft)
• 910,000 litres (240,000 US gal) of water a minute for cooling engine exhaust
• 350,000 litres (92,000 US gal) of water per minute for vibro-acoustic protection
• Hold down 53,000 kN (12,000,000 lbf) of thrust, less in current state.

Gallery

• 
  Poseidon barge transporting a Saturn V S-IC rocket from Alabama to Mississippi. The trip is 1,086.7 miles miles up the Tennessee River and then down the Mississippi River.
• 
  A Space Launch System Rocket Core at Stennis prior to being lifted onto the B2 test stand
• 
  Saturn V vehicle configurations with S-IC-T in the static firing stage
• 
  Wernher von Braun with the F-1 engines of the Saturn V first stage at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center
• 
  The B-2 Test Stand holding Space Shuttle component in 1987
• 
  B-1 Test Stand in 1995
• 
  SSME is Hoisted into the B1 Test Stand in 1989
• 
  SSME Night Firing in 1992
• 
  Stennis Space Center B1 Test Stand blast ports
• 
  Cutaway diagram of the S-IC.
• 
  Saturn V first stages S-1C-10, S-1C-11, and S-1C-9 at Michoud Assembly Facility.
• 
  Saturn V schematic
• 
  F-1 engine on display at INFINITY science center.
• 
  Artemis I core stage hot fire test in the B-2 Test Stand
• 
  Hot Fire Test of SLS Rocket Core Stage

See also

• S-II
• S-IVB
• Saturn V
• Apollo (spacecraft)

References

1. Thorne, Muriel, ed. (May 1983). NASA, The First 25 Years: 1958–1983 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 69.
2. "45 Years Ago: First Main Propulsion Test Assembly Firing of Space Shuttle Main Engines – NASA". April 20, 2023.
3. "Saturn V S-IC-T Stage Heads to Test Stand – NASA".
4. Kyle, Ed. "Saturn Vehicle History". spacelaunchreport.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022.
5. Wright, Mike. "Three Saturn Vs on Display Teach Lessons in Space History". Marshall Space Flight Center History Office. Archived from the original on 15 November 2005. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
6. Saturn illustrated chronology. Saturn's first eight years, April 1957 – April 1965, May 15, 1965, NASA
7. "Advanced Engine Test Facility, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, Designated October 28, 1993" (PDF).
8. Magazine, Smithsonian; Betancourt, Mark. "We Built the Saturn V". Smithsonian Magazine.
9. "Saturn V Rocket". www.asme.org.
10. "Apollo Saturn V Center".
11. "Saturn V Rocket: America's Moon Rocket | Kennedy Space Center". www.kennedyspacecenter.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
12. "Saturn V S-IC-T Stage". March 1, 1965 – via Internet Archive.
13. "Stennis Space Center – NASA".
14. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
15. "Rocket Propulsion Test Complex". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2007-07-28. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
16. "S-IC Test Stand". heroicrelics.org.
17. NASA (February 1967). "Saturn V Quarterly Report #16 Sep–Nov 1966 Part 1 of 2". NASA. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
18. "Space Gallery". INFINITY Science Center. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
19. "B-2 Test Stand, NASA" (PDF).
20. "B-2 Test Stand – NASA".

28°36′17″N80°40′10″W / 28.604806°N 80.669444°W / 28.604806; -80.669444

External links

• S-IC-T on youtube.com
• Stages to Saturn
• Apollo Saturn Reference Page