WE HAVE IGNITION! ? ELAPSED TIME 000:00:00, APOLLO 11 LIFTOFF. Saturn V with Kuiper (and me) for scale.
50 years ago to this moment, Apollo 11 launched into space, with Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and @astromichaelcollins
Thank you to Moriah at @rocketcenterusa for taking this picture of Kuiper with their full-scale replica Saturn V (in the rain!) As you can see, IT IS FREAKING HUGE. It’s taller than the Statue of Liberty! I had to go stand next to Kuiper, or he would have been really tough to spot.
The 363 feet (110.6 m) tall rocket was repainted shortly after we visited last year, and we hope to get a chance to see it again in all its refurbished glory.
LAUNCH TIMELINE (elapsed minutes and seconds)
? 00:00 LIFTOFF!! ??? YASSS
? 00:01.7 Yaw ↗️ maneuver start (tilting a bit to get out of the way of the launch tower)
? 00:09.7 Yaw maneuver end
? 00:13.2 Roll ? and pitch ↕️ maneuver start (this is to point ourselves in the right direction, because the Moon doesn’t orbit “flat” relative to the Earth’s equator; it is tilted. Or rather, we are tilted. Angle needed to get to the Moon varied slightly for each Apollo mission.)
? 00:31.1 Roll maneuver end.
? 01:23.0 MAX-Q! ? (maximum dynamic pressure, or the point at which the rocket is under the most physical stress)
? 02:15.2 1st stage center engine cutoff command (this was given by a computer called the Saturn V Instrument unit, a ring-shaped device sitting on top of the 3rd stage. The command activated automatically when the 1st stage’s fuel tank was mostly empty.)
? 02:40.0 Pitch maneuver end
? 02:41.63 The four remaining F1 engines on the 1st stage cutoff (they kept going until the tank was completely empty)
? 02:42.30 Bye bye ?, 1st stage!
? 02:44.0 2nd stage engine ? ignition
? 03:17.9 Bye bye ?, launch escape tower!
? 09:08.22 2nd stage engine cutoff
? 09:09.00 Bye bye ?, 2nd stage!
? 09:12.20 3rd stage ignition ? (1st burn)
? 11:39.33 3rd stage cutoff (1st burn)
? 11:49.33 Whew, we’re in orbit!
What a wild 12 minutes! Now the real work begins. Let’s check and make sure all systems are go before heading out on the most epic road trip in history. ?
Original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz-r3kjl8XS/