We Have Liftoff: Apollo Rocket Engines Pulled From Ocean Floor

[IDemo]

Source: NPR

Rocket engines that may have powered the flight of the first man to walk on the moon have been recovered off the coast of Florida from a depth of nearly three miles beneath the ocean's surface.

Well, parts of some of them have been found and hauled up, according to Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. He and an "A-team" of experts were in search of the historic F-1 engines used on Apollo 11. Whether they found them, or engines from another Apollo flight, isn't clear. A forthcoming restoration effort may answer that question.

The Internet entrepreneur shared news of the recovery in a post to the Bezos Expeditions website Wednesday:

We're bringing home enough major components to fashion displays of two flown F-1 engines. The upcoming restoration will stabilize the hardware and prevent further corrosion. We want the hardware to tell its true story, including its 5,000 mile per hour re-entry and subsequent impact with the ocean surface. We're excited to get this hardware on display where just maybe it will inspire something amazing.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/20/174834978/we-have-liftoff-apollo-rocket-engines-reportedly-pulled-from-ocean-floor?ft=1&f=1001

[Spitfire of ATJ]

1. It would be something if it was Apollo 12...

That was the night storm launch that was hit by lightning.

TWICE.

"SCE to AUX? What the hell is that?"

[denverbill]

2. Wow, those don't looked like they've been scratched.

I would have thought they would have been smashed to bits when they hit the water. They must have fallen from several miles up.

[Posteritatis]

3. Remember, they were built to take the forces running through them

A lot of other stuff they could be subjected to would be child's play by comparison.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. The testing included blowing up dynamite inside the engine (while it was operating) ...

[Posteritatis]

8. I imagine the guy who stresstested that stuff enjoyed his line of work. (nt)

[Gregorian]

4. That's a museum piece, not the one that crashed into the ocean.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But the description says Smithsonian.

[csziggy]

6. Correct - originally at the Smithsonian, now in Huntsville, AL

Caption at OP link reads: "An F-1 engine, originally stored at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, arrives at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The engine's pristine condition made its components ideal for refurbishment and testing."

Video of actual engine part being recovered from the ocean floor:

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Recently moved to Marshall ... for TESTING !!

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/F1-4.html

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/f1_sls.html (photo on right margin) The video (from Jan. 10, 2013) shows a test firing of the gas generator, which produces a measly 31,000 lbs of thrust. So far there appear to be no plans to test fire the whole engine, which produces 50x that.

Lots of links for space geeks on that page!

They've been test firing *something* in recent weeks -- we can hear occasional static test firings from our house.

[Paulie]

11. That generator is just to power the pump for the main engine

That's more than the engine of an F16, just to run a fuel pump!

[Scuba]

9. And somewhere in America, some guy is thinking, "I can fit that in my '57 Chevy."

[cbrer]

10. How'd you know?!?!

It's as if you had a crystal ball!

[xtraxritical]

12. I'm so glad it's not on the taxpayers dime.

[maindawg]

13. underwater stuff is the best

the coolest . I love underwater film. I dont know why they dont have a tv show that just does underwater stuff. I would watch that show.
That engine is bad ass. Can you imagine sitting on that sucker , pushing the ignition and open that thing up. O h yea. That is probably the coolest moment in the history of man.

I wonder if they ever found the Challenger?