11.13.2008

Belated Birthday - Apollo Saturn V

The greatest engineering feat in the 20th century. Hmmm I wonder what the greatest engineering feat in the previous 19 centuries were...(Eiffel Tower for the 19th Century).  Something to think about...

Anyway I read somewhere, I can't remember where, that there was a fact that suppose the Saturn V had 10,000,000 parts and assuming the reliability was at 99.9999 then there would still be 9 equipment failures. The fact that only one mission had a potential disaster was truly remarkable. Standing in at 363 feet it is the largest rocket ever launched.  Although I believe the Soviet's Energia had more pounds per thrust (?). Marvelous creation and amazing that it took only 6 - 7 years to conceive.  

No comments: