When the American space program achieved a moon landing on July 20th, 2969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched by a powerful rocket called the Saturn V.   The Saturn V rocket was used to launch all the Apollo spacecraft on lunar missions.  It stood 363 feet (110 meters) high and had three stages, each of which fell away when it ran out of fuel.   To put that into perspective, that’s about as tall as a 36 story building.

How the Saturn V Rocket Worked

Click the image below to see a larger, more legible version.

Saturn V Rocket Explained (infographic)
Source: Incredible Everything, by Stephen Biestys/Richard Platt

From the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, here’s a look at the First Stage.  The first stage was the height of a 10 story building.  When it was filled with fuel, it made up half the weight of the rocket.  Six moving vans could easily fit inside its cavernous tanks.

Note the guy holding up a banana for scale*.  It was huge (the rocket, not the banana).

Image of the first stage of the Saturn V rocket at Kennedy Space Center, in Florida





The Saturn V rocket during rollout for Apollo 10
The Saturn V rocket during rollout for Apollo 1

A total of 13 Saturn V rockets were launched from 1967 until 1973.   One of the rockets is displayed at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Apollo 11 Moon Rocket’s F-1 Engines Explained

America's Moon Rocket: The Saturn V
Source: http://www.space.com/18422-apollo-saturn-v-moon-rocket-nasa-infographic.html

(* There isn’t a guy holding a banana.)