Amazon CEO recovers Apollo engines off Cape Canaveral

Published On: Mar 21 2013 01:03:32 PM EDT

Two mammoth rocket engines that helped boost Apollo astronauts to the moon have been fished out of the Atlantic near Cape Canaveral.

An expedition led by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos pulled up the engines from almost 3 miles below the ocean's surface and is headed back to Brevard County after three weeks at sea.

Bezos and NASA announced the recovery on Wednesday.

Remotely operated vehicles worked at a depth of more than 14,000 feet to find components of two flown F-1 engines. Crews also found a Saturn V stage structure, thrust chamber and fuel manifold.

The sunken engines were part of the mighty Saturn V rocket used to fly astronauts such as Neil Armstrong, John Young and Gene Cernan to the moon during the 1960s and 1970s. After liftoff, they fell into the ocean as planned.

The engines are the property of NASA. The space agency congratulated Bezos on his efforts.

Bezos's goal is to reassemble two F-1 engines for display to honor the workers of Apollo.

Bezos' space company, Blue Origins, has a NASA contract to develop a private space taxi to the International Space Station.

Images: Apollo engines found in Atlantic


Images: Amazon CEO recovers Apollo engines off Cape Canaveral


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