[Saturn I SA-5] The launch that changed everything: the first heavy lift...

[Saturn I SA-5] The launch that changed everything: the first heavy lift capability space vehicle lifting off from Cape Canaveral. NASA, 29 January 1964. NASA, 29 January 1964. Printed 1964. Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper [NASA image KSC 64PC-10]. 20.3×25.4 cm (8×10 in), with RCA Quality Control stamp, NASA USAF caption numbered “KSC 64PC-10” and dated “2/4/64” as well as “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso (NASA Kennedy Space Center / USAF, Florida).

This rocket’s launch was critical because it would place US lift capability ahead of the Soviets.

President Kennedy's last visit at Cape Canaveral was to survey Project Gemini and the advancement of the Saturn I SA-5 rocket. In a speech at Brooks AFB in San Antonio, Texas, on November 21, 1963, the day before he was assassinated, Kennedy identified this launch as the one which would place US lift capability ahead of the Soviets, after being behind for more than six years since Sputnik. He said: “And in December, while I do not regard our mastery of space as anywhere near complete, while I recognize that there are still areas where we are behind – at least in one area, the size of the booster – this year I hope the United States will be ahead.”

The fifth Saturn I flight vehicle was successfully launched from Launch Complex 37, Cape Kennedy on January 29, 1964. SA-5 was the first launch of the Block II Saturn I rocket and was part of the Apollo program. The major changes that occurred on SA-5 were that for the first time the Saturn I would fly with two stages - the S-I first stage and the S-IV second stage. For the first time in the Apollo program, this flight would be an orbital mission. This was possible because of the upgraded first stage and the addition of the second stage.

Condition Report:Excellent condition.

Category:Photos ▸ Vintage photographs