The H-1 liquid-fuel rocket engine was the first stage powerplant for the Saturn 1 and Saturn 1B launch vehicles, the precursors to the Saturn V which took men to the Moon in the Apollo program. The Saturn 1 and Saturn 1B were each fitted with eight H-1 engines in their first stages. The engine uses RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen. The model shown here may be the second variation that produced 188,000 pounds of thrust. The Saturn 1, with its eight H-1's, first flew in 1961 while the last Saturn 1B was flown in 1975 for the low-Earth orbit Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. This H-1 was transferred to from NASA to the Smithsonian in 1970.
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration