"David Spain" wrote in message
...
On 2/25/2013 1:50 PM, Jan Philips wrote:
The bottom of this page http://www.astronautix.com/engines/f1.htm says
"first launch 1959". Wasn't this only a static test firing? The
first launch was the Saturn V with Apollo 4, right?

Sounds right to me.


According to 'Stages to Saturn' (the official NASA history of the
development of the Saturn launch vehicles) the first test-firing of an F-1
was March 1959 - it "demonstrated stable combustion for 200 milliseconds."
The Apollo Spacecraft Chronology sets it at 6 March.
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

"Slipped the surly bonds of Earth...to touch the face of God."