Building the Saturn V Third Stage
Video from the channel The Space Archive about Saturn V, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 5:20. Language: English. Video type: Archive footage.
What it shows
Period film about the Saturn V third stage: how it works in flight, how it is assembled and how it is tested. It explains that it burns liquid hydrogen and oxygen in a tank divided by a common bulkhead, with the oxygen at the bottom, and walks through the structure from bottom to top: conical interstage, thrust structure, aft skirt, tank and forward skirt, which supports the instrument unit. After assembly, the J-2 engine and the hydraulic, electrical, telemetry, environmental control, flight control and propellant settling systems for the restart are installed.
When and where it was filmed
Footage from the era of the Apollo program. The full-thrust, full-duration static firings take place at the Sacramento test area, after which the stage is shipped to the Kennedy Space Center.
Context
The stage is more than 58 feet tall and 22 feet in diameter, weighs 130 tons loaded, and its single J-2 produces 200,000 pounds of thrust. It ignites at about 117 miles of altitude, after the second stage is spent, and in just over two minutes brings the speed up to 17,500 miles per hour to reach orbit; it then reignites for about six minutes up to 24,300 miles per hour to send the spacecraft toward the Moon.