Saturn-V launch Vehicle (Apollo-11 launch)
It could carry a Chevrolet right out of the Solar System,
probably to the delight of Ford and Chrysler,
and there's no telling what it could do to a Volkswagen. -
Wehrner von Braun
Saturn-V launch Vehicle (Apollo-11 launch)
It could carry a Chevrolet right out of the Solar System,
probably to the delight of Ford and Chrysler,
and there's no telling what it could do to a Volkswagen. -
Wehrner von Braun
One of the classical trivia of Solar System exploration is: What
could the Saturn-V rocket, built for the manned Apollo program, have
carried to the planets?
The following is a table of Saturn-V performance for various planetary
missions. Note that data for a possible four stage version, using a
Centaur as the fourth stage is included.
| Target | Orbit inclination (degrees) |
Excess Speed (m/s) | Time of flight (days) |
Saturn-V performance (kg) |
Saturn-V + Centaur performance (kg) |
| Mars | 2 | 4080 | 150 | 35400 | 39000 |
| Asteroid Ceres | 10 | 11150 | 200 | 3160 | 10000 |
| Asteroid Icarus | 23 | 15900 | 80 | 2700 | |
| Jupiter | 0 | 9100 | 750 | 10900 | 16300 |
| Comet Encke | 12 | 9200 | 100 | 10000 | 15400 |
| Comet Schwassmann- Wachmann 3 |
9.5 | 12500 | 500 | 7500 | |
| Solar Probe to 0.2 AU | 0 | 13300 | 80 | 6650 | |
| Solar Probe to 0.12 AU | 0 | 16200 | 76 | 2500 | |
| Out of Ecliptic at 1 AU | 25 | 13800 | 5800 | ||
| Out of Ecliptic at 1 AU | 35 | 17200 | 580 | ||
| Solar System Escape | 0 | 13500 | 5900 | ||
| Solar System Escape | 10 | 15000 | 3850 | ||
| Earth-Moon Lagrangian Points | 0 | 4150 equivalent | 100 hr | 34500 | 38500 |
For an explanation of the Excess Speed please refer to Chinese Planetary Program page.
Bibliography
Bromberg, J. L., Gordon, T. J.: Extensions of Saturn. Presented
at
the 1966 IAF congress
For questions, suggestions and comments you can email me