Nine minutes after launch, the second stage dropped off the rocket at an altitude of 109 miles above the Earth’s surface. Third Stage: Towards The Moon Now in orbit, the Saturn V was only 58 ...

More than 40 years in the making, the Saturn V rocket was born out of the bloodiest war in history but grew up to become humanity's crowning engineering achievement.

An illustration from 1967 compares the sizes of the Saturn V rocket and the Statue of Liberty. At 363 feet tall (111 m), the Saturn V was almost 60 feet (18 m) taller than the Statue of Liberty.

The Saturn V rocket remains one of NASA's greatest technological achievements—a powerful launch vehicle that finally brought the Moon within reach.

Launch of the Apollo 4 (AS-501) mission, on NASA's first test flight of the Saturn V rocket, from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Nov. 9, 1967, at 7:00 a.m. EST. (Image ...

Saturn V Launch Vehicle diagram Credit: Smithsonian Air and Space Museum In the early evening of Nov. 8, 1967, the 363-foot tall Saturn V launch vehicle stands ready for liftoff.

The Saturn V moon rocket launched in 1967 as part of the Apollo 4 mission. Photo: NASA On November 9, 1967, a 363-foot-tall (111-meter) Saturn V rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ...

Humans had to aim high to reach the moon, but the Saturn V rocket was like nothing anyone has seen before or since.