How NASA brought the monstrous F-1 “moon rocket” engine back to life

[Echnaton]

Houston based writer for Ars Technica,  Lee Hutchinson, has a great article on how and why the NASA MSFC in Huntsville pulled a F1 out of storage to revive the knowledge of how it works. 

http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life/

[Sus_pilot]

Thanks!  That was a great read!  And heartening to know that we can adapt and improve the original product.  The parts reduction alone is impressive.

[Echnaton]

Ars Technica has become my favorite technology publication.  They have writers that both know their stuff and are good at crafting words.   I Conde Nast can make money doing such a good job.

[Noldi400]

Wow.
Just.
Wow.
For those of us not in the business, it's heartening to know that NASA still has engineers with that much initiative and affinity for the dirty-hands approach. I've never doubted it, but it's nice to be reminded.

That said, is there an engineer here who wouldn't drop what they were doing to be a part of this project? Hell, I'd pick up and move to Alabama (Texas, wherever) just to hold their coats and pass them tools.

Go NASA. Show the world you still have that old fire (pun intended).


P.S.

Why was NASA working with ancient engines instead of building a new F-1 or a full Saturn V? One urban legend holds that key "plans" or "blueprints" were disposed of long ago through carelessness or bureaucratic oversight. Nothing could be further from the truth; every scrap of documentation produced during Project Apollo, including the design documents for the Saturn V and the F-1 engines, remains on file.

Really? Good to know. I thought that one was true, at least as far as the contractors were concerned, although the loss of the "human experience" factor through aging is certainly a handicap.

[Donnie B.]

In the second article (linked near the end of the first) there is a description of the technique used to control the ignition sequence on the original F-1.  It is described as a sort of Rube Goldberg contraption of flow sensors, mechanical devices, and switches.  Now that's something I'd love to understand in detail!

(The new F-1B will use an updated system with sensors and computers.)