Saturn V was the kind of launch vehicle used by NASA in a space program named after a god that ancient people liked (the Apollo program). The Saturn V carried Apollo 11 and the people in it to the Moon in 1969. Much of the rocket was planned by German engineer and scientist Wernher von Braun. 32 Saturn rockets were sent up to space, and the Saturn V was the largest. 15 Saturn V rockets were made and 13 were sent up to space. There were two Saturn V launches with no people in them, and the first manned Apollo flight using a Saturn V was Apollo 8 sent around the Moon on December 21, 1968.
The Saturn V rocket was a three part machine. It stood 111 metres (363 feet) high and weighed 2,903,020 kilograms (6,400,060 pounds). The first rockets were able to carry 44,600 kilograms (98,300 pounds). This was went up to 46,800 kilograms (103,200 pounds) for the later Apollo flights. The first and second stages gave the power to lift the rocket off the Earth. The first and second stages each had five engines. The first stage burned kerosene and liquid oxygen together. The other stages burned liquid oxygen with liquid hydrogen.
The first stage engines burned for 168 seconds which was able to lift Apollo to a height of 67 kilometres (42 miles) and about 93 kilometres (58 miles) away from the launch pad. The second stage burned for about 8 minutes to take Apollo through the upper atmosphere. At this time it was going 25,182 kilometres per hour (15,647 miles per hour).
The third stage was used for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to put Apollo into an Earth orbit. This was at a height of 191.2 kilometres (118.8 miles) above the Earth. The third stage was started again and burned for 6 minutes to make the speed go up to 40,320 kilometres per hour (25,050 miles per hour) needed to send Apollo off to the Moon.