F-1 Engine Parts From Apollo 12 and Apollo 16

The F-1 engine gave the astronauts the blast off they needed to make the three day journey to the Moon. All of the Apollo missions, including Apollo 11, used 5 of the powerful F-1 engines to rocket them on the Saturn V into space.

• The F-1 engine only flies for about 2 ½ minutes before detaching from the Saturn V Moon rocket and dropping into the Atlantic Ocean.

• Falling down about 40 miles and splashing into the Atlantic, the over 18,000 pound F-1 engine is completely destroyed and 65 of these engines lay at the bottom of ocean.

• Our F-1 engine parts lay lost at the bottom of the sea for 43 years until discovered and raised by Seattle-based Bezos Expeditions in 2013.  

• Locating and recovering the lost F-1 engines started in 2010 by a team, formed by Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon, of deep sea explorers, including some who searched for the Titanic.

The sunken remains of the F-1s were our last missing links to the first days of space travel, and they are now on view in our exhibition, APOLLO.

These parts, and other Moon artifacts, share the story of scientific achievements and what we can accomplish together - all at your Museum of Flight!

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