The Saturn I/IB Rocket

In this eagerly anticipated book, renowned space historian and author David Baker turns his attention to the Saturn I and IB rockets. Although considered as merely a ''stepping stone'' from the Mercury and Gemini programmes to the mighty Saturn V and the Apollo missions that put the first humans on the Moon, the Saturn I and IB rockets actually played a far more significant role in NASA''s manned space effort.As the first American ''heavy lift'' rocket , Wernher von Braun''s Saturn I traced its lineage right back to his WWII V2 rocket, through Redstone to the Jupiter and Juno projects that lead to the Saturn vehicles. In describing this often-overlooked historical background, the story of the transition of the space programme from the US Army to the (then) newly-formed NASA, and the evolution from launching men and satellites on modified missiles, to flying purpose-built space rockets, is also uncovered.The first Saturn I flew in 1961 and it remained in service until 1975, flying the f