Famous for powering the enormous Saturn V Rocket that carried the Apollo missions aloft, the F-1 engine had roots outside of NASA. It was born in 1955 as an Air Force program developed by the Rocket Propulsion Lab (a precursor to the AFRL Rocket Lab), in collaboration with the aerospace firm Rocketdyne. NASA inherited the engine during a transfer of projects. They then conducted their own feasibility studies and awarded Rocketdyne a follow-on contract to step up work on the gargantuan motor. Some of the AFRL Rocket Lab’s contributions included:
• Continuous around the clock testing
• 5 engine test stands
• 1 component stand
• Infamous combustion stability issue
resolved at AFRL’s test stand 2A
• Proving prototype engines