Apollo 11 rocket engines that put man on the moon discovered at bottom of the Atlantic and confirmed a day before the 44th anniversary of Armstrong's first steps
- The engines were recovered three miles below the ocean's surface
- The confirmation comes on the 44th anniversary of the famous Apollo 11 voyage
- Experts confirmed the engines' origin through serial numbers
By RYAN GORMAN PUBLISHED: 13:39 GMT, 20 July 2013 | UPDATED: 14:50 GMT, 20 July 2013
Explorers have recovered Apollo 11 engines from the Atlantic Ocean floor. First recovered in March, experts have now confirmed the rocket engines recovered from three miles below the ocean surface by Bezos Expeditions are Saturn V first stage F-1’s used by the rocket that put the first men on the moon. The announcement came one day before the 44th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic first steps on the lunar surface.
Found!: Explorers confirmed they have recovered engines used to put Apollo 11 on it's historic voyage to the first lunar landing
The confirmation was made by conservators from the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, who confirmed the engines’ origin by scanning their surface with black lights designed to notice even the smallest markings. They were able to discern the serial number ‘2044’ stenciled on the side of one of the thrust chambers, according to Jeff Bezos. ‘2044 is the Rocketdyne serial number that correlates to NASA number 6044, which is the serial number for F-1 Engine #5 from Apollo 11,’ Bezos explained.
Further sleuthing led the team to find ‘Unit No 2044’ stamped into the base of the thrust chamber, wrote Bezos, providing additional confirmation. The recovery was made using highly advanced Remotely Operated Vehicles designed to withstand the immense pressures brought by the extreme depths at which the engines were found. They were tethered to a vessel on the surface via fiber-optic cables used to transmit data and power, according to Bezos.
Identified: The serial number 2044 from the Saturn V F-1 engines used by the Apollo 11 was found using black lights to scan the engine's surface
Remarkable discovery: More than 43 years of corrosion from being on the floor of the ocean made identifying the engines difficult
The team believes it has enough components to assemble two complete engines from the historic voyage. The recovered engines powered the Saturn V rocket for just over two minutes in actual flight time, according to Ars Technica, burning more than four and a half million pounds of fuel. Once empty, the engines detached and were returned to earth by retrorockets designed to pull them away from the climbing spacecraft and into the waters off the Florida coast.
Historic: The confirmation that the engines are from Apollo 11 comes on the 44th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's moon walk
Fixer upper: Bezos said it will take significant work to restore the engines to their original glory
Apollo 11’s celebrated flight to the moon took about four days from launch to landing, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Touching down July 20, 1969 on the moon’s surface at Tranquility Base, Neil Armstrong famously announced ‘the Eagle has landed.’ Bounding out of the spacecraft a few hours later, Armstrong famously said ‘that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ Buzz Aldrin soon joined Armstrong on his famous moonwalk as millions around the world watched in awe. Less than 24 hours after landing, the astronauts began their journey back to Earth, making a splash landing in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.
We have liftoff: The Saturn V carrying the Apollo 11 launching from Kennedy Space Center July 16, 1969
Thank you!: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sponsored the hunt for the engines through his Bezos Expeditions
Explorers have recovered Apollo 11 engines from the Atlantic Ocean floor. First recovered in March, experts have now confirmed the rocket engines recovered from three miles below the ocean surface by Bezos Expeditions are Saturn V first stage F-1’s used by the rocket that put the first men on the moon. The announcement came one day before the 44th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic first steps on the lunar surface.
Found!: Explorers confirmed they have recovered engines used to put Apollo 11 on it's historic voyage to the first lunar landing
The confirmation was made by conservators from the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, who confirmed the engines’ origin by scanning their surface with black lights designed to notice even the smallest markings. They were able to discern the serial number ‘2044’ stenciled on the side of one of the thrust chambers, according to Jeff Bezos. ‘2044 is the Rocketdyne serial number that correlates to NASA number 6044, which is the serial number for F-1 Engine #5 from Apollo 11,’ Bezos explained.
Further sleuthing led the team to find ‘Unit No 2044’ stamped into the base of the thrust chamber, wrote Bezos, providing additional confirmation. The recovery was made using highly advanced Remotely Operated Vehicles designed to withstand the immense pressures brought by the extreme depths at which the engines were found. They were tethered to a vessel on the surface via fiber-optic cables used to transmit data and power, according to Bezos.
Identified: The serial number 2044 from the Saturn V F-1 engines used by the Apollo 11 was found using black lights to scan the engine's surface
Remarkable discovery: More than 43 years of corrosion from being on the floor of the ocean made identifying the engines difficult
The team believes it has enough components to assemble two complete engines from the historic voyage. The recovered engines powered the Saturn V rocket for just over two minutes in actual flight time, according to Ars Technica, burning more than four and a half million pounds of fuel. Once empty, the engines detached and were returned to earth by retrorockets designed to pull them away from the climbing spacecraft and into the waters off the Florida coast.
Historic: The confirmation that the engines are from Apollo 11 comes on the 44th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's moon walk
Fixer upper: Bezos said it will take significant work to restore the engines to their original glory
Apollo 11’s celebrated flight to the moon took about four days from launch to landing, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Touching down July 20, 1969 on the moon’s surface at Tranquility Base, Neil Armstrong famously announced ‘the Eagle has landed.’ Bounding out of the spacecraft a few hours later, Armstrong famously said ‘that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’ Buzz Aldrin soon joined Armstrong on his famous moonwalk as millions around the world watched in awe. Less than 24 hours after landing, the astronauts began their journey back to Earth, making a splash landing in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.
We have liftoff: The Saturn V carrying the Apollo 11 launching from Kennedy Space Center July 16, 1969
Thank you!: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sponsored the hunt for the engines through his Bezos Expeditions
