S-IC-T

Key takeaways

S-IC-T belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect S-IC-T to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of S-IC-T from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

S-IC-T is a non-flight test article of the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V super-heavy lift launch vehicle system. S-IC-T was built by Boeing Company, under contract from National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to be a static test rocket. The main role of the S-IC-T was the integrated testing of the five liquid fuel rocket engines to be used in the Apollo program. S-IC-T was assembled at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, where it underwent its initial static fire testing on April 10, 1965. S-IC-T was then test fired at the NASA Mississippi Test Facility, now known as Stennis Space Center. S-IC-T was given the nickname T-Bird (Test Bird). S-IC-T is now on display at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

History

S-IC-T is strictly a ground-based test article to be used for integrated testing as the "all systems test stage". Before S-IC-T, the first integrated test S-IC stage built, Boeing built prototype stages SA-500F and SA-500D. These prototypes were used for testing the new S-IC first stage. S-IC-T, like all following Saturn V's S-IC rockets used five Rocketdyne F-1 engines. The Rocketdyne F-1 engine was first tested in March 1959 and delivered to NASA in October 1963. The S-IC-T tests were to verify that the S-IC stage could support the firing of all five Rocketdyne F-1 engines at the same time. The testing was also a test of the two large fuel tanks. The five Rocketdyne F-1 engines produced 34,500 kN (7,750,000 lbf) of thrust, the first burn of the most powerful rocket ever. The powerful rockets caused ground shaking and smoke filled the area from the engine flames. Thus, B-2 Test Stand earned the nickname the land of the earth shakers. Boeing Company was awarded the contract to build S-IC-T on March 6, 1963, from NASA. The S-IC-T test stage was built at MSFC, starting in 1963 and complete in 1965, with the intention of static firing the article there. On March 1, 1965, the booster test stage was lifted into the newly constructed MSFC Test Stand 4670 ahead of its fully-integrated static fire test campaign. Numerous tests from single engine to the very first five-engine static fire tests were performed with the test article while at MSFC. S-IC-T was loaded onto the barge Poseidon. Barge Poseidon was then floated 1,086.7 miles for six day, arriving at the B-1/B-2 Test Stand in Mississippi. The Barge Poseidon trip is 1,086.7 miles miles up the Tennessee River and then down the Mississippi River. The S-IC-T was test fired at a newly built test firing facility, called the B-2 Test Stand (S-IC-T stage), in the west test area. B-2 Test Stand is now part of the Stennis Space Center. A crane was used to install S-IC-T into the B-2 Test Stand. Then the five F-1 engines were installed. The S-IC-T was filled with RP-1 rocket fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) oxidizer. On the B-2 Test Stand, 18 test firings were completed over almost two years. On April 10, 1965, the first S-IC-T test was to fire one engine for 16.73 seconds. On April 16, S-IC-T fired all five engines for the first time for 6.5 seconds and reached the record 7.5 million pounds (33.36x106N) of thrust for the first time. The 7.5 million pounds of thrust was the power Wernher von Braun specified for Apollo to depart to the moon. On August 5, 1965, a full burn test was done for 2+1⁄2-minute (150 seconds) on all five engines. Two more 2+1⁄2-minute full burn test were done. The last test was done in 1967. The test included testing the gimbaled thrust movement on the four outing engines. With the successful tests of S-IC-T, the Apollo program's Saturn V rocket was able to move forward to the next step, SA-501/Apollo 4 with S-IC-1. With all testing completed, Boeing removed the S-IC-T from B-2 Test Stand on March 24, 1967. S-IC-T is now on display on its side, inside the Apollo-Saturn V Center museum at the Kennedy Space Center. Visitors are able walk under S-IC-T. The complete Saturn V rocket, that S-IC-T is part of, has been restored for display. S-IC-T is a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, listed in July 1980. Two other Saturn V Rocket sites were listed at the same time: Saturn V Rocket at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and the one at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration in Huntsville, Alabama.

S-IC-T specifications

S-IC-T specifications:

Height: 42 m (138 ft) Diameter: 10 m (33 ft) Mass: 5,030,000 lb (2,280,000 kg) Fuel, liquid oxygen and kerosene: 4,400,000 lb (2,000,000 kg) Kerosene RP-1: 810,700 L (178,300 imp gal; 214,200 US gal) Liquid oxygen: 1,311,100 L (288,400 imp gal; 346,400 US gal) Empty: 290,000 lb (130,000 kg) Intertank: 7.9 m (26 ft) Five F-1 engines, each 10 tons Static test of S-IC, first stage of Saturn V Rocket Power: 34,500 kN (7,750,000 lbf) thrust or about 160 million horsepower, a record

B-2 Test Stand

To test S-IC-T a special test stand was built, the B-2 Test Stand, this held the rocket in place under full power test. B-2 Test Stand was designed in 1961 and construction started in June 1961. B-2 Test Stand was completed in spring 1965 at the NASA Mississippi Test Facility and the Pearl River Site, then the NASA Mississippi Test Operations, now known as Stennis Space Center since May 20, 1988 after John C. Stennis. B-2 Test Stand was built to be able to hold down 53,000 kN (12,000,000 lbf) of thrust. S-IC-T was first rocket tested on the B-2 Test Stand. Also on the B-2 Test Stand, was the testing of S-IC-1 (Apollo 4), fired two times; S-IC-2 (Apollo 6) fired once; and S-IC-3 (Apollo 8) fired one time. In 1974, the B-2 Test Stand was reconfigured to test engines, RS-25, for the Space Shuttle program. Next the stand was change to test Russian RD-180 rocket engine in 1998, used on the Atlas rockets. The Space Launch System liquid oxygen feed line was tested in 2014 on stand. A total of 12 S-IC stages were tested on B-2 stand. The first in April 1967 and the last was in October 1970. S-IC 15 was tested but was not used, S-IC 15 is on display at the Stennis Space Center's Infinity Space Center. The RS-68 used on the Delta 4 Common Booster Core was tested from November 1999 to May 2001. Stennis Space Center has other test stands including: A-1/A-2 Test stands, A-3 Test stand, H-1 Test stand and E Test stand complex. The B-2 Test Stand specifications:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with S-IC-T

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what S-IC-T claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to S-IC-T before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about S-IC-T ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of S-IC-T

In research: S-IC-T appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses S-IC-T in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: S-IC-T is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Apollo program, Rocket stages, Saturn V, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for S-IC-T outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study S-IC-T in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what S-IC-T means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain S-IC-T out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is S-IC-T in simple terms?

S-IC-T is a non-flight test article of the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V super-heavy lift launch vehicle system. S-IC-T was built by Boeing Company, under contract from National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to be a static test rocket.

Why does S-IC-T matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study S-IC-T?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on S-IC-T.