Saturn V: Study of Performance Analysis and Launching

Parameter Conditions

A Project Report
submitted by

Anand Kumar Singh (R290214008)

Shreshth Kanugo (R290214027)

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
in
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Under the guidance of

MR. RAMESH KUMAR
Department of Aerospace Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND ENERGY STUDIES
Bidholi Campus, Energy Acres
Dehradun-248007.

December - 2017
I hereby declare that this submission is my own and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which has
been accepted for the award of any other Degree or Diploma of the University or other Institute of
Higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text.

ANAND KUMAR SINGH (R290214008)

SHRESHTH KANUGO (R290214027)

ii
This is to certify that the thesis titled Saturn V: Study of Performance Analysis and Launching
Parameter Conditions submitted by ANAND KUMAR SINGH (R290214008) and SHRESHTH
KANUGO (R290214027), to the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, for the award of the
degree of BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY in Aerospace Engineering is a bonafide record of
project work carried out by them under my supervision and guidance. The content of the thesis, in
full or parts have not been submitted to any other Institute or University for the award of any other
degree or diploma.

Mr. Ramesh Kumar

Professor

Date: ________________

iii
As a student of B.Tech. 4rd year we would like thank Mr. Ramesh Kumar (Faculty: Rocket
Propulsion) for giving us the opportunity to polish our research skills and helping us
developing a scientific attitude.

iv
Saturn V: Study of Performance Analysis and Launching Parameter
Conditions

Anand Kumar Singh, Shreshth Kanugo

This report is a summary and evaluation of the NASA’s Heaviest Launching Rocket
System, the Saturn V. This report defines the basic flight parameters of the rocket, the
difference in the thrust parameters as the altitude is varied and the calculation formulas to
be used for various calculations relevant to performance of the rocket.

v
Table of Contents

....................................................................................................... ii
............................................................................................................................................ iii
........................................................................................................................... iv
................................................................................................................................................. `v
................................................................................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1
BACKGROUND STUDY ........................................................................................................................ 2
..................................................................................................... 3
TECHNOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 3
STAGES ................................................................................................................................................... 5
S-IC first stage ..................................................................................................................................... 5
S-II second stage .................................................................................................................................. 5
S-IVB third stage................................................................................................................................. 6
Instrument Unit ................................................................................................................................... 6
........................................................................................... 10
FLIGHT SEQUENCE ............................................................................................................................ 10
Launch and Boost to Earth Parking Orbit ..................................................................................... 10
Circular Earth Parking Orbit (Basic Mission) ............................................................................... 10
Circular Earth Parking Orbit (Option 1 Mission) ......................................................................... 10
THRUST VARIATIONS........................................................................................................................ 11
............................................................................................................... 13
........................................................................................................................................... 15
........................................................................................................................................... 16

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INTRODUCTION

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle that obtains thrust from a rocket engine.
Rocket engine exhaust is formed entirely from propellant carried within the rocket before
use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction and push rockets forward simply by expelling
their exhaust in the opposite direction at high speed, and can therefore work in the vacuum of
space.
Like most engines, rockets burn fuel. Most rocket engines turn the fuel into hot gas. The engine
pushes the gas out its back. The gas makes the rocket move forward. A rocket is different from a
jet engine. A jet engine needs air to work. A rocket engine doesn't need air. It carries with it
everything it needs. A rocket engine works in space, where there is no air. There are two main
types of rocket engines. Some rockets use liquid fuel. The main engines on the space shuttle orbiter
use liquid fuel. The Russian Soyuz uses liquid fuels. Other rockets use solid fuels. On the side of
the space shuttle are two white solid rocket boosters. They use solid fuels. Fireworks and model
rockets also fly using solid fuels.
The first rockets we know about were used in China in the 1200s. These solid rockets were used
for fireworks. Armies also used them in wars. In the next 700 years, people made bigger and better
solid rockets. Many of these were used for wars too. In 1969, the United States launched the first
men to land on the moon using a Saturn V rocket.
In space, an engine has nothing to push against. So how do rockets move there? Rockets work by
a scientific rule called Newton's third law of motion. English scientist Sir Isaac Newton listed three
Laws of Motion. He did this more than 300 years ago. His third law says that for every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. The rocket pushes on its exhaust. The exhaust pushes the
rocket, too. The rocket pushes the exhaust backward. The exhaust makes the rocket move forward.
This rule can be seen on Earth. Imagine a person standing on a skateboard. Imagine that person
throwing a bowling ball. The ball will go forward. The person on the skateboard will move, too.
The person will move backward. Because the person is heavier, the bowling ball will move farther.

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BACKGROUND STUDY

The Saturn V (spoken as "Saturn five") was an American human rated expendable rocket used
by NASA between 1967 and 1973. The three stage liquid-fueled super heavy-lift launch
vehicle was developed to support the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon and was
later used to launch Skylab, the first American space station. The Saturn V was launched 13 times
from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with no loss of crew or payload. As of 2017, the Saturn
V remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful (highest total impulse) rocket ever brought to
operational status, and holds records for the heaviest payload launched and largest payload
capacity to low Earth orbit (LEO) of 140,000 kg (310,000 lb), which included the third stage and
unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo Command/Service Module and Lunar Module to
the Moon.

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TECHNOLOGY

The Saturn V's size and payload capacity dwarfed all other previous
rockets which had successfully flown at that time. With the Apollo
spacecraft on top, it stood 363 feet (111 m) tall, and without fins, it
was 33 feet (10 m) in diameter. Fully fueled, the Saturn V weighed 6.5
million pounds (2,950 metric tons) and had a low Earth orbit payload
capacity originally estimated at 261,000 pounds (118,000 kg), but was
designed to send at least 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) to the Moon. Later
upgrades increased that capacity; during the final three Apollo lunar
missions it deployed about 310,000 pounds (140,000 kg) to LEO and
sent up to 107,100 lb (48,600 kg) spacecraft to the Moon. At a height
of 363 feet (111 m), the Saturn V was 58 feet (18 m) taller than
the Statue of Liberty from the ground to the torch, and 48 feet (15 m)
taller than the Big Ben clock tower.
In contrast, the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle used on Freedom
7, the first manned American spaceflight, was just under 11 feet
(3.4 m) longer than the S-IVB stage, and delivered less sea level thrust
(78,000 pounds-force (350 kN)) than the Launch Escape
System rocket (150,000 pounds-force (667 kN) sea level thrust)
mounted atop the Apollo Command Module.
The Saturn V was principally designed by the Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Alabama, although numerous major systems,
including propulsion, were designed by subcontractors. It used the
powerful new F-1 and J-2 rocket engines for propulsion. When tested,
these engines shattered the windows of nearby houses. Designers
decided early on to attempt to use as much technology from the Saturn
I program as possible. Consequently, the S-IVB-500 third stage of the
Saturn V was based on the S-IVB-200 second stage of the Saturn IB.
The Instrument Unit that controlled the Saturn V shared characteristics
with that carried by the Saturn IB.

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 Figure 2: Saturn V rocket components and locations

4|Page
STAGES

The Saturn V consisted of three stages—the S-IC first stage, S-II second stage and the S-IVB third
stage—and the instrument unit. All three stages used liquid oxygen (LOX) as an oxidizer. The first
stage used RP-1 for fuel, while the second and third stages used liquid hydrogen (LH2). The upper
stages also used small solid-fueled ullage motors that helped to separate the stages during the
launch, and to ensure that the liquid propellants were in a proper position to be drawn into the
pumps.

S-IC first stage

The S-IC was built by the Boeing Company. It was 138 feet (42 m) tall and 33 feet (10 m) in
diameter, and provided over 7,600,000 pounds-force (34,000 kN) of thrust. The S-IC stage had a
dry weight of about 289,000 pounds (131 metric tons) and fully fueled at launch had a total weight
of 5,100,000 pounds (2,300 metric tons). It was powered by five Rocketdyne F-1 engines arrayed in
a quincunx (five units, with four arranged in a square, and the fifth in the center) The center engine
was held in a fixed position, while the four outer engines could be hydraulically turned (gimballed) to
steer the rocket. In flight, the center engine was turned off about 26 seconds earlier than the
outboard engines to limit acceleration. During launch, the S-IC fired its engines for 168 seconds
(ignition occurred about 8.9 seconds before liftoff) and at engine cutoff, the vehicle was at an
altitude of about 36 nautical miles (67 km), was downrange about 50 nautical miles (93 km), and
was moving about 7,500 feet per second (2,300 m/s).

S-II second stage

The S-II was built by North American Aviation . Using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, it had
five Rocketdyne J-2 engines in a similar arrangement to the S-IC, also using the outer engines for
control. The S-II was 81 feet 7 inches (24.87 m) tall with a diameter of 33 feet (10 m), identical to
the S-IC, and thus was the largest cryogenic stage until the launch of the Space Shuttle in 1981.
The S-II had a dry weight of about 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) and fully fueled, weighed 1,060,000
pounds (480,000 kg). The second stage accelerated the Saturn V through the upper atmosphere
with 1,100,000 pounds-force (4,900 kN) of thrust in vacuum. When loaded, significantly more
than 90 percent of the mass of the stage was propellant; however, the ultra-lightweight design had
led to two failures in structural testing. Instead of having an intertank structure to separate the two
fuel tanks as was done in the S-IC, the S-II used a common bulkhead that was constructed from
both the top of the LOX tank and bottom of the LH2 tank. It consisted of two aluminum sheets
separated by a honeycomb structure made of phenolic resin. This bulkhead had to insulate against
the 126 °F (70 °C) temperature gradient between the two tanks. The use of a common bulkhead
saved 7,900 pounds (3.6 t). Like the S-IC, the S-II was transported from its manufacturing plant
to the Cape by sea.

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S-IVB third stage
The S-IVB was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company . It had one J-2 engine and used the same
fuel as the S-II. The S-IVB used a common bulkhead to separate the two tanks. It was 58 feet
7 inches (17.86 m) tall with a diameter of 21 feet 8 inches (6.604 m) and was also designed with
high mass efficiency, though not quite as aggressively as the S-II. The S-IVB had a dry weight of
about 23,000 pounds (10,000 kg) and, fully fueled, weighed about 262,000 pounds (119,000 kg).
The S-IVB-500 model used on the Saturn V differed from the S-IVB-200 used as the second stage
of the Saturn IB, in that the engine was restartable once per mission. This was necessary as the
stage would be used twice during a lunar mission: first in a 2.5 min burn for the orbit insertion
after second stage cutoff, and later for the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn, lasting about 6 min.
Two liquid-fueled Auxiliary Propulsion System (APS) units mounted at the aft end of the stage
were used for attitude control during the parking orbit and the trans-lunar phases of the mission.
The two APSs were also used as ullage engines to settle the propellants in the aft tank engine feed
lines prior to the trans-lunar injection burn.

Instrument Unit
The Instrument Unit was worked by IBM and rode on the third stage. It was built at the Space
Systems Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This PC controlled the operations of the rocket from just
before liftoff until the S-IVB was disposed of. It included direction and telemetry frameworks for
the rocket. By measuring the quickening and vehicle disposition, it could compute the position and
speed of the rocket and right for any deviations.

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Rocket Engines

Rocketdyne F-1 Engine

The Rocketdyne-
developed F-1 engine
is the most powerful
single-nozzle liquid-
fueled rocket
engine ever flown.
The M-1 rocket
engine was designed
to have more thrust,
however, but it was
only tested at the
component level. The
F-1 burned RP-
1 (rocket
grade kerosene) as
the fuel and
used liquid
oxygen (LOX) as the
oxidizer.
A turbopump was
used to inject fuel and
oxygen into the
combustion chamber.
The heart of the engine was the thrust chamber, which mixed and burned the fuel and oxidizer to
produce thrust. A domed chamber at the top of the engine served as a manifold supplying liquid
oxygen to the injectors, and also served as a mount for the gimbal bearing which transmitted the
thrust to the body of the rocket. Below this dome were the injectors, which directed fuel and
oxidizer into the thrust chamber in a way designed to promote mixing and combustion. Fuel was
supplied to the injectors from a separate manifold; some of the fuel first traveled in 178 tubes down
the length of the thrust chamber — which formed approximately the upper half of the exhaust
nozzle — and back in order to cool the nozzle.
A gas-generator was used to drive a turbine which in turn drove separate fuel and oxygen pumps,
each feeding the thrust chamber assembly. The turbine was driven at 5,500 RPM by the gas
generator, producing 55,000 brake horsepower (41 MW). The fuel pump delivered 15,471 US
gallons (58,560 litres) of RP-1 per minute while the oxidizer pump delivered 24,811 US gal
(93,920 l) of liquid oxygen per minute. Environmentally, the turbopump was required to withstand
temperatures ranging from input gas at 1,500 °F (820 °C) to liquid oxygen at −300 °F (−184 °C).
Structurally, fuel was used to lubricate and cool the turbine bearings.
Below the thrust chamber was the nozzle extension, roughly half the length of the engine. This
extension increased the expansion ratio of the engine from 10:1 to 16:1. The exhaust from the
turbopump was fed into the nozzle extension by a large, tapered manifold; this relatively cool gas
formed a film which protected the nozzle extension from the hot (5,800 °F (3,200 °C)) exhaust
gas.
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Rocketdyne J-2 Engine
The J-2 was a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine used on NASA's Saturn IB and Saturn V launch
vehicles. Built in the U.S. by Rocketdyne, the J-2 burned cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2)
and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants, with each engine producing 1,033.1 kN (232,250 lbf)
of thrust in vacuum. The engine's preliminary design dates back to recommendations of the
1959 Silverstein Committee. Rocketdyne won approval to develop the J-2 in June 1960 and the
first flight, AS-201, occurred on 26 February 1966. The J-2 underwent several minor upgrades
over its operational history to improve the engine's performance, with two major upgrade
programs, the de Laval nozzle-type J-2S and aerospike-type J-2T, which were cancelled after the
conclusion of the Apollo program.
The engine produced a specific impulse (Isp) of 421 seconds (4.13 km/s) in a vacuum (or 200
seconds (2.0 km/s) at sea level) and had a mass of approximately 1,788 kilograms (3,942 lb). Five
J-2 engines were used on the Saturn V's S-II second stage, and one J-2 was used on the S-
IVB upper stage used on both the Saturn IB and Saturn V. Proposals also existed to use various
numbers of J-2 engines in the upper stages of an even larger rocket, the planned Nova. The J-2
was America's largest production LH2-fuelled rocket engine before the RS-25 Space Shuttle Main
Engine. A modernized version of the engine, the J-2X, was considered for use on the Earth
Departure Stage of NASA's Space Shuttle replacement, the Space Launch System.
Unlike most liquid-fueled rocket engines in service at the time, the J-2 was designed to be restarted
once after shutdown when flown on the Saturn V S-IVB third stage. The first burn, lasting about
two minutes, placed the Apollo spacecraft into a low Earth parking orbit. After the crew verified
that the spacecraft was operating nominally, the J-2 was re-ignited for translunar injection, a 6.5
minute burn which accelerated the vehicle to a course for the Moon.

Figure: Flow of propellant through Rocketdyne J-2 Engine

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 Solid Ullage Rocket and Retrorocket Summary
Stage Type Quantity Nominal thrust and Duration Propellant Grain Weight
S-IC Retrorocket 8 75,800 Pounds * 0.541 Seconds 278.0 Pounds

Ullage 4 23,000 Pounds * 3.75 Seconds 336.0 Pounds

S-II
Retrorocket 4 34,810 Pounds * 1.50 Seconds 268.2 Pounds

S-IVB Ullage 2 3,390 Pounds * 3.87 Seconds 58.8 Pounds

Engine Data

Nominal Thrust
Engine
Stage Quantity Burn Time
Model
Each Total

S-IC 5 F-1 15,22,000 76,10,000 150.7 Seconds

S-II 5 J-2 23,000 Pounds * 3.75 Seconds 11,40,000 367 Seconds

S-IVB 1 J-2 3,390 Pounds * 3.87 Seconds 2,03,000 156 and 336 Seconds

Stage Dimensions Stage Weights

Diameter Length Dry At Launch
S-IC Base
63.0 Feet 138 Feet 305,100 Pounds 4,792,200 Pounds
(including Fins)
S-IC Mid-Stage 33.0 Feet

S-II Stage 33.0 Feet 81.5 Feet 88,400 Pounds 1,034,900 Pounds

S-IVB Stage 21.7 Feet 59.3 Feet 33,142 Pounds 262, 300 Pounds

Instrument Stage 21.7 Feet 3.0 Feet 4,873 Pounds 4,873 Pounds

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FLIGHT SEQUENCE
The SA-503 vehicle is launched from LC-39 at Kennedy Space Center. The flight sequence phases
described in the following paragraphs cover the prime basic mission.

Launch and Boost to Earth Parking Orbit

The vehicle rises nearly vertically from the pad, for approximately 450 feet, to clear the tower. During this
period, a yaw maneuver is executed to provide tower clearance in case of adverse wind conditions, deviation
from nominal flight and/or engine failure. After clearing the tower, a tilt and roll maneuver is initiated to
achieve the flight attitude and proper orientation for the selected flight azimuth. From the end of the tilt
maneuver to tilt-arrest, the vehicle flies a pitch program trajectory. Tilt- arrest freezes the pitch attitude to
dampen out pitch rate prior to S-IC/S-II separation. The pitch attitude remains constant until the initiation
of the Iterative Guidance Mode (IGM) which occurs about five seconds after launch escape tower. Jettison
during the S-II stage flight.
During the S-II burn, two oxidizer-to-fuel mixture ratio (MR) shifts are programmed by the flight software.
The MR, 5.0 at engine start, is shifted to 5.5 at 2.5 seconds after S-II main stage (90% thrust level) and
remains at this value until shifted to 4.5 at 4 minutes 40 seconds after main stage. The 4.5 MR yields a
reduced thrust at increased specific impulse. The S-II engines are cutoff simultaneously by sensors in either
the lox or LH2 tanks.
An MR of 5.0 is programmed for J-2 engine start and entire first burn. The S-IVB first burn inserts the
vehicle into a 100 nautical mile (NM1) altitude, nearly circular, EPO.

Circular Earth Parking Orbit (Basic Mission)

During the first revolution in EPO, the Command and Service Module (CSM) is separated from the launch
vehicle. In earth orbit, spacecraft validation operations specified by the mission are performed, after which
the Command Module (CM) is separated from the Service Module and returned to earth.
The S-IVB stage with the Instrument Unit (IU) and Lunar Test Article-B (LTA-B) is restarted during the
second revolution in EPO (first injection opportunity) for injection into a typical lunar trajectory.

Circular Earth Parking Orbit (Option 1 Mission)

At first S-IVB engine cutoff, the 70-pound thrust auxiliary propulsion system (APS) engines are started and
operated for approximately 88 seconds. The LH2 continuous vents open approximately 49 seconds after
insertion. This venting provides a continuous low-level thrust to keep the S-IVB propellant seated against
the aft bulkheads.
The normal vehicle attitude in parking orbit has Position I pointed toward the center of the earth (astronauts’
heads are down), the vehicle longitudinal axis in the inertial orbital plane and perpendicular to the radius
vector and the nose ahead. A maneuver to the appropriate attitude for landmark sighting is performed
between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours after insertion. The maneuver to the sighting attitude consists of a 180-
degree roll, followed by a pitch maneuver that places the vehicle longitudinal body axis 20 degrees below

10 | P a g e
the local horizon. This attitude, referenced to the local horizon, is maintained until the return maneuver to
the normal coast attitude.
While in EPO, spacecraft and launch vehicle systems are checked out and verified for translunar injection.

THRUST VARIATIONS
Because of its large size, attention is often focused on the S-IC thrust and how this compares to
other large rockets. However, several factors make such comparisons more complex than first
appears:

 Commonly referenced thrust numbers are a specification, not an actual measurement.

Individual stages and engines may fall short or exceed the specification, sometimes
significantly.
 The F-1 thrust specification was uprated beginning with Apollo 15 (SA-510) from
1,500,000 lbf (6,670 kN) to 1,520,000 lbf (6,770 kN), yielding 7,610,000 lbf (33,850 kN) for
the S-IC stage. The higher thrust was achieved via a redesign of the injector orifices and a
slightly higher propellant mass flow rate. However, comparing the specified number to the
actual measured thrust of 7,800,000 lbf (34,800 kN) on Apollo 15 shows a significant
difference.
 There is no way to directly measure thrust of a rocket in flight; Rather, a mathematical
calculation is made from combustion chamber pressure, turbo pump speed, calculated
propellant density and flow rate, nozzle design, and atmospheric pressure.
 Thrust varies greatly with external pressure and thus with altitude, even for a non-throttled
engine. For example, on Apollo 15, the calculated total liftoff thrust (based on actual
measurements) was about 7,830,000 lbf (34,810 kN), which increased to 9,200,000 lbf
(40,800 kN) at T+135 seconds, just before center engine cutoff (CECO), at which time the jet
was heavily under expanded.
 Thrust specifications are often given as vacuum thrust (for upper stages) or sea level thrust
(for lower stages or boosters), sometimes without qualifying which one. This can lead to
incorrect comparisons.
 Thrust specifications are often given as average thrust or peak thrust, sometimes without
qualifying which one. Even for a non-throttled engine at a fixed altitude, thrust can often vary
somewhat over the firing period due to several factors. These include intentional or
unintentional mixture ratio changes, slight propellant density changes over the firing period,
and variations in turbo pump, nozzle and injector performance over the firing period.
Without knowing the exact measurement technique and mathematical method used to determine
thrust for each different rocket, comparisons are often inexact. As the above shows, the specified
thrust often differs significantly from actual flight thrust calculated from direct measurements. The
thrust stated in various references is often not adequately qualified as to vacuum vs sea level, or
peak vs average thrust.
Similarly, payload increases are often achieved in later missions independent of engine thrust. This
is by weight reduction or trajectory reshaping.
The result is there is no single absolute figure for engine thrust, stage thrust or vehicle payload.
There are specified values and actual flight values, and various ways of measuring and deriving
those actual flight values.

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12 | P a g e
The formulas used for various calculations purposes are mentioned along with their meanings:
The Ideal Rocket Equation:
𝑚
𝑣 = 𝑣𝑒 ln( 𝑜⁄𝑚𝑓 )

Where v = Actual rocket velocity

ve = Exhaust Velocity of Jet
mo = Initial Mass of Rocket
mf = Final Mass of Rocket
Thrust to Velocity Equation
𝐹 = 𝑚. 𝑣𝑒 − (𝑝2 − 𝑝3 )𝐴2
Where m. = mass flow rate of propellant
P2 = pressure at nozzle exit
P3 = ambient/atmospheric pressure
A2 = Nozzle Exit Area
Total Impulse
𝑡
𝐼𝑡 = ∫ 𝐹. 𝑑𝑡
0

Where F = Thrust force

Specific Impulse
𝐹 𝐼𝑡
𝐼 𝑠𝑝 = .
=
𝑚 𝑔0 𝑚𝑝 𝑔0

Characteristics Velocity
𝒑𝒕 𝑨𝒕
𝒄∗ =
𝒎.
Where pt = Throat Pressure
At = Throat Area
c* = Characteristics Velocity

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Multi Staging of Rocket Engine
𝑚𝑜𝑖
∆𝑣𝑖 = 𝑣𝑒𝑖 𝑙𝑛 ( )
𝑚𝑓𝑖

Where i = stage number

Rest of the variables have their usual meanings.

∆𝑣 = ∑ ∆𝑣𝑖

Where Δv = total velocity of the rocket

Payload Mass Fraction (∝)

𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
∝=
𝑚𝑜
Structural Mass Fraction (𝛽)
𝑚𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒
𝛽=
𝑚𝑜
Propellant Mass Fraction (𝜸)
𝑚𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝛾=
𝑚𝑜

Velocity in terms of Mass functions

𝛼+𝛽+𝛾
∆𝑣 = 𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑛 ( )
𝛼+𝛽

Burnout Time

𝑚𝑜 1
𝑡𝑏 = ( ) (1 − ∆𝑣 )
𝑚𝑓
𝑒 𝑣𝑒

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The objective of our calculation was to find out various parameters that are essential for the rocket
calculation of Saturn V5. Following is the table of the various calculations done of various parameters.

Optimum Thrust Actual Exhaust Spacecraft Burn Specific mass

per engine Thrust Velocity Velocity Time Impulse flow rate
(N) (N) (m/sec) (m/sec) (sec) (sec) (kg/sec)

Stage
6700000 34800000 2580 2300 150 263 13,448.21
1

Stage2 1033100 4900000 4130 5360 475 421 1186.44

Stage
1033100 1033100 4130 8053 6 421 250.14
3

The values for Thrust was given for the rocket along with the specific impulse. Rest of the values has been
calculated as a part of performance analysis for the rocket.

15 | P a g e
 1) E. Sänger, "Pure Fusion Rockets," in Space Flight (McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., New York,
1965), pp. 241-255.
2) W. G. Melbourne and C. G. Sauer, Jr., "Optimum Interplanetary Rendezvous with Power-Limited
Vehicles," AIAA Journal 1 (1), 54-60 (1963).
3) R. M. Jones and J. A. Scott-Monck, "The Status of Power Supplies for Primary Electric Propulsion
in the U.S.A.," 17th International Electric Propulsion Conference, Tokyo, Japan, 1984, IEPC paper
84-83.
4) W. R. Hudson, "NASA Electric Propulsion Program," American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics paper 78-711 (1978).
5) K. A. Ehricke, "Solar Propulsion," in Handbook of Astronautical Engineering, H.H. Koelle, Ed.
(McGraw Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1961), pp. 21- 63 through 21-88.
6) G. L. Grodzovskii. Y. N. lvanov. and V. V. Tokarev, Mechanics of Low-Thrust Spacellight, NASA
TTF-507, TT 68- 50301 (IPST Press, Jerusalem, Israel, 1969, translated from Russian).
7) R. A. Willaume, A. Jaumotte, and R. W. Bussard, Nuclear, Thermal, and Electric Rocket
Propulsion (Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, New York, 1964).
8) R. W. Bussard and R. D. DeLauer, Rocket Propulsion (McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New
York, 1958.)
9) J. W. Cornelisse, H. F. R. Scheyer, and K. F. Wakker, Rocket Propulsion and Space Flight Dynamics
(Pitman Publishing Corp., New York, 1979).
10) S. D. Howe, "Assessment of the Advantages and Feasibility of a Rocket," to be 20 published in
Proceedings of the Manned Mars Mission Workshop, October 10-14, 1985, NASA Marshall
Spaceflight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, Los Alamos National Laboratory document LAUR-85-
2442.

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