News Jeff Bezos finds Apollo 11 F-1 engines on ocean floor

[Kyle]

Just finished watching From the Earth to the Moon when I ran across this, pretty awesome to see the F-1 on the ocean floor. Still looks mighty after all these years.

 

[paddy2]

"The rules regarding NASA property in the ocean are the same as those that govern [federally-owned] sunken ships and other government property,

War graves notwithstanding, Why would USA law apply in international waters?

I suppose they could argue it was not "lost at sea" but rather safely deposited!!!

 

[Evil_Onyx]

War graves notwithstanding, Why would USA law apply in international waters?

I suppose they could argue it was not "lost at sea" but rather safely deposited!!!

Its probably covered by the same international laws that govern ships that are disposed of at sea. The items are still property of the government that owned it (in this case the USA) when disposed of. So the property is governed by both international and USA laws. In practical terms the salvage operation can be conducted so long as it has the endorsement of the government of the USA (as it seams they do have).

 

[george7378]

Isn't there any chance of finding the rest of the lower stage as well as the engines? The whole expedition seems to be focussed on engines and nothing else - there's a whole lot more to find too! Or maybe there's a good reason I don't know.

 

[Hlynkacg]

Isn't there any chance of finding the rest of the lower stage as well as the engines? The whole expedition seems to be focussed on engines and nothing else - there's a whole lot more to find too! Or maybe there's a good reason I don't know.

Nope.

A large corrugated aluminum structure striking the ocean at terminal velocity isn't going to leave much behind beyond a large amount of sheet-metal confetti.

The engines were by far the sturdiest and most impact resistant components of the whole stage and as you can see they didn't exactly survive unscathed.

 

[statickid]

I thought most of them agreed that the rockets themselves were indeed launched, whether dummy or not.

seems like if you can make a hypersonic flying sky scraper that doesn't explode that you could probably get to the moon.

 

[orb]

boingboingvideo:

 

[FordPrefect]

Nope.

A large corrugated aluminum structure striking the ocean at terminal velocity isn't going to leave much behind beyond a large amount of sheet-metal confetti.

The engines were by far the sturdiest and most impact resistant components of the whole stage and as you can see they didn't exactly survive unscathed.

Well, they have found some pretty large remains of the S1C stage outer skin:

 

[Hlynkacg]

Well, they have found some pretty large remains of the S1C stage outer skin:

Perhapse "sheet metal confetti" was a bit of an exaggeration but you certainly shouldn't expect to find anything actually "rocket-shaped", just twisted piles of wreckage.

 

[orb]

The engines arrived at Port Canaveral Mar. 22.

NASA Kennedy Media Gallery:

Click on images to enlarge































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[deadshot462]

Pretty amazing find.

 

[rseferino]

I leave this link very interesting data F-1 engine:

http://heroicrelics.org/info/f-1/

 

[N_Molson]

Amazing it still looks like a rocket engine ! Maybe they'll manage to recycle some parts, I think I've seen an injector plate in pretty good shape.