The S-IC on display at the Kennedy Space Center is painted to resemble S-IC-6, or the Apollo 11 first stage. It is actually S-IC-T. There are a few differences between it and production flight stages, these are listed in the photo descriptions. One curious feature is two sets of two pipes emerging from Positions 2 and 4 on the aft heatshield. I have information that these pipes were present on S-IC-1 and 2 (Apollo 4 and 6) but have no photo documentation to back it up.
The S-IC-T is the All Systems Test Stage, serial No. 101. It was built to flight specifications , with modifications to allow static test firings of its F-1 engines. It was the first S-IC built and was fired for the first time on April 16, 1965 for 6.5 seconds. Through its life, it was fired for a total of 965.28 seconds. It was not originally equipped with engine fairings or fins, these were installed later after it was put on display.
NOTE: I have moved half of the photos to page 2, to speed loading of the thumbnails.
Copyright 1997, 1998 by John
Duncan Comments and questions welcome. All photographs contained
on these pages are the author's, unless otherwise noted. No unauthorized
reproduction without permission.
