This picture is of all the Saturn V s that were launched.
There were 13 and I think about all the S1C Rocket Stages lying on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
This is very hard for me to write about. One day "the Boss" called our group together to make an announcement. He pointed to a large locked file cabinet with a vertical iron bar and a big red stripe. There was always a guard around the cabinet. The boss pointed to the cabinet in a casual way and told us the cabinet contained the destruct codes for our space stage. What???? I was terrified. Were we responsible for the destruction of our beautiful stage if something went wrong on the Saturn V? OMG- What to do? What to think? After reflection I realized that if anyone had to unlock that file cabinet, it would be too late for anything. So logic told me that it was a back-up.
I found out recently that every stage had shaped charges in each fuel tank so if the rocket went rogue, the command module would be blown off by the escape tower and the rest of the Saturn V would blow up so thoroughly that there would just small pieces left. Still, it was horrible to contemplate.
Can you imagine what a rocket bigger than the Statue of Liberty would do to a major city like Atlanta?
Never has anyone so loved the Saturn V as I did.
