This week in 1966, NASA approved the F-1 engine contract NAS8-18734, which provided for 30 F-1 engines needed in the Apollo Program. It continued to provide production and ground support equipment through June 1970. These 30 F-1 engines, furnished by Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, completed the Saturn V flight requirement of 106 total engines. The F-1 engine was used in a cluster of five engines to propel the Saturn V’s first stage, the S-IC stage. Each engine produced 1.5 million pounds of thrust. Here, F-1 engines are being stored in the F-1 Engine Preparation Shop in Building 4666 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program from October 2018 through December 2022. The program landed a dozen astronauts on the Moon between July 1969 and December 1972, and the first U.S. crewed mission — Apollo 8 — that circumnavigated the Moon in December 1968. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage. (NASA)