A recovery team has retrieved in March rusted engine parts, believed to be from NASA's Apollos moon mission that send the first man on to moon, beneath the Atlantic Ocean. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, confirmed on the eve of the 44th anniversary (July 20, 1969) of Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon that the discovery was from Apollos 11.
“On the eve of the 44th moonwalk anniversary, the Bezos Expedition confirms an Apollo 11 Saturn V F1 engine find,” NASA officially announced on its websites just moments ago.
Apollo 11 Saturn V F-1 Engine Thrust Chamber recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Jeff Bezos Expeditions
The team, led and funded by Bezos, has recovered parts of two powerful Saturn V first-stage rocket engines that launched the Apollo missions. The discovery included the thrust chambers, gas generators, injectors, heat exchangers, turbines, fuel manifolds and dozens of other artifacts. Of the parts discovered, one had the number 2044, which matched the serial number for Engine #5 from the Apollo rockets, according to the Bezos Expedition blog.
Apollo 11 Saturn V F-1 Engine Thrust Chamber recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean- stenciled with Rocketdyne serial number “2044”. Credit: Jeff Bezos Expeditions
Conservators at Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson used black light and a special lens filters to make out the number 2044 on part of a recovered thrust chamber as the component were so eroded from heavy corrosion, the posting said.
Saturn V F-1 Engine nozzle recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Jeff Bezos Expeditions
Moreover, another serial number “Unit No. 2044” was found on the same thrust chamber after more corrosion was removed.
“2044 is the Rocketdyne serial number that correlates to NASA number 6044, which is the serial number for F-1 Engine #5 from Apollo 11. The intrepid conservator kept digging for more evidence, and after removing more corrosion at the base of the same thrust chamber, he found it – “Unit No 2044″ – stamped into the metal surface.”
“Forty-four years ago … Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, and now we have recovered a critical technological marvel that made it all possible,” Bezos posted.
Apollo 11 Saturn V F-1 Engine recovered from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Jeff Bezos Expeditions
