A rocket engine on the Saturn V launch vehicle used for the Apollo missions in the 1960s. The F-1, sponsored by the US Air Force, had a 680-tonne/748-ton thrust that created an ‘earthquake’ vibration and noise for miles around. It was powered by immense kerosene and liquid-oxygen tanks.

The Saturn V first stage, built by the Boeing Company, had five F-1 engines amounting to 3 400 tonnes of thrust (180 million horsepower). During launch, the F-1 turbopump delivered 57 000 L of fuel and 95 000 L of oxidizer each minute. It carried the Apollo vehicle to an altitude of 60 km in 160 seconds at a speed of 13 360 kph.

Three early F-1 engines failed in 1962 during static testing due to combustion instability, but a special injector was designed to solve the problem.