Busting a myth: the Saturn V rocket wasn't loud enough to melt concrete

Scientists have disproved a myth that the Saturn V rocket tested during the Apollo 4 mission in 1967 was loud enough to melt concrete. NASA/Getty Images </figure>There is rarely time to write about every interesting science story that comes our way. So this year, we're once again releasing a special series of posts on the Twelve Days of Christmas, highlighting a science story that fell through the cracks in 2022, each day from December 25 to January 5. The launch of the V was strong enough to melt concrete. <p>The 1967 Apollo 4 mission was an uncrewed flight to test the Saturn V rocket as a viable launch vehicle for future manned missions. The test was a resounding success and a critical milestone in the US space program. But the Saturn V was also incredibly loud, so loud that a rumor emerged claiming the acoustic energy was enough to melt concrete. Not so, according to an August article published in a special educational issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA).</p> <p>

German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who helped build the V-2 rocket, came to work for NASA in 1945 as part of Operation Paperclip. His job was to share his accumulated knowledge with the Army's Rocket Division. But when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 in 1957, priorities changed and von Braun's team was tasked with developing an equivalent American rocket. The Juno 1 launched America's first satellite in January 1958, and served as the prototype for the Saturn series for deployment for missions to Earth and lunar orbit.

The Apollo 4 mission was launched with a Saturn V on November 9, 1967 at 7:00 a.m. EST. When the five F-1 engines ignited eight seconds before liftoff, the sound pressure produced was so powerful that the waves shook the Vehicle Assembly Building, Launch Control Center and press buildings, even if the launch pad was more than five kilometers away. a way. CBS reporter Walter Cronkite and his producer had to hold on to their trailer's viewing window as ceiling tiles fell to the floor, fearing they would shatter from the noise. Cronkite later claimed it was the scariest space mission he had covered. As one observer of a Saturn V launch described it:

"It's like continuous thunder, and when you think it can't get any louder, it does. I remember the vibration seemed to go through my bones... The bird rises, the flames sputter and the thunder continues, rising in pitch as it rises, eventually dissipating to a sound like a billion sheets of heavy paper torn lengthwise for an entire minute."

>

Something so memorable was bound to inspire a few exaggerated claims and unsubstantiated rumors over the ensuing decades. Damn et al. conducted a review of online forums and chat rooms and were appalled at the amount of misinformation that had proliferated there. As well as claiming the sound level was enough to melt concrete, some claimed it ignited "flaming grass over a mile away" and was powerful enough to "ignite passers-by's hair" and "detonate rainbows from the sky". According to the authors, "Such claims inspire admiration for the power of the vehicle that propelled humans to the Moon, but are nonetheless based on a misunderstanding of the true acoustic environment."

  Technology   Dec 31, 2022   0   44  Add to Reading List
Busting a myth: the Saturn V rocket wasn't loud enough to melt concrete
Scientists have disproved a myth that the Saturn V rocket tested during the Apollo 4 mission in 1967 was loud enough to melt concrete. NASA/Getty Images </figure>There is rarely time to write about every interesting science story that comes our way. So this year, we're once again releasing a special series of posts on the Twelve Days of Christmas, highlighting a science story that fell through the cracks in 2022, each day from December 25 to January 5. The launch of the V was strong enough to melt concrete. <p>The 1967 Apollo 4 mission was an uncrewed flight to test the Saturn V rocket as a viable launch vehicle for future manned missions. The test was a resounding success and a critical milestone in the US space program. But the Saturn V was also incredibly loud, so loud that a rumor emerged claiming the acoustic energy was enough to melt concrete. Not so, according to an August article published in a special educational issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA).</p> <p>

German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who helped build the V-2 rocket, came to work for NASA in 1945 as part of Operation Paperclip. His job was to share his accumulated knowledge with the Army's Rocket Division. But when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 in 1957, priorities changed and von Braun's team was tasked with developing an equivalent American rocket. The Juno 1 launched America's first satellite in January 1958, and served as the prototype for the Saturn series for deployment for missions to Earth and lunar orbit.

The Apollo 4 mission was launched with a Saturn V on November 9, 1967 at 7:00 a.m. EST. When the five F-1 engines ignited eight seconds before liftoff, the sound pressure produced was so powerful that the waves shook the Vehicle Assembly Building, Launch Control Center and press buildings, even if the launch pad was more than five kilometers away. a way. CBS reporter Walter Cronkite and his producer had to hold on to their trailer's viewing window as ceiling tiles fell to the floor, fearing they would shatter from the noise. Cronkite later claimed it was the scariest space mission he had covered. As one observer of a Saturn V launch described it:

"It's like continuous thunder, and when you think it can't get any louder, it does. I remember the vibration seemed to go through my bones... The bird rises, the flames sputter and the thunder continues, rising in pitch as it rises, eventually dissipating to a sound like a billion sheets of heavy paper torn lengthwise for an entire minute."

>

Something so memorable was bound to inspire a few exaggerated claims and unsubstantiated rumors over the ensuing decades. Damn et al. conducted a review of online forums and chat rooms and were appalled at the amount of misinformation that had proliferated there. As well as claiming the sound level was enough to melt concrete, some claimed it ignited "flaming grass over a mile away" and was powerful enough to "ignite passers-by's hair" and "detonate rainbows from the sky". According to the authors, "Such claims inspire admiration for the power of the vehicle that propelled humans to the Moon, but are nonetheless based on a misunderstanding of the true acoustic environment."

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