Saturn 1B

History of the Saturn 1B Before there was the Saturn V, there was the Saturn 1B, the NASA test bed for Apollo flight hardware. The Saturn 1B test flew versions of the Apollo Command and Service Module, and the Lunar Module. Initially tested as the second stage on the Saturn 1B rocket, the S-IVB upper stage eventually served as the third stage of the Saturn V rocket. The Saturn 1B would eventually see service as the primary launch vehicle for Earth orbit missions in the Apollo spacecraft. Features of the Rocket One of the distinctive features of the Saturn 1B is the set of cylindrical tanks that forms the rocket’s first stage. Sometimes people misidentify the tanks as re-purposed Redstone missile stages because they resemble a cluster of smaller rockets. In fact, these 70-inch diameter tanks were created using the same forms that produced the Redstone rockets. So, while they share a common lineage, they were not surplus rockets themselves. The tanks fueled eight H-1 engines, four of whi