Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 November 9 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Saturn the Giant Image Credit: [3]NASA Explanation: On May 25, 1961 U.S. president [4]John Kennedy announced the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by the end of the decade. By November 9, 1967 [5]this Saturn V rocket was ready for launch and the first full test of its capabilities on the [6]Apollo 4 mission. Its development directed by rocket pioneer Wernher Von Braun, the three stage [7]Saturn V stood over 36 stories tall. It had a cluster of five first stage engines fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene which together were capable of producing [8]7.9 million pounds of thrust. Giant Saturn V rockets [9]ultimately hurled nine [10]Apollo missions to the Moon and back again with six landing on [11]the lunar surface. The first landing mission, [12]Apollo 11, achieved Kennedy's goal on July 20, 1969. Watch: the November 11 Transit of Mercury [13]from Earth or [14]from Space. Tomorrow's picture: WISE Young Stars __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC & [35]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1911/s67-50903_saturnVlaunch.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. http://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html 5. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/this-week-in-nasa-history-first-launch-of-saturn-v-nov-9-1967.html 6. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1967-113A 7. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-350/ch-3-1.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V 9. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/contents.html 10. http://history.nasa.gov/apollo.html 11. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ 12. http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/introduction.htm 13. https://earthsky.org/tonight/transit-of-mercury-on-november-11-2019 14. http://sdoisgo.blogspot.com/2019/10/mercury-transit-november-11-2019.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191108.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=191109 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191110.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. http://www.mtu.edu/