 The Crew Neil Armstrong Michael Collins Buzz Aldrin |
 The SaturnV-Apollo launch vehicle and its supporting gantry is moved from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch area on a gigantic mobile pad... that moves on huge caterpillar treads. This takes several days, as the 'crawler' can only travel at 1.5 miles per hour. |
 Once the engines ignite, they can't be turned off. If something were to go wrong at this point, the astronauts in the Command module would be pulled off the Saturn by a small emergency rocket at the top of the vehicle. This never had to be used. |
 The vehicle takes what seems like a long time to clear the tower. The thrust of its engines must overcome the weight of the vehicle before they can begin to accelerate it. The exhaust is funneled into a vast tank of water, which is quickly boiled away. |