Saturn V Third Stage – How Apollo Escaped Earth's Gravity | Apollo Digest (NASA Archive)

At 117 miles above Earth, traveling 15,300 miles an hour, the Saturn V third stage ignited for the first time. Two minutes of burn pushed the spacecraft to orbital speed. Then, after orbiting long enough to confirm its exact position and trajectory, it ignited again — accelerating to 24,300 miles an hour to break free of Earth's gravity and send Apollo toward the Moon. This is NASA's own documentary on the Saturn V third stage, covering the J2 engine, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant systems, static test firing at the Sacramento Test Area, and final assembly at Kennedy Space Center. The stage stands 58 feet tall, weighs 130 tons fully fueled, and had to perform two separate burns flawlessly on every lunar mission. This film is part of Apollo Digest, an official NASA documentary series produced in the 1960s, gently restored and presented here in full for education and preservation. Space Age Archive curates declassified and public domain NASA and US government footage. Subscribe for more. #SaturnV #Apollo #NASAArchive #ApolloProgram #ApolloDigest #MoonLanding #NASADocumentary #RocketEngine #J2Engine #ArchiveFootage