Why were the Saturn rockets painted the way they were? Besides giving the rockets character the paint schemes served a purpose. White was predominantly used to reflect heat and keep the rocket cool and reduce the amount of propellant boiling-off in the hot Florida weather. The S-IVBs on the Saturn V were mostly white since the engine would be required to be restarted in space and keeping it cool as much as possible helped save fuel. As the S-IVB was orbiting Earth, the expanding gases in the fuel tanks were being dumped overboard to prevent over pressurization, reducing boil-off as much as possible helped save the needed fuel for the second engine burn for the trip to the Moon. The black stripes (roll patterns) on the rockets was mostly used to track the rocket from the ground as it ascended. The black/white paint scheme on the conical aft interstage of the S-II/S-IVB on the Saturn V were known as sway patterns. Other smaller markings were used as alignment marks when the stages were being assembled, to indicate a panel or ullage/retro rocket, or as the rocket began leaving the launch pad for the cameras to determine vertical motion or roll. The S-I & S-IBs RP-1 fuel tanks on the first stage were initially black, but minor unexplained tank deformations were sometimes found. After Apollo 7, the tanks were painted white and the problem never returned. Trial and error was used with the black paint when it was found to increase temperatures in certain areas. The primary paint used was titanium dioxide which has a variety of applications from paint to sun screen to food coloring.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 15:16:46 +0000
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