Date: 3 Jun 2026
Topic: Science
Codebreakers are a fun way to build numeracy skills.
When Saturn V took the first astronauts to the Moon in 1969, the rocket's composition at liftoff was approximately 89% propellant, 10% rocket hardware, and 1.6% Apollo spacecraft (the Command Module, Service Module, and Lunar Module).
In the first 2.5 minutes of flight, as the first stage completed its burn, nearly 78% of the rocket's mass had been expended. By the time the astronauts were only 0.05% of the way to the Moon (about 185 km above Earth), almost the entire Saturn V had been discarded, leaving only the Apollo spacecraft. It was travelling at approximately 11 km/s, close to Earth's escape velocity.
Because the Moon's gravity is only about one-sixth (17%) of Earth's, far less fuel was required for the Lunar Module to lift off from the Moon and rendezvous with the Command Module in lunar orbit.