Apollo 15 SIVB

Description

The Apollo Saturn V SIVB was the third stage of the Saturn V booster. The SIVB consisted of a truncated cone with a bottom diameter of 10.06 m topped by a long cylinder with a diameter of 6.60 m. Total height was 17.80 m. It contained liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks and a J2 engine. It was launched into Earth orbit attached to the Command, Service, and Lunar Modules (CSM and LM). The SIVB provided the thrust to take the CSM and LM from Earth orbit into a lunar transfer orbit. After achieving trajectory towards the Moon, the LM and CSM decoupled from the SIVB at 17:52:01 UT on 26 July 1971. The SIVB was left on a course towards the Moon where it impacted at 20:58:41 UT on 29 July at 1.51 S, 11.81 W at approximately 2.58 km/sec, providing a seismic source for the ALSEP seismic stations.