The rocket that carried the Apollo 11 astronauts toward the Moon in 1969 was Saturn V.
NASA launched Saturn V on 16 July 1969 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Its three stages produced the enormous thrust needed to lift the Apollo spacecraft, its service module, and the lunar module out of Earth’s atmosphere and onto a lunar trajectory.
Saturn V stood about 110.6 metres tall and remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational status. Its first stage used five F-1 engines burning kerosene and liquid oxygen. The upper stages used liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
Apollo 11’s crew—Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins—reached lunar orbit after the Saturn V launch. Saturn V flew 13 times between 1967 and 1973, including missions for the Apollo lunar program and Skylab.