Rocketdyne F-1 rocket engine flight instrumentation armored cable assembly, measuring 24.5" long with a diameter of 1.5" at the connectors, identified with a worn Rocketdyne metal tag: "Name: Armored Cable, Part No. Assy 704527, 9/17/68." In very good condition, with overall wear and cracks to the red rubber strain relief boot.
The armored electrical harness was developed to provide a higher degree of reliability of the engine system, as an electrical system failure could produce damaging results to the engine and vehicle. In the armored harness, a protective insulation is placed over the wire bundle and then covered with a wire braid to provide protection from both mechanical and heat damage.
The F-1 rocket engine remains the highest thrust engine that NASA has ever flown. Built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, the F-1 burned RP-1, a refined form of kerosene, and liquid oxygen. The engine's 2,500-pound turbopump produced more than 20,000 horsepower and could pump 42,500 gallons of propellant per minute. A cluster of five F-1 engines, each producing a maximum thrust of 1.5 million pounds, powered the first stage (designated S1-C) of the colossal Saturn V launch vehicle that carried American astronauts to the moon between 1969 and 1972.
