Confirmed: F-1 engine salvaged from ocean floor is from Apollo 11 rocket

Back in March, we reported on Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos' company Bezos Expeditions, which raised a significant amount of Saturn V F-1 engine components from the floor of the Atlantic ocean. Bezos Expeditions suspected that many of the components they had recovered belonged to not just any Saturn V, but to SA-506—the rocket that carried three men to humankind's first moon landing in July of 1969.

In a blog post this morning, Bezos Expeditions confirmed that careful analysis has revealed a faintly visible serial number stamped on several parts of one of the recovered thrust chambers. Those serial numbers—2044—corresponds with F-1 engine number F-6044, which was installed in the center position, as engine #5, in SA-506.

Bezos Expeditions

Bezos Expeditions

Recovery of anything from three miles beneath the ocean's surface is a significant achievement, of course, but the very rocket engines that flew humans to their first lunar landing are obviously of particular historical importance. Bezos and his company plan to restore the components to construct at least one museum-quality engine for public display.