Enlarge / Scientists disproved a myth claiming the Saturn V rocket tested on the Apollo 4 mission in 1967 was loud enough to melt concrete. (credit: NASA/Getty Images)
There's rarely time to write about every cool science-y story that comes our way. So this year, we're once again running a special Twelve Days of Christmas series of posts, highlighting one science story that fell through the cracks in 2022, each day from December 25 through January 5. Today: Busting the popular myth that the Saturn V launch was loud enough to melt concrete.
The 1967 Apollo 4 mission was an uncrewed flight to test the Saturn V rocket as a viable launch vehicle for future manned missions. The test was a smashing success and a critical step in the US space program. But the Saturn V was also incredibly loud—so loud that a rumor emerged claiming that the acoustic energy was sufficient to melt concrete. That is not the case, according to an August paper published in a special educational issue if the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA).
"The Saturn V has taken on this sort of legendary, apocryphal status," said co-author Kenneth Gee of Brigham Young University. "We felt that, as part of the JASA special issue on Education in Acoustics, it was an opportunity to correct misinformation about this vehicle." In addition to the authors' analysis, the paper includes several problems for students to solve relating to the event—including a tongue-in-cheek problem involving using acoustic temperature to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
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