The Saturn V is a monument to one of mankind's greatest achievements: the human Moon landings. However, online claims about this vehicle's impressive acoustics by well-meaning individuals are often based on misunderstood or incorrect data. This article, intended for both educators and enthusiasts, discusses topics related to rocket acoustics and documents what is known about the Saturn V's levels: overall power, maximum overall sound pressure, and peak pressure. The overall power level was approximately 204 dB re 1 pW, whereas its lesser sound pressure levels were impacted by source size, directivity, and propagation effects. As this article is part of a special issue on Education in Acoustics in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, supplementary Saturn V-related homework problems are included.1
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August 2022
August 23 2022
Saturn-V sound levels: A letter to the Redditora)
Special Collection:
Education in Acoustics
Kent L. Gee
;
Kent L. Gee
b)
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University
, Provo, Utah 84602, USA
b)Electronic mail: kentgee@byu.edu
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Logan T. Mathews;
Logan T. Mathews
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University
, Provo, Utah 84602, USA
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Mark C. Anderson;
Mark C. Anderson
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University
, Provo, Utah 84602, USA
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Grant W. Hart
Grant W. Hart
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University
, Provo, Utah 84602, USA
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b)Electronic mail: kentgee@byu.edu
a)
This paper is part of a special issue on Education in Acoustics.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 152, 1068–1073 (2022)
Article history
Received:
December 20 2021
Accepted:
July 12 2022
Citation
Kent L. Gee, Logan T. Mathews, Mark C. Anderson, Grant W. Hart; Saturn-V sound levels: A letter to the Redditor. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 August 2022; 152 (2): 1068–1073. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0013216
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