I am actually more interested in the sociological aspects of the early space race. The technology was essentially lifted from German rocket engineers. A signifi

I am actually more interested in the sociological aspects of the early space race. The technology was essentially lifted from German rocket engineers. A significant amount of them who would have been classified as war criminals and tried had their skills not been such an asset. Wernher Von Braun exemplifies this. I believe his team only worked on the lower or upper stage. The middle stage was a pain in the butt to develop because the overseer was incompetent, and I think a death occurred (via accident) before they finally got a grip of the situation. The Saturn V was a stunning success, but it took a lot of work and a hell of a lot of money to get it to that level of sophistication and reliability.