Launch of Apollo 6

Apollo 6 was the second and last uncrewed test of the Saturn V rocket and of the Apollo spacecraft, and it was meant to confirm that the launch vehicle was ready to carry astronauts. The flight revealed serious problems: violent vibrations called pogo oscillations shook the first stage, parts of the spacecraft adapter panels broke away, and two engines of the second stage shut down early. The third stage then failed to reignite as planned for the simulated trip toward the Moon. The spacecraft still reached orbit and returned safely, and engineers traced and fixed the faults. NASA judged the Saturn V ready, and only months later Apollo 8 became the first crewed mission to leave Earth orbit and fly around the Moon.

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