NASA SATURN 1B Rocket 18.75" Tall Wood Model Space Craft Years before Armstrong was able to take a giant leap for humanity, a huge team of scientists and experts was already taking baby steps. The roots of the renowned Apollo space program and the Saturn V can be traced way back in 1964 when the US initiated the Operation Paperclip. This program saw dozens of scientists meet in the US to give the nation an edge during the Cold War and help the nation gain leverage in the battle for space. Among the scientists employed was Wernher von Braun who was already working with a series of experimental rockets known as the Jupiter series. When the US began to seriously fund the program, the scientists and Operation Paperclip gained momentum. Von Brauns Jupiter rockets eventually became the basis for the Saturn spacecrafts. Between 1960 and 1962, multiple prototypes for the Saturn were designed by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The units were named as the C-1 to the C-5. The C-1 became the Saturn I and the C-1B became Saturn IB. The Saturn Five we know now was the C-5. It was chosen and renamed in 1963 when the program was given the green light.