Workers at the Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) Dynamic Test Stand install S-IB-200D, a dynamic test version of the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first stage, on January 11, 1965. MSFC Test Laboratory persornel assembled a complete Saturn IB to test the launch vehicle's structural soundness. Developed by the MSFC as an interim vehicle in MSFC's "building block" approach to the Saturn rocket development, the Saturn IB utilized Saturn I technology to further develop and refine the larger boosters and the Apollo spacecraft capabilities required for the manned lunar missions.

Workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, Louisiana install the H-1 engines into the S-IB stage, the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first stage. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and built by the Chrysler Corporation at MAF, the 90,000-pound booster utilized eight H-1 engines to produce a combined thrust of 1,600,000 pounds.