- Saturn V Rocket
- NASA
The Saturn V still holds the record as the most powerful rocket to reach orbit after launching mankind to the moon.
The acoustic levels of the Saturn V rocket were estimated using a physics-based model from Brigham Young University (BYU). The research team was able to achieve a reading of 203 decibels, which falls in line with the minute amount of data gathered in the 1960s.
For example, a jet engine producing 200 decibels has a 120-160 decibel level. A commercial aircraft’s engines range from 100 to 120 decibels.
“Decibels are logarithmic, so every 10 decibels is an order of magnitude increase,” said author Kent L. Gee, of BYU. “One hundred and seventy decibels would be equivalent to 10 aircraft engines. Two hundred would be 10,000 engines!”
The study was published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America.