[1]: 6 For this launch, Cape Canaveral director Kurt Debus asked Marshall Space Flight Center director Wernher von Braun, who was overseeing the Saturn project, that no outside visitors be allowed on NASA grounds due to the ongoing tensions of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

[4] This mission was the first time the Saturn I rocket was launched with a full load of propellant, carrying approximately 750,000 pounds (340,000 kg) of fuel.

[3][7] The first stage remained intact,[1]: 66  though uncontrolled, until it impacted the Atlantic Ocean around 270 miles (430 km) from its launch site.

[6] The main objectives of SA-3 were much the same as the previous two Saturn I flights in that it was primarily a test of the first-stage booster (S-I) and its H-1 engines.

This involved the intentional release of ballast water from the second and third stages which allowed scientists to investigate the nature of Earth's ionosphere, as well as noctilucent clouds and the behavior of ice in space.

[8] For Project Highwater, tanks in SA-3's dummy upper stages were filled with 192,528 pounds (87,329 kg) of water, approximately 22,900 US gallons (87,000 L; 19,100 imp gal), which was used to simulate the mass of future Saturn payloads.

When the terminate command was sent to the rocket, primacord charges split both stages longitudinally, instantly releasing its load of water.

[9] The NASA Results report states that ten special tests were included in the SA-3 flight, all focused on technologies and procedures intended for use on future Apollo missions.

[2] Also on this mission, the outboard engines were allowed to fire until depletion of the rocket's liquid oxygen (LOX), rather than the timed cut-offs of previous flights.

[2] The system performed satisfactorily, and post-flight documentation indicated engineers may expand its role for future telemetry transmission.

[1]: 53 A single panel of Block II M-31 heat shield insulation, along with one of the spacecraft's calorimeters, was mounted on the base of the first stage by the engines.

[1]: 66 [5] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.