Launch Complex 39: Apollo and Space Shuttle

Wednesday October 24, 2007 - NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER: I guess I had a "lucky" bus tour... our bus was diverted past Pad 39A inside LC-39 just one day after the launch of Discovery. We only had the chance to stop at a stop sign, then we moved on because of security rules so I had to take these while the bus was moving.

The photo on the upper left is a NASA aerial photo. Click on any photo for a larger view.

The entire complex is amazingly huge. The distance from the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) to Pad 39A is nearly 3.5 miles! The VAB itself is the largest 1-story building in the world, standing 525 feet high, 716 feet wide, and 518 feet wide. It encloses 129,428,000 square feet covering 8 acres!

Notice the enormous size of the launch pad. Look for the vehicles just below the mobile launch pad! During the Apollo days, the LUT (or launch umbilical tower) was nearly three time as high as this structure!

The crawler-transporter is gigantic.... each "shoe" on the crawler weighs 1 ton! The entire transporter weighs 6 million pounds, has 8 tracks (2 on each corner) with 57 shoes on each track! The road it travels is 9 feet deep of river rock to support the weight of the transporter and the vehicle. The crawlers have been used since Project Apollo, for every Space Shuttle mission, and will be used for Project Constellation to transport the Ares rockets to pads A and B.

Launch Complex 37: Delta IV Heavy

Wednesday October 24, 2007 - CAPE CANAVERAL AF STATION: Here's a "fast" shot of LC-37... the bus didn't stop, so I took this while riding. Notice the Delta IV rocket under the MSS (Mobile Service Structure). The USAF launch took place on Saturday evening, 10 November, to deliver a military satellite into earth orbit.

The following photos are credited to the ULA (United Launch Alliance) who is a contractor to the USAF Space Command at Cape Canaveral. These are the MSS rollback and actual launch photos... the photo on the bottom right was taken from LC-34, described in my last post.

Launch Complex 34: Apollo 1

Wednesday October 24, 2007 - CAPE CANAVERAL AF STATION: Launch Complex 34 is a very moving stop on the tour. Shadowing all the success of the Mercury, Gemini, and very early Apollo programs was the tragedy that occured here - on 27 January 1967 - when astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee lost their lives in a fire during an "all-plugs-out" test inside their Apollo Command Module. Here are some photos, Then and Now (the older photos on the left are NASA photos).



.....Then............and Now






........Then..................and Now


Godspeed to the crew of Apollo 1

This is the abandoned LC-34 Launch Pedastal and Mobile Blast Deflectors. Note the Launch Tower in the background... that's LC-37 with a live Delta-IV-Heavy Air Force Rocket under the Mobile Service Structure. It is scheduled to launch on November 10th.

Launch Complex 19: Gemini-Titan

Wednesday October 24, 2007 - CAPE CANAVERAL AF STATION: Our tour bus stopped only at the entrance to LC 19, launch pad for the 2-Astronaut Gemini Titan launches of the mid 1960's. The pad and its surrounding facilities are all but gone now. The NASA photo on the right is the launch of Gemini-Titan XI on 12 September 1966, with Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon onboard. In the immediate background to the far left is the umbilical tower for Launch Complex 34 (see the blog on LC-34), and in the distance (7.6 miles away) you can see a test-Saturn V rocket on the pad at the "new" LC-39A... today it's the launch pad for the Space Shuttle. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Launch Complex 14: Mercury Atlas

Wednesday October 24, 2007 - CAPE CANAVERAL AF STATION: Here are some pictures of the remains of LC-14 and the entrance tunnel to its blockhouse. It was from this launch pad that John Glenn became the first man to orbit the planet Earth - riding on top of an Atlas ICBM booster rocket inside his Mercury capsule Friendship 7 - 20 February 1962 (NASA photo on lower right). Three other Original 7 astronauts flew Mercury Earth-orbit missions from this pad. Notice that they have preferred parking!

The Project Mercury Monument at the entrance to LC-14.

Buried beneath the slab is a time capsule containing artifacts relating to Project Mercury, including photographs, capsule blueprints, movie footage, and even John Glenn's Marine Corps pilot wings. It is scheduled to be opened in the year 2464. Keep your tour tickets for free admission to the capsule opening that year!!!

Cape Canaveral - Then & Now Tour

Wednesday October 24, 2007 - CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION: If you ever make it to the Space Center, this is THE tour to take! It's about 4.5 hours long, and covers the entire history of the Cape... from the very first launch all the way to the Shuttle. Below each set of photos is a brief description of the various launch sites.

Above is Launch Complex 5/6. Looking out from the blockhouse control room toward PAD-5, you can see a replica of MR-3 (Mercury Redstone 3)... a tribute to the launch of Alan Shepard aboard his Freedom 7 capsule. He was the first American in space, May 5, 1961. The windows are all nearly 12" thick and made of many panes of tempered glass sandwiching compressed gas to eliminate moisture. The blockhouse (or launch control) was very close to the pad, and yes, that is THE button they pushed to launch the rocket! (the photo on the lower right is a NASA photo of Mercury Redstone 1 on Pad 5... an interesting story can be found by clicking this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_1)

This is Launch Complex 26, site of the Jupiter and Jupiter-C launches. Most notably the US Air Force launched Explorer 1 - America's first satellite - on February 1, 1958. LC-26 now houses the Air Force Space & Missle Museum, and has numerous indoor and outdoor displays, including a V-2 rocket engine. The launch control room is preserved exactly as it was back in the 60's. In the background of the picture on the lower left is Launch Complex 37b, containing a Delta IV rocket that will be launced in a couple of weeks with a USAF satellite.

More at the KSC Visitor Center...

Tuesday October 23, 2007 - KENNEDY SPACE CENTER: Here are some shots in the Rocket Garden. Note the size of the Saturn 1B, which is displayed on its side. The Atlas rocket is the vehicle that launched John Glenn aboard his Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7. Glenn was the first man to orbit the earth on 20 February 1962. The F-1 engine on display really puts the Saturn V into perspective... there were 5 of these engines on the first stage. Note the person next to the sign on the left (in the shade). Click on the pics to see a larger view.