View Full Version : Kennedy Space Center - Cape Canaveral Then and Now
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At the third attempt I managed to get on the Cape Canaveral Then and Now tour. The tour often doesn't run due to operational or safety reasons when launches are planned from the Cape Canaveral pads.
Shot 1 is the blockhouse (or firing room) for launch complex 26; the pad from which America's first ever satellite, Explorer 1, was launched. The pad itself is only about 50 feet away. Those windows are about a foot thick, not because of the stresses created at launch but in case the rocket exploded on the pad. Any resemblence to the OV webservers is purely co-incidental.
Shots 2 and 3 are the rocket garden at the USAF rocket museum. This is not the rocket garden at the visitor center. There is a whole other one out there, just hardly anyone ever gets to see it.
Shot 4 is launch complex (pad) 5. This is the actual pad from which Alan Shepherd flew when he became the first American in space on May 5, 1961. That's the base of a real, but unused, Atlas Redstone rocket sitting on the pad. The building behind it is the blockhouse (with more of those foot thick windows). The reason these buildings had to be so close to the launch pads was because the technology back then didn't include any microwave or wireless capability; so all the telemetry signals to and from the rocket had to go via plain old cables. If the cables got too long the signals didn't make it from one end to the other and that could spell a whole lot of problems.
Shot 5 is the historic site of launch complex 34, scene of the Apollo 1 fire where 3 astronauts lost their lives at the start of the manned Apollo moon program.
The last photo is the Boeing Delta 4 Heavy rocket waiting for another launch date. It should have flown last weekend but didn't due to technical issues. The orange bits are the 3 booster segments of the Delta 4 Heavy. We were incredibly lucky that the tour was running with this beast out on the pad. I can only figure that it had been de-fueled since the weekend otherwise we would have been well inside the 3 mile minimum safe distance. I tried to frame the shot as a kind of juxtaposition of old and new. The new Delta 4 Heavy that might well form part of the space shuttle's future replacement positioned against one of the old flame deflectors on pad 34. I really like the way it works and hope you do too.
If you have a day at Kennedy Space Center and have already done the NASA Up Close tour I would whole heartedly recommend the Cape Canaveral Then and Now tour.
SunLover
16-12-2004, 10:24
It's amazing when you see how "Heath Robinson" everything looked that anything ever got off the ground. Still I guess back then it was considered state of the art. Really fascinating :)
Nostromo
16-12-2004, 11:08
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by steveharrison
Shot 1 is the blockhouse (or firing room) for launch complex 26; the pad from which America's first ever satellite, Explorer 1, was launched. The pad itself is only about 50 feet away. Those windows are about a foot thick, not because of the stresses created at launch but in case the rocket exploded on the pad. Any resemblence to the OV webservers is purely co-incidental.[/quote]
I try to do the 'then and now' tour on almost every visit to KSC. Being a 'space person', I an very interested in the historical aspects of space travel. The blockhouse is particularly fascinating, with its 'dated' controls etc.
PS: The resemblance to OV servers may not be just coincidence. I heard that used NASA hardware occasionally turns up at the local car boot sales. :D
Nice pictures Steve, something I've not got to yet.
My eldest is interested in spaceships but I'm not sure the reality would keep her interested.
I'm sure we still support some of the same kit they have in the first picture!!
Brizzle.
Do you get tickets for the Then and Now tour at the visitors centre as we have already done the kennedy tour a couple of times and would love to try this other tour. Your pictures are great.[msnsmile]
Magical Dreams
17-12-2004, 01:43
Steve, you seem to capture the very best of every situation.
Love Kennedy Space Centre.
Keep up the postings!
Its the only thing that gets me through my days at work!!
[msnwink]
linda allen
17-12-2004, 11:42
Steve, I love the then and now tour. Its amazing when you see the size of the Atlas rocket and think that is what the Mercury astronauts went into space on.
I love anything to do with the early space program. There is a great film about US test pilots from Chuck Jaeger ( the first pilot to brake the sound barrier), through to the Mercury program and the space race to get the first man in space. Its called The Right Stuff, and whilst it glamourises the acheivements of the Americans, it is factually correct and worth watching.
dogwalker
16-02-2005, 15:07
We went on this tour some years ago and found it really interesting. At that time the coach driver told us they were trying to shut it down due to lack of interest, there was only about 8 of us on the coach. This was in '98, pleased to see it's still running.
Lockheed are due to start de-commissioning launch pad 36 this year now that the last Atlas 3 has flown. They have a new pad for the newer Atlas rockets. I do hope that Kennedy Space Center have the vision to turn pad 36 into another stop on the Then and Now tour. There is nothing quite like standing on the pads themselves where the rockets flew from.