KSC

[mach7]

i went to Kennedy Space center last week on a layover. I took the bus tour and went to the Saturn V center. Most of the photos I took did not come out good, but everyone should make the pilgrimage! An entire Saturn V, un stacked mounted on stands above you. Very cool.

The Gemini/Titan was not on display in the rocket garden.
but everything else was up to the the Saturn 1b was.

They have a shuttle launch ride that was kind of fun, but it turns out the shaking herniated a disk in my back. Not fun.

 

[mjennings]

Nice pics, the Saturn V building is impressive but I don't like that there is no one point where you can step back and take the whole thing in. I don't know what is up with the Gemini-Titan, it must be in for some major restoration because I have not seen it in the 2.5 years I've been down here.

 

[mach7]

that is a problem with the SV, no way to take it all in. The lighting is funny also as you can see from the first stage photo.

The size of the VAB is hard to comprehend. It's huge! The building in front is the shuttle processing building.

Last time I was there in 2004 the Gemini/Titan was up. I hope it comes back soon.

 

[Delta-IV]

that is a problem with the SV, no way to take it all in. The lighting is funny also as you can see from the first stage photo.

The size of the VAB is hard to comprehend. It's huge! The building in front is the shuttle processing building.

Last time I was there in 2004 the Gemini/Titan was up. I hope it comes back soon.

Yeah, I really miss seeing the Gemni Titan when I drive to/from home every day. If its here somewhere they have it hidden quite well.

As far as the Saturn V, if you get a chance to be near Huntsville Alabama they too have enclosed a SV and you do have very good sight lines, the whole side of the building is glass, so you can see the whole thing from the Interstate. ..and the best thing is they have a replica SV standing up as if it was ready to launch right next to the real thing....a must see.

 

[jadebox]

The Gemini/Titan was not on display in the rocket garden.

Everytime we visit, I stand by the rail, looking up as if to see where the rocket went. It never fails to (not)provoke a laugh from my wife.

I love the Saturn V center, though I see your point about not being able to take in the scale of the rocket. I also enjoy the IMax movies. The Space Station one, especially, is incredible. (The astronauts took a 3D IMax camera on the recent Hubble repair mission. I'm looking forward to that film!)

I also find it difficult to take in the size of the VAB when looking at it. If you imagine picking it up and dropping it in downtown Orlando, it would tower over the tallest buiding. You could use it to completely cover the SunTrust building and a good chunk of the downtown area.

-- Roger

 

[AKPilot]

Having never seen them together, I never realized the actual size difference between a Saturn IB and the Saturn V.

Thanks for the pics!

 

[mjennings]

yeah but they only took 8 min of IMAX film on orbit, and because they landed at EAFB supposedly they did not get the film out fast enough so there is some degradation.

The other hard thing about the VAB is there is nothing else to visually compare it with in size. It just keeps getting bigger as you get closer.

 

[foose4string]

The 3D IMAX Space Station film was very cool. It sure seemed like more than 8 minutes worth of film in space, but that may be due to some clever editing. I loved the way the 3D effect almost added a sense of weightlessness.

 

[Delta-IV]

Having never seen them together, I never realized the actual size difference between a Saturn IB and the Saturn V.

Thanks for the pics!

If you're talking about the photo of the Replica and the Saturn 1, the Saturn 1 is quite a bit behind it so it really isn't as small as it seems.

The Saturn 1 was 180 feet tall and the Saturn V was 363 feet tall. ALmost exactly 1/2 half the size.

 

[jadebox]

If you're talking about the photo of the Replica and the Saturn 1, the Saturn 1 is quite a bit behind it so it really isn't as small as it seems.

The Saturn 1 was 180 feet tall and the Saturn V was 363 feet tall. ALmost exactly 1/2 half the size.

One cool way to see the difference in size is to look at photos of the Saturn IB on the launch pad. It sat on a giant "milk stool" so that the Command Module and other parts were at the same level as the Saturn V's would be.




-- Roger

 

[jadebox]

The 3D IMAX Space Station film was very cool. It sure seemed like more than 8 minutes worth of film in space, but that may be due to some clever editing. I loved the way the 3D effect almost added a sense of weightlessness.

That's what I like most about it. The film really gives you that "you are there" feeling.


*********** [Mild Spoiler Alert] **************

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I do, however, always laugh a little when Tom Cruise (I'm laughing already) ... err ... when Cruise says something like "and it's all real" since, a few minutes later, he reveals that what you saw wasn't real.

-- Roger

 

[mjennings]

Foose to clarify the 8 minuets were for the HST mission that just flew not the station movie.

 

[jadebox]

Foose to clarify the 8 minutes were for the HST mission that just flew not the station movie.

That's a shame. I was looking forward to seeing that. It's not like they can send the second unit out to film the stuff they are missing.

-- Roger

 

[foose4string]

Foose to clarify the 8 minuets were for the HST mission that just flew not the station movie.

Oops. Yeah, that would have been nice to get more of that mission...especially since I been there, done that, and bought the T-Shirt for that one!

 

[WillMarchant]

Chris got to spend a lot of time at KSC recently getting COS ready for Hubble. He got to go on some disgustingly cool "insider tours" as a result. The photo album is here https://web.me.com/crscholz/Kennedy_Space_Center/My_Albums/My_Albums.html but be warned that he's going to brag about getting to the top of the VAB, out on the pad, etc...

 

[mjennings]

He got some good pics, some are better than mine form the PCR.