Saturday, March 17, 2012

Fly me to the moon ...

'Colossal' wouldn't begin to describe the rocket ultimately designed and built to allow humans to escape earth's gravitational grip and propel them to the moon. The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at Cape Canaveral, Florida has one of two brand new, never-been-used Saturn V rockets on display. It is breath-taking to stand beneath this behemoth and imagine its power.

The first stage used 5 F-1 engines which produced 1,500,000 lbs of thrust each:

The second stage was powered by 5 J-2 engines which produced a total thrust of 1,250,000 lbs.

The third stage had one J-2 engine which produced 250,000 lbs of thrust.

The Saturn V is accompanied by displays of the manned Apollo mission insignias.

On top of the Saturn V are situated the service, lunar, and command modules, as well as the launch escape rocket at the very top which was designed to remove the astronauts from harm's way in the event of a launch mishap. Fortunately it never had to be used.

Also on display is the actual command module from the Apollo 14 mission.


The last image I'll leave you with is of the lunar rover training vehicle used to help moon-bound astronauts earn their lunar drivers license.

If you're interested, there's a wealth of information on the Saturn V, and NASA has done a stellar job of documenting the history of space flight.


19 comments:

Lúcia said...

What an interesting place to visit!
Love the title (and the song too)!
Have a great weekend Rick! ;-)

Ruth Hiebert said...

THis is fascinating. I see these pictures through my loved one's eyes. He would have loved this.

Pamela Gordon said...

Great photos Rick. Hard to imagine the power in those rockets. Very interesting.

Saz said...

Wow, looks pretty awesome Rick!!

Sorry I haven't been posting much on your blogs! I have been looking at them, I promise! I've been helping my mum out so much lately, that I only quickly get on usually and only comment on a couple of blogs when I can.

Those are fantastic shots!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend. (:

Stephanie said...

Interest shots!

Fábio Martins said...

So interesting and so good shots. Well done and thanks yout sharing

Michelle said...

Really great shots of this equipment. Hard to imagine going into space in it!

Hilda R.B said...

Thanks for the visit to a place I hope to come to sometime. So fascinating and you got beautiful photos of it.
Wish you a nice week.
Hilda

biebkriebels said...

Zo interessant om te zien allemaal. Fascinerend. Weet je dat er een Nederlander een half jaar om de aarde cirkelt in het ISS van de Russen. Andre Kuipers is zijn naam.

Marty said...

quelle visite ! j'aurais aimé voir aussi ! un jour perhaps ! why not !
les photos sont impressionnantes !
would you really love to fly sur la lune ? ou sur Mars ou ailleurs on a star ! comme a dream !
bisous stellaires for you

joyce said...

I can't even begin to imagine that kind of power!

Dagmar said...

Duhhhh they let you take pictures??? Geezzz and you did great. Would luuufff to go there once.
Happy sunny dag van Dagmar

Elizabeth Grimes said...

Wow! That's amazing. Mind boggling!

Here I Am Carrie said...

Well it looks like you are still enjoying the wonderful warm weather and sands and sights of the Florida of the Florida landscape. Just had a peek catching up with some of you past blogs. Some quiet introspective moments of beautiful scenes as well as company. Yes the warm weather does bring that. Life at my desert home has been so busy and no internet connection. So different from my life up north. But I am enjoying is now and finally falling into the rhythm of fast life here and people all around. Just wish I had more time to blog and visit. You are the first on my list catching up with people from back in January. Enjoy the rest of you winter. Probably won't see you again till I get back up North. I may only have time to visit one or two a day. Hugs Carrie

Lisa Gordon said...

Amazingly cool, Rick, and what great photos!

magda said...

Thank you my dear friend Rick, for so interesting photos and information!!!
I wish to be there...
Many greetings

Unknown said...

The coolest picture is that of the Apollo 14 Command Module :-)

I love the light surrounding the lower part of the module and the dark background . . . Amazing capture, Rick :-)

Greetz,


Joseph

Amelia said...

Hi Rick, thank you so much for sharing the interesting photos. Really amazing and you capture it so well.

Have a nice day.Regards

imac said...

See you in the bright blue yonder then my friend.lol.