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.

(Day 218) Outta this world!

I personally don't know any astronauts. From what I've seen on TV, and read, astronauts are a pretty tough, stoic bunch who aren't easily rattled. Do you suppose though, that at some point, perhaps in anticipation of a launch, or during a space flight, or perhaps even afterward, when no one is looking, they might punch a fist in the air and break into a wide grin just because of the thrill involved ?

Well, today we took our daughter and 2 granddaughters to a nearby water park with all kinds of water slides and a lazy river you can raft down, and all sorts of fun stuff for kids - and 'grown-up kids' - to do. Judging by their expressions and laughter, I think they were just as thrilled as I'm sure some of the astronauts must be. Today's photo reminded me a bit of the international space station, which provided a segue to the thrills of space travel. And yes, we were all very thrilled to experience this one ... many times!

(18-55mm  f8  1/640 sec  ISO200)