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Author
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Topic: Touring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
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bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 11-30-2020 11:17 AM
   
I'm not military, but have been trying to figure out how to visit sites at Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.Specifically, I'd like to visit the Mercury 7 monument, the site of the demolished Mercury Control Center and at least snap a photo of the exterior of Hangar S. Am I totally out of luck? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 52159
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-30-2020 11:52 AM
All public tours (and access to) Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are currently unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions. When or if the restrictions will be lifted is unknown. |
bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 11-30-2020 12:19 PM
I've heard that another option would be to have a military sponsor? Does anybody have any info on that option? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 52159
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-30-2020 12:46 PM
There are such tours (see this request form), but they require 60 days notice and it is not clear they are being approved now given the current status of the bases. |
bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 11-30-2020 01:14 PM
Thanks, Robert! Might not work for this trip, but it's nice to know it's possible in the future. I think Patrick AFB is obliged to make these sites accessible to the public. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 12-02-2020 01:10 PM
CCAFS is more than just an active military installation, it is a restricted installation. Being a member of the military does not give one access to CCAFS. The only way to get access is to have business on CCAFS and you would need a sponsor. You don't reach out to a sponsor, the sponsor reaches out to you. |
bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 12-03-2020 08:42 AM
A sponsor reached out to me yesterday afternoon. They will be out of the office next week, but we worked something out for January. I'll take pictures of the dirt. |
star61
Member Posts: 313
From: Bristol UK
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 12-05-2020 02:22 PM
Good for you! I had a "private" tour of CCAFS and all the Mercury/Gemini sites many years ago because a friend and I just asked the Air Force Colonel in charge of the museum. Actually while on a standard tour! |
bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 03-02-2021 12:05 PM
My trip was delayed a month, but I finally made it out to the cape. My sponsor was incredibly gracious and it was an honor to explore what I consider to be hallowed ground. Here are a few photos I took of the MCC site and Hangar S on Friday: 
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bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 03-03-2021 07:07 AM
Here are several views from Launch Complex 34. Most of these will be familiar images, but I was able to explore the cable trench and some mostly overgrown areas toward the blockhouse. 
I took the following images in the trench/blockhouse area.  
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thisismills
Member Posts: 541
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 03-03-2021 11:15 AM
Thank you for sharing! Wonderful tour. |
ManInSpace
Member Posts: 303
From: Brooklin, Ontario Canada
Registered: Feb 2018
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posted 03-03-2021 01:45 PM
Thank you for sharing. Time takes its toll on our physical history. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4566
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-04-2021 01:11 AM
Great shots Clint. Thank you for sharing. You had great weather too. I was at Pad 34 in 2013. It was a similarly brilliant morning. The sense of history and the enormity of what happened in this place was almost overwhelming. Just so much to take in: I could have taken pictures all day and still felt like I had missed something. |
bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 03-04-2021 11:10 AM
Thanks, Rick. I definitely felt the same way. Such a mix of emotions in this spot. Sadness (Apollo 1), triumph (Apollo 7). I lament that some structures are in ruins, but there is a certain beauty in decay. I would like to figure out what that building next to the pad was, as well as another just east of the pad near the beach.The second set of shots was fun to get and required some bushwhacking. My sponsor had not yet explored the room with the electrical equipment, so it was fun to discover it together. |
Brock
Member Posts: 33
From: Orlando, Florida
Registered: Oct 2005
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posted 03-05-2021 07:09 PM
That picture of Hangar S is just poignant and amazing. It looks lonely and abandoned. A far cry from all the people there on the mornings of each Mercury launch. It is sad to see Hangar S looking dilapidated. I have stood in front of this building millions of times in my thoughts and dreams thinking about all the history that happened here between 1959-1963. Yes it is just a rusting, dilapidated hangar but if those walls could speak what a story they would tell. I could stand in front of this building all day and not get bored. My friends and family appreciate the space program but have a hard time appreciating my fascination with a hangar. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 03-06-2021 10:25 AM
quote:
Originally posted by bonneville mariner:
I would like to figure out what that building next to the pad was, as well as another just east of the pad near the beach.
Near the beach was the LH2 facility for the S-IV stage.Which one "next" to? East or south? East near the pad deck was either high pressure gas or RP-1. |
bonneville mariner
Member Posts: 16
From: Tooele, Utah USA
Registered: Jan 2019
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posted 03-08-2021 08:41 AM
Jim, the structures I'm wondering about are directly northeast of the pad. There appear to be the footprints of two buildings. The one I'm more curious about (simply because more of it is extant) is depicted in the fourth photo of my second set. The plaque with phone numbers on it is affixed to the interior of the north wall, which still stands. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 03-09-2021 10:13 AM
That would have been the ESC shelter. That housed the HVAC systems that supplied conditioned air to the vehicle. The other footprint is of the umbilical tower base. |
tlifan2
Member Posts: 61
From: Palm Coast, Florida
Registered: Feb 2014
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posted 04-01-2024 03:37 PM
The last time I visited the Cape Canaveral area was on the Rise To Space Tour in 2020. With Covid, all of the tours that visited the Cape ceased. Is there any way of visiting the Cape now? Are any of the Cape tours scheduled to reopen? Thanks? Editor's note: Threads merged. |
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