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Author
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Topic: LC-34 deconstruction and decommission
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Canaveral
Member Posts: 29
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2005
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posted 07-24-2006 08:57 PM
   
What was the state of Launch Complex 34 at the time the Skylab Saturn IB launches took place starting in 1973? Did the NASA management team ever debate using LC-34 for these launches, was the gantry and supporting equipment still in-place at LC-34 or was it abandoned by this time? |
mikej
Member Posts: 481
From: Germantown, WI USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 07-24-2006 10:27 PM
An overview of the launch complex selection process is presented in SP-4208 Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab.A good description of how LC-39 was modified to support the Saturn IB launches is available in chapter 7 of the Skylab Saturn 1B flight manual. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 730
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 07-24-2006 11:04 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Canaveral:
What was the possibility of LC-34 being used for the Skylab Saturn 1B launches?
LC-34 was to have been used to launch Apollo missions for the Apollo Applications Program. However, the costs of maintaining the gantry and other associated equipment between the Apollo 7 launch and the time of the first AAP missions eventually proved to be very expensive. Building the so-called milkstool on the Saturn V launcher for the Saturn 1B/Skylab flights proved cheaper, thus LC-34 was deactivated and mostly dismantled except for the hardware noted in the previous posting. Basically, the decision to scrap LC-34 boiled down to money. |
svg4349
New Member Posts: 4
From:
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-30-2010 09:23 PM
This may be a real shot in the dark, but I was wondering if anyone has any photos, documents or information pertaining to the decommissioning / scrapping of Launch Complex 34. I recall LC-34 and 37 were considered for reactivation for the Apollo Applications Program, but 34 was eventually scrapped. Can anyone provide information on the matter.Does/div an LC-34 "boneyard" exist? Editor's note: Threads merged |
mikej
Member Posts: 481
From: Germantown, WI USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 01-30-2010 10:08 PM
LC-34 and LC-37 Deactivation discusses some of the considerations when LC-34 and LC-37 were initially deactivated after Apollo 7.It seems to me that I saw a different Bellcomm paper on the NTRS which compared the costs and other factors of refurbishing LC-34 and/or LC-37 vs. modifying LC-39, but I can't seem to find the right search terms to turn it up right now. However, Chapter 13 of SP-4208 Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab does go into some of the details that I think I remember from the elusive memo. |
svg4349
New Member Posts: 4
From:
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-30-2010 10:27 PM
Mike, that was very interesting reading, thanks for your prompt reply.I guess for the time being I will assume there are no readily available photos of these proceedings, but good info none the less. I did not realize that the gantries and supporting above ground equipment were removed with such haste after the Apollo 7 launch brought an end to the complex's use. I'd imagine their proximity to the ocean (several hundred yards) expedited the need to remove the towers before the corroded too a critical degree. If anyone has some photos please share. Thanks. |
Proponent
Member Posts: 59
From: London
Registered: Oct 2008
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posted 02-01-2010 10:18 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mikej:
It seems to me that I saw a different Bellcomm paper on the NTRS which compared the costs and other factors of refurbishing LC-34 and/or LC-37 vs. modifying LC-39, but I can't seem to find the right search terms to turn it up right now.
Maybe it was this memo of March 7, 1969 from G.W. Craft? |
mikej
Member Posts: 481
From: Germantown, WI USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 02-02-2010 11:45 AM
Yep, that's almost certainly the one.I ran all of my queries with both "Skylab" and "AAP", but that document must have eluded me because it doesn't contain either of those search terms or "34" or "37"... Good catch! (And I've saved it to my hard drive for future reference.) |
collectSPACE Admin
Administrator Posts: 630
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-11-2010 09:40 AM
quote:
Originally posted by svg4349:
If anyone has some photos please share.
Shared by a collectSPACE reader: |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2983
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 02-11-2010 03:14 PM
Disposal of Pad 34's service structures begin in June 1972 and was completed one year later in the same month. |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 02-05-2011 07:29 PM
At least one construction worker lost his life during the construction of LC-34. Morris Carter, age 42. He was hit and killed by a truck on the site Jan. 28, 1960. Construction Worker Killed At Test Center; Ocala-Star Banner Newspaper Jan 28, 1960. The other accidents mentioned were a fall from an Atlas launchpad gantry and a fall from a ladder at a Snark launch site. |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 02-05-2011 07:51 PM
Is the blockhouse at Pad 34 completely gutted now? I've seen this photo from the SA-6 launch, but there are precious few photos from other launches that show more than one or two people. Post-Apollo 7, I have only seen one photo of a single control station with two control panels in the blockhouse. (If this is your photo, please forgive me for posting it without attribution - I've lost the record of where I got it from.)  It's obviously well past the time of Apollo 7, as the glue in the indicator lights has degraded significantly. I'm curious as to what happened to the equipment that was in the blockhouse. I doubt that any of it made its way over to the Pad 39 LCC. Does anyone have any tour or other photos from within the blockhouse? |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 02-05-2011 09:14 PM
Here is a video (Steps to Saturn [1961]) about the launch of SA-1 in October 1961. In the last few minutes of the video are scenes from the inside of the LC-34 blockhouse during the countdown of SA-1.Also see: Saturn Launch Complex 34 (1962). |
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