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Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 547 (April 18, 2015)
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heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 04-18-2015 02:58 AM
   
 Parking was a problem at the Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 1973, as the Saturn 5 carrying the Skylab space station was rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39. The stack had been assembled in High Bay 2 and emerged on the westside of the VAB, so it had to make a u-turn to head for the launch pad. |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2476
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-18-2015 05:39 AM
Had never seen that one, way cool! |
mprender
Member Posts: 21
From: Winston Salem North Carolina
Registered: Apr 2015
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posted 04-18-2015 08:36 AM
What a unique angle! I'm always amazed after all these years to see new images. This image really shows off the massive size the crawler carried back then. |
Jurg Bolli
Member Posts: 977
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 04-18-2015 08:43 AM
Beautiful shot! |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 04-18-2015 10:14 AM
Skylab 2 had rolled out to Pad B several weeks earlier. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2915
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 04-18-2015 11:46 AM
High Bay 2 had only been used once before during a rollout to Pad 39B in March 1969. It was for AS-505, or better known as Apollo 10, that launched more than 2 months later.I was there, somewhere on the sidelines, as a high schooler in April 1973 when the last Saturn V launch vehicle was transported to the pad. Needless to say, it was an awesome sight, especially with the one and only Skylab OWS at the top of the massive rocket booster. Viewing a Saturn V rollout up close had always been an impressive opportunity for
me during the later Apollo program era.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 04-18-2015 12:10 PM
The Apollo 13 launch vehicle (with a boilerplate spacecraft) was moved from High Bay 2 to High Bay 1 in August 1969. |
Michael Davis
Member Posts: 528
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 04-18-2015 12:12 PM
What a remarkable shot. But if I could travel back in time, I'd ask the photographer to consider using color film.Of course, I might also ask the engineers if they were really sure that there were no issues with airflow at launch in regards to the micrometeoroid shield. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 04-18-2015 06:39 PM
It almost looks like the cars are lining up to exit the parking lot. Maybe the rollout event was over and everyone was leaving? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 04-18-2015 07:49 PM
Most of the cars were gone before the mobile launcher reached the front of the VAB. Note that you can also see ML-3 in High Bay 3. |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 04-19-2015 08:40 PM
The Saturn V should have been considered a national asset. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 04-20-2015 09:41 AM
Well, at least it was recognized as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark on July 16, 1980.If the military had declared it a 'national asset,' perhaps the tools, dies etc. would have been preserved. But that's a topic for another thread. |
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