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  Photo of the week 637 (January 7, 2017)

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Author Topic:   Photo of the week 637 (January 7, 2017)
heng44
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Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 01-07-2017 03:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

Saturn V AS-504 carrying Apollo 9 is rolled out to Launch Pad 39A, only one short week after the splashdown of Apollo 8.

Tom
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Posts: 1597
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 01-07-2017 09:52 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Tom   Click Here to Email Tom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great photo, Ed... one I've never seen!!

Philip
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Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 01-07-2017 10:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Like that tour bus on the left!

randy
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Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 01-07-2017 11:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for randy   Click Here to Email randy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I wish I could've been on that tour bus!

Jonnyed
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Posts: 396
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014

posted 01-07-2017 11:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jonnyed   Click Here to Email Jonnyed     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The angle of this shot is probably a sunrise vice a sunset — correct? How long did it take to do a rollout?

I presume you start at sunrise to give yourself time to finish it in one day? Or did it take a couple of days?

jasonelam
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Posts: 691
From: Monticello, KY USA
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 01-07-2017 04:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jasonelam   Click Here to Email jasonelam     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The average time to transport the Saturn V from the VAB to the launch pad is about 5 hours.

mach3valkyrie
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Posts: 719
From: Albany, Oregon
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 01-07-2017 04:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mach3valkyrie   Click Here to Email mach3valkyrie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Nice shot. January 3, 1969.

ColinBurgess
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Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-07-2017 06:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ColinBurgess   Click Here to Email ColinBurgess     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Man oh man - those were the days! (sigh)

oly
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Posts: 905
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 01-07-2017 11:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for oly   Click Here to Email oly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jonnyed:
The angle of this shot is probably a sunrise vice a sunset — correct?
I believe Apollo 9 launched from Pad A and the crawler moved with the launch tower on the eastern face as it moved from the VAB. The crawler is shown in this photo on another section of the crawlerway than the section directly in front of the camera.

Looking at a map of LC-39A I believe that the photo was taken early morning with the photographer standing to the north of the VAB in the area that the crawlers were parked when not in use. This only works on the assumption that the negative has not been reversed. I think in this case it has not based on the USA text painted in the Saturn and the lack of a door on the coach. That is my best guess. It is also a cool photo. This Apollo 11 rollout photo gives an idea of the angles.

heng44
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Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 01-08-2017 03:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I concur with what oly said.

Ronpur
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Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012

posted 01-09-2017 08:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ronpur   Click Here to Email Ronpur     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Philip:
Like that tour bus on the left!
You know, I think that tour bus may be empty. I wonder if it was when this photo was taken?

sev8n
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Posts: 234
From: Dallas TX USA
Registered: Jul 2012

posted 01-09-2017 08:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sev8n     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by oly:
This only works on the assumption that the negative has not been reversed.

The orientation of the roll pattern on the S-IC engine fairings indicates it is not reversed.

Philip
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Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 01-10-2017 07:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Indeed I had noticed the bus is empty, looks just a shell with sunlight going through... great photo!

Joel Katzowitz
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Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 01-10-2017 07:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Joel Katzowitz   Click Here to Email Joel Katzowitz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's difficult to tell from either photo but the crawlerway top surface appears to be dirt or sand as opposed to river rock.

Was it ever used without without river rock?

Cozmosis22
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Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 01-10-2017 04:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Cozmosis22     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Beautiful sunrise photo! They seemed to prefer early mornings for the half mile-per-hour rollouts as the winds were usually calm at that time of day there on the Space Coast.

Believe that the crawler pathway to the pads at Complex 39 was about 7 feet thick of compacted gravel surfaced with asphalt. That was then covered with a layer of the Alabama river rock. Fresh rocks were shipped in and spread across the surface periodically.

spaceheaded
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Posts: 147
From: MD
Registered: Feb 2003

posted 01-10-2017 05:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceheaded     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes, the tour bus is empty. All of its occupants are on the mobile launcher, running up and down the stairs for a close look. And of course I am dreaming.

MCroft04
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Posts: 1634
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 01-10-2017 08:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MCroft04   Click Here to Email MCroft04     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
By the way, for those alliterative fans; that is round river rock!

Jonnyed
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Posts: 396
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014

posted 01-11-2017 08:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jonnyed   Click Here to Email Jonnyed     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Love the NASA Tour Bus poster — it's back in the day when even the bus drivers wore coat and tie!

Sorry for my unfamiliarity of the Cape layout but what is the purpose of the tower that's to the right of the crawler/Saturn in the tour bus poster? Is that the actual launch pad complex itself?

Ronpur
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Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012

posted 01-13-2017 09:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ronpur   Click Here to Email Ronpur     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That would be the Mobile Service Structure. It will be picked up by the crawler after it drops off the rocket. Then it takes it to the pad as well.

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