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Author Topic:   Rocket Ranch (Jonathan Ward)
cspg
Member

Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006

posted 03-09-2015 09:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cspg   Click Here to Email cspg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Rocket Ranch: The Nuts and Bolts of the Apollo Moon Program at Kennedy Space Center
by Jonathan H. Ward
Foreword by Ike Rigell
The era of the Apollo/Saturn missions was perhaps the most exciting period in American space exploration history. Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center were buzzing with activity. Thousands of workers came to town to build the facilities and launch the missions needed to put an American on the Moon before the end of the decade.

Work at KSC involved much more than just launching rockets. It was a place like none other on Earth. Technicians performed intricate operations, and hazards abounded everywhere, including lightning, fire, highly-toxic fuels, snakes, heat, explosives, LOX spills, and even plutonium. The reward for months of 7-day workweeks under intense pressure was witnessing a Saturn V at liftoff.

Rocket Ranch takes the reader deep into the facilities at KSC. Descriptions of early operations include a harrowing account of the heroic efforts of pad workers during the Apollo 1 fire. A companion to the author's book "Countdown to a Moon Launch: Preparing Apollo for Its Historic Journey," this describes NASA's first computer systems used for spacecraft and rocket checkout and explains how tests and launches proceeded. Hundreds of illustrations complement the firsthand accounts of more than 70 Apollo program managers and engineers.

For anyone who ever wished they had worked at Kennedy Space Center during the Apollo era, this book is the next best thing. The only thing missing is the smell of rocket fuel in the morning.

  • Softcover: 350 pages
  • Publisher: Springer (July 14, 2015)
  • ISBN-10: 3319177885
  • ISBN-13: 978-3319177885

ilbasso
Member

Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 07-05-2015 02:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ilbasso   Click Here to Email ilbasso     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm elated that my first two books, dealing with Apollo/Saturn operations at Kennedy Space Center, are being released this month. I owe them both to the friendships I made and the help I received from people on collectSPACE!

I obtained a few Apollo-era control panels in 2009. I posted some info about them on cS and began corresponding with a number of other collectors. That led me to put up a website about my research, which was noticed by a few Apollo-era workers.

As I communicated with these fellows, I realized that no one had really told the story of what went on behind the scenes at KSC to prepare an Apollo mission. I proposed to Springer Books that I write an account of the processing flow. That led to interviews with over 70 workers from all aspects of work at KSC and examination of over 1,200 source documents.

The result became two books. "Rocket Ranch" is the 'what, where, and who' of KSC facilities and equipment, including details about how the ground computer systems interfaced the firing room with the launch pad and vehicle. "Countdown to a Moon Launch" tells the 'how and why' of the six-month processing flow, using Apollo 11 as an example. Both books are heavily illustrated and contain first-hand accounts of how the work was actually accomplished.

I'm deeply grateful to Robert Pearlman and the wonderful collectSPACE community for your support and friendship over the years! There's nothing else on the internet like this group of folks.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 07-05-2015 07:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It has been terrific watching your progress over the past few years, and exciting to see not one, but two books reach publication! Looking forward to reading both, as I have only heard great things about their content.

Congrats! And thanks for sharing your passion with the collectSPACE community.

GACspaceguy
Member

Posts: 2474
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 07-05-2015 07:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for GACspaceguy   Click Here to Email GACspaceguy     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great and congrats!! I have both on order.

rjurek349
Member

Posts: 1190
From: Northwest Indiana
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 07-05-2015 08:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for rjurek349   Click Here to Email rjurek349     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Congrats, Jonathan! Looking forward to reading both.

jjknap
Member

Posts: 273
From: Bourbonnais, IL USA
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 07-06-2015 05:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jjknap   Click Here to Email jjknap     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Have mine on order (both books)

Joel Katzowitz
Member

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

posted 07-08-2015 09:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Joel Katzowitz   Click Here to Email Joel Katzowitz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Congratulations Jonathan, save a pair for me!!!

jjknap
Member

Posts: 273
From: Bourbonnais, IL USA
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 07-15-2015 06:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jjknap   Click Here to Email jjknap     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The book arrived today. No time to read it, but I thumbed through and noticed there was a section/pictures on the "milk-stool" and on the replacement on the pad of the fins of the Saturn 1B for the Skylab mission. I'm already glad that I picked it up now.

jjknap
Member

Posts: 273
From: Bourbonnais, IL USA
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 07-16-2015 05:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jjknap   Click Here to Email jjknap     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Looked a little more closely at this book. Wow is all I can say!

There are pictures I have never viewed. A Command/Service module coming out of testing without the engine bell, the Saturn I and IB block rooms and service/pad structure, computers/memory units used, details of the launch control room, several photos of the Apollo 1 craft being readied... You should pick this book up.

413 is in
Member

Posts: 628
From: Alexandria, VA USA
Registered: May 2006

posted 07-23-2015 12:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 413 is in   Click Here to Email 413 is in     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Congrats Jonathan. Fantastic job. I received my copies on Monday and have consumed each of them in large bites. I read one book on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. I couldn’t put them down. All I can say is that I wish I had one for each day of the week. I’ve read about every space history book out there and was pleasantly surprised at the level of new and interesting information that is contained in these two volumes. You must feel like you just gave birth to twins!

I’m truly amazed at just how little I knew about launch operations, processing and the facilities at KSC during the Apollo era. These books strike the perfect balance between presenting both the technical aspects of launch preparations and the personal side of what it must have been like to be a part of the Apollo workforce during this incredible time in the history of manned space flight. The overall flow of these two books really makes the reader feel like they have gone back in time and were given their own personal VIP tour of the Kennedy Space Center. I highly recommend both of these books.

astroborg
Member

Posts: 200
From: Woodbridge, VA, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-23-2015 02:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for astroborg   Click Here to Email astroborg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Which book would you recommend reading first? Would it be in the order of publication? I'm thinking that is the case.

ilbasso
Member

Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 07-29-2015 09:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ilbasso   Click Here to Email ilbasso     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hi there! Jonathan here. I would recommend "Rocket Ranch" as the starter - it's the 'where and what' of the Apollo/Saturn facilities at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center. It covers Launch Complexes 34/37 and the Apollo 1 fire, the computer systems for spacecraft and launch vehicle testing, the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (where they assembled the LM and CSM), the VAB, launch pads, and what life was like working at the launch pad.

"Countdown to a Moon Launch" is the "how and why" those facilities and equipment were used to process an Apollo mission. It follows the work flow of Apollo 11 from the time the modules and stages arrived at KSC in January 1969, through assembly and testing, stacking, testing at the pad, launch countdown, and post-launch safing. It also covers some 'near misses' in other missions. You'll also hear about some incidents that never made the news during the Apollo years - suspected sabotage on Apollo 11, an in-depth look at the Apollo 13 tests that later caused the oxygen tank explosion, a cold-solder joint that nearly grounded Apollo 11, even last-minute changes to Apollo 11's LM while at the launch pad.

I tried to make both books "conversational" by using extensive quotes from the 70+ people I interviewed.

astroborg
Member

Posts: 200
From: Woodbridge, VA, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-30-2015 10:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for astroborg   Click Here to Email astroborg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for the response. I already have NASA SP-4204 and 4206, and from what you've provided in this thread, your two books definitely sound like worthwhile additions to my library!

J.L
Member

Posts: 674
From: Bloomington, Illinois, USA
Registered: May 2005

posted 08-10-2015 01:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for J.L   Click Here to Email J.L     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jonathan has done a superb job with these two books. Getting Apollo processed and checked out for launch was complicated and exciting business. JW has managed to put it all together in amazing fashion.

hlbjr
Member

Posts: 475
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 08-16-2015 08:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for hlbjr   Click Here to Email hlbjr     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just received my copy of Rocket Ranch a week ago and it's better than I had hoped. It is one of the most important volumes in my collection of spaceflight reference sources. Thanks to Jonathan for following through in such a splendid fashion.

lspooz
Member

Posts: 384
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Aug 2012

posted 08-16-2015 03:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for lspooz   Click Here to Email lspooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I was privileged to have read the 'advance reading copy' in pdf form early this and really enjoyed it. Yesterday I received two inscribed copies of the real book [one for me, one for my son's teacher], and it's even better with pictures!

Wow, great stuff and heartily recommended.

ilbasso
Member

Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006

posted 09-22-2015 12:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ilbasso   Click Here to Email ilbasso     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Nice writeup in The Space Review this week!

------------------
Jonathan Ward
http://apollolaunchcontrol.com

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 11-04-2015 12:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jonathan will signing copies of both "Rocket Ranch" and "Countdown to a Moon Launch" on Friday (Nov. 6) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida.
Jonathan Ward interviewed more than 75 space workers and astronauts for his unique perspective that marries a systems view of the topic, fascination with the technology, passion for space exploration, and deep respect for the people who make it all happen. Inside stories from those where were on the inside.

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