Some photos of the Apollo 11 Spacecraft you might not have seen.(Orig. posted 2009) *VERY Pic heavy*

[A HERETIC I AM]

I posted the following 5 years ago in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. I thought the 45th anniversary might be a good time to repost. The original thread can be seen here.

What follows is that same OP with no changes;


In light of all the Apollo 11 threads and the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing coming up, I thought some on DU might enjoy this.

I've always been fascinated by our spaceflight programs and came across these images today. They offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the assembly process of "the stack". Bear in mind while you look at these photos that all of this was built before the age of complex computers and CAD/CAM by engineers whose most capable calculating device was the slide rule. (Link added for those younger DU'rs who have never seen one)


Apollo 11 S-IC first stage in the Vehicle Assembly Building transfer aisle.


A crane lifts the Saturn first stage.


Workers prepare the S-IVB for mating of the Instrument Unit (pictured left), which houses guidance, control and other Saturn V systems. The ring is the same diameter as the stage the workers are standing on, but it is closer to the camera, thus distorting the perspective.


The S-II second stage is moved into position for mating with the S-IC first stage


This photo shows the S-IVB third stage being hoisted into position for mating with the second stage.


The S-IVB third stage is moved into position for mating


Apollo 11 CSM (Command Service Module) being moved from its work stand for mating


The Apollo 11 Command/Service Module (CSM-107) being readied for transfer to the Vehicle Assembly Building.


This photo shows the Apollo 11 Command-and-Service Module being mated to the spacecraft adapter.


Apollo 11 Saturn V rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building. 20 May 1969.


Aerial view of the Apollo 11 Saturn V rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building. 20 May 1969


This photo is a ground-level view of the Apollo 11 Saturn V during transport. The vehicle is 363 feet (111 meters) tall.


Apollo 11 Saturn V on the Crawler as it begins to go up the ramp to Pad 39-A. This photo clearly shows the hydraulic jacking capabilities of the Crawler, keeping the vehicle perfectly straight up as it climbs the grade. Note the diesel smoke as the crawler moves it's multi-million pound load up the hill.


This photo is an aerial view of the Apollo 11 Saturn V moving to the firing position on the pad at the Kennedy Space Center.

Many MANY more photos of this series and the Apollo 11 mission as well as technical data, video, audio and transcripts can be found here

Similar image libraries and data for all the Apollo missions can be found here

[CherokeeDem]

1. Thanks for posting.....

I, too, am fascinated with the space program and so sorry to see how little we have done in the last forty-five years. These pics bring back memories of the joy, excitement, and the promise of the future that the space program brought so many years ago.

Saw this on IFLS page on FB today.... says it all for me....

[lastlib]

10. Sad that it's not Current Events!

I condemn Nixon for a lot of things, and cutting back space exploration is near the top of the list.

[burrowowl]

2. K&R!!!!!

[Mnemosyne]

3. K&R! nt

[Codeine]

4. Thank you for posting this!!

Inspirational and depressing all at once.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. You're welcome! n/t

[Fritz67]

5. The Saturn 5

Such an awesome machine. I've dabbled in scale models for much of my life; the Saturn 5 is one of my favorite subjects, having built at least half a dozen of them in my lifetime (some of which I still have)

The Saturn 5 that launched Apollo 11 was the sixth one constructed, SA-506; a total of 15 were constructed, but only 13 flew--the remaining two are spread out between the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers, and one stage at the Boeing factory in New Orleans. The Saturn 5 in Huntsville is the dynamic testing article, and was never intended to fly.

I was only two years old when the last Saturn 5 flew (SA-513, which launched Skylab in 1973) but saw the Huntsville Saturn 5 when I attended Space Camp in 1983. It's still mind boggling that they got something so big to fly--and that of that giant 110m stack, all that comes back is the little cone near the top.

Just goes to show you how much government can accomplish when it's not in the hands of people who don't think it should do anything other than bomb brown people.

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. Amazing machines, no doubt. n/t

[Fritz67]

45. Agreed

Maybe I was a little flippant there. I'm well aware of what else was going on--that's a big part of why there were only fifteen Saturn 5's constructed and the lunar program ended with Apollo 17. Congress was wasting so much money on Vietnam that peaceful space exploration was no longer a priority once Apollo 11 succeeded and we showed them dam Commies thet Merka wuz th'bestest.

But in 1961, when JFK put us on that road, the "government is the problem" and "drown it in the bathtub" crowd was just a fringe group of rich pricks well outside the mainstream.

I hope SLS succeeds. I'm just worried because NASA is a perennial political football and a fairly safe bipartisan target of budget cutting.

[Dustlawyer]

39. We used to live 20 minutes from NASA in Houston and I took my kids to Space Center Houston

When it first opened up. They have a Saturn V rocket outside laying on its side. I took a picture of my oldest daughter standing in the foreground and it was soooo BIG you cannot imagine it, you have to see it! Awe inspiring!

[CTyankee]

6. I recently read a book about the wives of the astronauts all through American history...

it was extremely interesting....from the earliest Jupiter to the Apollo missions...just fascinating...the wives biographies changed as women took their place in American society with the emergence of the women's rights movement...

You can probably get it at your local library...I don't remember the exact name but they could look it up for you...it is pretty recent...an excellent read for progressive women...

[Crewleader]

7. Moon over Brevard

The Apollo program's achievements remain central to Brevard County's identity, celebrated in the names of local streets and schools, diners and housing developments. We are the Space Coast, after all.

http://www.floridatoday.com/longform/tech/science/space/2014/07/19/moon-over-brevard/12869417/

Thank You A Heretic I Am

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. Yes, indeed.

Spaceflight has been a part of that section of Florida for a very long time.

You're welcome!

[steve2470]

8. great pics thanks for these ! nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. You're welcome. n/t

[riqster]

9. Amazing post.

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. Thanks! n/t

[Uncle Joe]

11. That's a nice compilation of pics.

Thanks for the thread, A HERETIC I AM.

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it! n/t

[scrubthedata]

13. Beautiful pics

And somewhat surreal.

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. Check out the photo archives at the links I gave at the bottom.

Lots and lots and lots and lots more!

[Texasgal]

20. very COOL!

Thanks for the thread!

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. You are very welcome! n/t

[JohnnyRingo]

22. Loved it!

Thanx for posting. I'd never seen those pix.

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. Be sure to click the links I gave at the bottom....

and look through the rest of the archived photos. Lots and lots more to be found there!

[PatrynXX]

23. I'd just watched Apollo 13 on BD the other day

that crawler can't move much slower. a pushing a lawn mower is faster

[A HERETIC I AM]

26. I read or heard that the Crawler can do a whopping 4.5 MPH when empty!

It was either four or five, so I split the difference!

[drm604]

24. Thank you for posting this.

I was old enough that I remember Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. It makes me sad and angry that we didn't continue down that path. Hopefully that will soon be changing.

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. You're welcome.

Me too.

[liberal N proud]

28. It would have been cool to watch or been part of the assembly process.

[yuiyoshida]

29. What amazing photos, thanks you.. Gives me a chill.

Than again, some day I would love to see this...

[A HERETIC I AM]

35. Neat pic!

Maybe someday.

[MADem]

50. I would too--but at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard!

Heck, might as well be a regional enthusiast!!!!

[pangaia]

30. Fantastic photos. Thanks so much for posting.

A little rocket engineering story---

My ex-wife's new husband worked for 25 years for Rocketdyne.
He was laid off on April 1. !! Unbelievable . He was one of the leading engineer/developers for a lot of their more recent rocket engines. I remember him telling me there was one problem that nobody could solve. He worked on it for five years, and figured out the solution.

He has the OCD necessary for that kind of stick-to-it-tive-ness.
The last time I visited them (we're all good friends) we went shopping for a new bed. It took him 6 hours in one store to decide which was THE one and only best bed. THAT is the guy I would want designing the rocket shoving me into space.. If someone invited me to go, that is.

Fairly recently Space-X tried to lure him away from Rocketdyne, for pretty big bucks. He wanted nothing to do with them. He said, those young '30 day wonder' engineers didn't know what true engineering was.
His feeling about the work NASA did was nothing less than absolute admiration..not just for the results but for the team spirit and sheer joy of the challenge and the adventure.

So now he is out of a job for almost 4 months.. bummer. The guy is a genius.

[pangaia]

37. I know. Pretty impressive. He should have.

I think he has a thing..I know he can not stand Elon Musk.And he said something about the hours he would have been forced to work, etc. Hard to pin down. He is very opinionated about a lot of things. A lot of pride.
I'm a musician and don't really know anything about that stuff.
All I know is he sure worked on freakin' huge engines !

I think he had a good chance to work at the JPL, but my ex- his new wife is Chinese, so he cold not get passed the security clearance. Hell, if that had worked out they would not necessarily have had to move from Woodland Hills, where they lived.. Maybe a bit far..

Ah well.. They are staying in San Ramon and he has contacted Lawrence Livermore... nothing yet.. anywhere in the US or Canada..

[pangaia]

43. Thanks for the long reply..

I agree that Musk is really doing something special.
And I certainly have no first hand info on the inner workings of Space-X. My friend said there just were some working conditions he would simply not knuckle under to...

And yea, I think he is a throwback to the culture of the people who worked on the Saturn rockets.
I tell you, I get an ..electric shock going up my spine when I think about that stuff.. I remember seeing the capsule that John Glenn road in at the Smithsonian. HOLY freaking goose poop.. It was so damn small. No WAY would you have gotten me in that thing for 10 minutes, much less above a 200-300 foot rocket and shoot me up where there was no oxygen, and who knows how the heck to get back down. Yikes!!!


Then there is Burt Rutan. Those designs of his are just absolutely gorgeous !!

And I watched, quite by chance, the live video of Felix Baumgartner ride up beneath the huge balloon, go through the last checklist, "unplug this, unplug that, plug this in, check this, slide your seat forward, eeeiiii.. and---open the fuckin' door--NO WAY MAN,NO WAY, stand up but don't look down" and.... don't ....vomit... and then actually....... JUMP!!



I almost threw up! But it was BEAUTIFUL !!!

Playin' calypso is much easier.

[MADem]

49. That had to be a tough ride....

Bet there were no freeze dried beans in the food stores!

[MADem]

53. Heh heh....And that "Sniff, sniff...it wasn't ME!" excuse doesn't work, either!!!!

I wonder if Beano was the unsung TANG of the space program!

[MADem]

69. It certainly makes sense, the food business! I remember back in the early days of

the space race the popular idea was that no one would eat anymore, we'd just take a few pills and get everything we needed from that. Being someone who enjoys a nice meal, that NEVER appealed to me.

I did not see the HBO effort--I can't remember what I was up to, I think that was a 14 hour day work period for me-- but watching that wasn't happening. I'll have to try to find it some time--my library has a lot of that stuff, or maybe they've got it on Amazon or something! The warning about that scene is appreciated--I won't be watching that over dinner!!!

I'm a space nerd too, in that I think we need to spend MORE on space exploration. I know I'll be long gone before anyone is in a position where earth is tired or overpopulated or in the path of something dire and they have to move, but I feel a sense of collective responsibility. We really should start doing the work for the future generations--it's simply the right thing to do. Plus, the FUN of advancing in space is worth the expense.

[A HERETIC I AM]

74. A couple things on the above conversation, if I may interject....

1st, If you're an HBO subscriber, you can get "HBOGo" and find almost every single episode of all the series they've done. I watched "The Pacific" as well as all of "Deadwood" and a few others. I saw "From the Earth to the Moon" as they were broadcast - you're right, excellent series and worth the watch. That bit about "It must smell really bad up there" was funny but I'm sure accurate as hell. No way to vent a damned thing! (Well...odors, anyway) I'm betting each and every one of those guys that spent more than a couple days in space aboard those capsules came back rather....how shall I say?.....Ripe? lol

There are a couple really cool videos about Baumgartners jump, including one I saw that has counters on the screen showing G's, Elapsed Time, Speed, Altitude, etc. I found it especially touching how much Colonel Joseph Kittinger assisted and offered support.

I'm very pleased this thread has had the reception it did and I am also pleased it has once again, 5 years on, sparked conversations such as this one.

All the best! And to quote the late Jack Horkheimer; "Keep looking up!"

[A HERETIC I AM]

63. You're welcome!

And I agree with Warrens sentiment, too.

Thanks for the story!

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Kick and Rec.

[Sunlei]

33. wow, cool pictures. and look how people could park right next to the Apollo 11, no security fences

from a first grade book, unknown author.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Zoom, zoom, zoom,
I'm going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom,
I'll get there very soon.

If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, zoom, zoom,
I'm going to the moon!

[A HERETIC I AM]

34. The security fences are 3 miles away at the front gate! n/t

[blackspade]

38. Amazing.

Thanks for the post and links.

[A HERETIC I AM]

56. You are very welcome! n/t

[blackspade]

64. I have a really old book on the Apollo missions

That has some very similar images. But, many are in black and white (and small).
These are great.

Looking at them makes me sad though. If only we, as a nation, had dedicated ourselves to the exploration of space rather than to dominating the earth.... Well we, and the world, would be a different and probably better place for it.
Thanks again!

[A HERETIC I AM]

66. I honestly thought when I graduated HS, 8 years after Apollo 11....

that I would be living in one of these by now;



We have had the technology to build massive colonies in space for decades. What we lack is political will.

The payoff is the generation of solar power that could be microwaved back to the surface. But it will be several lifetimes I fear, before we finally do what we should have begun in the late 70's.

[blackspade]

67. Me too.

As a child I was convinced that I would one day fly into space, but that dream is done.
Sadly.

[Bombero1956]

40. My wife and I took the tour last August

We went to see the VAB and all the other places of interest at Cape Canaveral. I found it funny that alot of the equipment from the Apollo program is still being used today. The Orion program is now using the VAB along with the SLS (Space Launch System) which will send crews of 4 to 6 astronauts back to the moon and Mars.

[A HERETIC I AM]

57. As many years as I have lived in FL.....

and as many times as I have been by the area, I have yet to take the time to visit the Center.

I really must do it soon.

Thanks for the pics!

[NealK]

42. Wow, thanks for posting those pics.

[A HERETIC I AM]

58. No prob! Glad you liked it! n/t

[microbus]

47. Thanks for posting

I grew up watching shuttle launches. Great stuff. A couple years ago I got into high powered rocketry...

[link:

|

[A HERETIC I AM]

59. We had those "Estes" rockets in our house too!

My brothers and I tried them a few times, but never caught the bug, so to speak.

Some of them are incredibly elaborate.

[regnaD kciN]

77. I had a few Estes models, too...

...but those were only a foot or so tall -- nothing like the size or power of those in that video.

I wonder if the Tripoli guys have drawn any attention from the NSA?

[MADem]

48. Best thread of the week.

We need to get our asses in gear and figure out how we can get to the ISS again--we can't count on Vladdie's help anymore.

Time to get Space Serious!!!!! Again!!!!!!!!

[A HERETIC I AM]

60. Awwwww!

Thanks for saying so!

And I couldn't agree more with your point.

[MADem]

68. I am a fan of the Final Frontier!!!!

I wish we'd do more in this area, and I love to see pics of the "glory days." Wish we--as a world-- could get back to this priority instead of running around fighting with each other.

The pics are stunning--they really bring home the scale, the effort, the sheer amazement of it all!

[A HERETIC I AM]

71. Have you read "Colonies in Space" by T.A. Heppenheimer?

www.nss.org:8080/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/index.html

Forward by Ray Bradbury.

Really good book.

If you can find it, the July 1976 issue of National Geographic had the subject as it's cover story. That set my interest on fire!

[MADem]

73. No, but I'll put it on my list! nt

[Agschmid]

51. Awesome, thanks for posting!

[A HERETIC I AM]

61. You are most welcome! n/t

[Duppers]

55. thank you for reminding us

Of NASA's accomplishments.

[A HERETIC I AM]

62. Considering what those people went through getting to that point...

when only a few years before, many of the precursors either blew up on the pad or corkscrewed off into the weeds!

It was an amazing accomplishment, no doubt.

[LeftishBrit]

65. k&r

[KurtNYC]

72. Great stuff! Here is "For All Mankind" the documentary

Still amazing. When I watch this I am constantly reminded that none of the shots of space, earth or the separation of rocket stages involves any special effects and also that the people who engineered and guided this flight used only crappy computers and a whole lot of tobacco products:

[Separation]

75. Awesome pics, but......

Where is the movie and sound stage for the fake moon landings?

I remember a few years ago a guy walked up to Buzz Aldrin and started yelling at him that it was all fake and Buzz knocked the guy flat on his ass.

While stationed in Florida I learned my lesson trying to go to a shuttle launch. Each time Id pack the family, full day of supplies, chairs, etc. and each time the mission would get scrubbed. However me and the wife did see a night launch by chance. We were out in the Gulf on one of those gambling casino boats and I just happened to remember that there was a launch scheduled that night. We went topside and saw the whole thing, even saw when the boosters separated. Was an awesome sight, after 20 years in aviation, Id love to go up into space.