A storm in the desert

A rainshower falls in the desert north of Kitt Peak. The Spacewatch 36 inch telescope is in the dome on the right. This image was taken with the kit lens at 25mm focal length with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

Rainbow & domes

A stormy afternoon last week offered a pretty rainbow to go with all the stormy grey clouds. This image was taken with the kit lens at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

Ares I Mobile Launch Tower

The new Mobile Launch Tower for the Ares I rocket was recently completed and stands next to the VAB. Like The Apollo/Saturn V stack, the Ares rockets will be assembled on a mobile launch tower and carried out to the launch pads on the giant crawlers. The permanent towers on the launch pads that have stood on pads 39A and 39B will be torn down. This image was taken with the kit lens at 38m focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/5, ISO 400.

LC 39 crawlerway

This gravel filled crawlerway is used by the giant crawler/transporter to carry Space Shuttles (and in the days of Apollo, the mighty Saturn V rockets) from the VAB out to the launch pads about 3 miles away. This image was taken with the kit lens at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/80 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Apollo 14 CM

The Apollo 14 CM is on display at the KSC Saturn V center. The last time I visited, this CM was over at the nearby Astronaut Hall of Fame. It shows the affects of entering the atmosphere at 25,000 mph on its return from the Moon. When it flew it had a silver mylar insulation over the forward heatshield. At left is the open hatch which shows the round window. Below the hatch are two hand rails that might have been used if the crew had to return to the CM by EVA if they failed to dock the LM. Between the hand rails are two pitch RCS motors. Near the bottom center are two roll RCS motors and at the right edge of the CM are 2 yaw RCS motors. At the apex of the CM are packed parachutes & other recovery components. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 1/15 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400.

Looking into the LM descent stage engine nozzle

Here's one view you can have during lunch. The LM descent engine nozzle is at center with the heat shield around it and the legs in the four corners. The contraption left of the engine at the edge of the stage is the landing radar. The front of the LM with the ladder on the front landing gear is at lower right.

Lunar Rover Trainer

Speaking of Lunar Rovers, this is the 1-G Rover trainer used by astronauts at KSC before launch.

The LM at the Moon Rock Cafe

If you have lunch at the Moon Rock Cafe in the Saturn V center, you can sit at tables right underneath a real live Lunar Module. This is LM-9 which was originally scheduled to fly the Apollo 15 mission before that mission was canceled. LM-9 was an "H" series LM similar to what flew on Apollos 11, 12, 13 and 14. Apollo 15 flew LM-10, the first of the "J" series LMs designed for longer stays on the Moon and to carry more weight to the lunar surface (including the Lunar Rovers). LM-9 became an unflown spare and one of only three flight ready LMs that rest in museums (LM-2 at the NASM in Washington D.C and LM-13 is at the Cradle of Aviation on Long Island). Several other simulators, replicas and test articles can be found in other museums. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 1/40 seconds at f/5, ISO 400.

S-IVB J-2 engine

The S-IVB used a single J-2 engine to finish propelling the Apollo spacecraft into low Earth orbit where the crew and ground controllers gave the spacecraft a thorough checkout before initiating the Trans-Lunar Injection burn by restarting the J-2 engine. This image was taken with the kit lens at 34mm focal length with and exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/4.5, ISO 1600.

The Saturn V S-IVB at KSC

Here is the third stage of the Saturn V rocket on display at KSC, the S-IVB. This one is actually S-IVB-514 which would have launched Apollo 19 on its canceled mission to the Moon. Nicely visible is the lone J-2 engine that would have made two burns, first putting the Apollo spacecraft into Earth orbit after separating from the S-II stage and then a second time to put the Apollo spacecraft on a path to the Moon during a burn called Trans-Lunar Injection or TLI. Starting with Apollo 13, these rocket stages were targeted to impact the Moon to provide a large explosion to create vibrations for the previously installed seismometers left by earlier Apollo landings. This image was taken with my fisheye lens with an exposure of 1/25 seconds at f/5, ISO 400.

The 5 S-II J-2 power plants

A closer view of the 5 J-2 engines that powered the S-II second stage of the Saturn V rocket.

Saturn V S-II

The 2nd stage of the Saturn V was called an S-II and was powered by 5 J-2 engines which can be seen on the left. This S-II stage was S-II-14 which would have powered Apollo 19 on its canceled flight to the Moon. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

USA

Everything about the Saturn V rocket is huge, including this "USA" painted vertically on the side of the S-IC rocket stage. This image was taken with the 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 1/30 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

S-IC - another view

This is probably the closest I came to taking an image of the entire Saturn V rocket - in this fisheye view, the top of the rocket disappears off in the distance to the right. The huge F-1 engines are at the left of center. This image was taken at 1/50 seconds at f/8, ISO 400 with my 10mm fisheye lens.

The Saturn V S-IC first stage

Even with a fisheye lens you almost can't get far enough back inside the Saturn V center at KSC to get a picture of the entire S-IC rocket stage. This stage is dressed up like S-IC-6, the first stage that launched Apollo 11 on its historic journey to the Moon but it is really S-IC-T, a test stage. The real S-IC-6 impacted the Atlantic ocean after completing its mission and rests on the seafloor several hundred miles off the Florida coast. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens at 1/50 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Imagine 7.5 million pounds of thrust

The Saturn V rocket at the Saturn V center at KSC demonstrates just how large the rocket was. This is the business end of the S-IC first stage and I stood under the 5 F-1 engines with my fisheye lens to capture this shot. At launch, these engines actually had some insulation around them which is something I didn't learn until reading a recent book on the F-1 engines. Of the 5 F-1 engines on this stage, 2 were test fired on this stage, another is a production F-1 and the final 2 are mockups. This image was taken at f/8 with 1/30 seconds exposure, ISO 400 with my 10mm fisheye.

LC 39 Apollo era Launch Control Center

This is a recreation of the Apollo era Launch Control Center of LC39 which was located adjacent to (and part of) the VAB. This exhibit is at one entrance to the Saturn V center and the experience of launch as viewed from the LCC is reproduced here. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens at f/2.8, 1/10 seconds at ISO 400.

SLF control tower

The Shuttle Landing Facility is the runway that the Space Shuttle lands on at Kennedy Space Center when it returns from orbit. This is the control tower adjacent to the runway. To the left of the building are the viewing stands used by family of the crew and VIPs during shuttle landings. This image was taken at 42mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Launch pad 39B

Launch complex 39 includes the VAB and pads 39A and 39B. Built for the Apollo program in the 1960s, both were converted for Space Shuttle operations in the 1970s an early 1980s. The first Space Shuttle launch from pad 39B was the ill fated Challenger flight on January 28, 1986. Recently this pad has started undergoing changes including the addition of 3 lightning towers that now surround it. The changes were aimed at making it the launch pad for the Ares I and Orion spacecraft whose future is very uncertain at the moment. In the near future, the launch tower and rotating service structure on the pad will be demolished. The next time we visit KSC, probably for the launch of Endeavour early next year, this launch pad will look very different. This image was taken with the kit lens at 55mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

The VAB up close

During the KSC tour, we stopped next to the VAB - actually at the site where the Saturn V rocket used to be displayed before it was moved to the Saturn V center not too far down the road. This image is slightly cropped from the original that was shot with the kit lens at 28mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.