Atlantis 6 hours after landing

How often do you get to see a space shuttle up close just 6 hours after landing?  Well, after this view - never.  Photography from the KSC tour bus was difficult due to reflections from the bus windows.  They would not stop to let us out for a better view, but this wasn't bad.  This image was taken at 160mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Atlantis rolling back to the OPF

Atlantis is being rolled back from the runway to the Orbital Processing facility for is post-flight processing. This image was taken about five and a half hours after touchdown as it approached the area around the OPF and VAB, fresh from its 13 day mission to the ISS.  This image was cropped from a 300mm shot taken at 1/500 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400 while riding the tour bus heading out to the LC-39 gantry viewing site.

Sunrise after Atlantis final landing

The Sun rises about an hour after Atlantis landed at KSC after its final flight of STS-135, July 21, 2011.  The runway is approximately at center in this image taken from the Causeway bridge at the north end of Titusville.  The VAB is at right.  Also visible if you know where to look are both LC-39A and LC-39B; the Saturn V center, the Ares I launch tower (just left of the VAB) and several other Kennedy Space Center facilities. This image was taken with a 24mm lens with a setting of f/8 at 1/1000 seconds, ISO 400.

Hey, where did the Delta IV go?

LC-37B stands empty after the GPS IIF-2 was successfully in orbit after a spectacular launch on its Delta IV rocket.

Delta IV launch plume

About 5 or 6 minutes after launch, the moonlit plume from the Delta IV GPS IIF-2 vehicle hangs over LC-37B at the Cape Canaveral AFS.

Bright lights and Delta IVs

About an hour before launch, the skies are clearing over LC-37B at the Cape Canaveral SFS. The Delta IV rocket with the GPS IIF-2 payload on board is lit up by xenon lights around the pad, much as the Atlantis was just a week earlier as it prepared for launch.

Delta IV GPS IIF-2 late in the countdown

The Delta IV with GPS IIF-2 satellite sits poised and ready for launch at Cape Canaveral AFS LC-37B. It's just about half an hour to launch.

Delta IV GPS IIF-2 launch

Still in Florida and after two launch delays, the Delta IV GPS IIF-2 launch from pad 37B finally got off the pad. Launch was on time at 2:41 AM EDT on the morning of Saturday, July 16. This time exposure was taken with my 24mm lens at ISO 100, f/22 with a length of 100 seconds. It flew out of my field (should have used my 10mm fisheye, but then overhead power lines would have added some "character" to the image).

VAB the night before STS-135 launch

The VAB stands silently by while Atlantis hogs all the attention the night before the launch of STS-135 and the final shuttle flight. This immense building is where two generations of NASA spacecraft, the Apollo-Saturn rockets and Space Shuttles have been assembled before being transported out to Launch Complex 39 and sent off on their missions. It stands empty now with no manned launches from Kennedy Space Center in the near future. The tall tower at left is a relic of the recently canceled Constellation program and was built to launch the Ares I rockets with Orion capsules on them at a cost of about $390 million. This image was taken with my 75-300mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 100 and 30 seconds.

Go Atlants Go!

Atlantis climbs into the Florida sky as it makes the 135th and final launch of the Space Shuttle program on July 8, 2011. The boat in the foreground dragged its anchor and ended up right in line with our view from Space View Park in Titusville as the main engines and then SRBs lit to begin its flight. This image was taken with my 75-300mm lens at 300mm focal length, 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

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.