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.

STS-135, the night before

We watched the launch of Atlantis on the final shuttle flight of STS-135 on July 8. This was the view of the launch pad with low hanging clouds the night before launch as viewed from Space View Park in Titusville where we watched the launch. The bright xenon lights illuminate the shuttle and launch pad as well as the sky overhead. This exposure was with my 70-300mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 100, 30 seconds.

Bighorn Sheep

A Bighorn Sheep at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson. These wonderful animals used to be very abundant in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of town, but their population has shrunk considerably with the incursion of human activity in and around the mountains.

Hummingbird at Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson has a wonderful hummingbird display where you can get up close to many of them. Here one works at a flower, his wings blurring even a fast camera shutter.

Every snowstorm needs a snowman

Someone made this small snowman outside the Kitt Peak visitors center on Sunday. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

Baboquivari in the snow

Baboquivari Peak is the tallest peak in the Quinlan Mountains and is located south of Kitt Peak. Here it sits with its summit almost touching the clouds overhead on Sunday after a winter storm blanketed the area with about 6 inches of snow. This view is from Kitt Peak, near the 84 inch telescope, taken with my 24mm lens and an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/7, ISO 100.

84 inch and snow

I hiked around the mountain mid-afternoon on Sunday. We were having a few snow flurries, but much of the snow that had fallen over night and early in the morning was still around. Here, the Kitt Peak 84 inch telescope sits on top of a snow covered hill. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/7, ISO 100.

Winter Wonderland

We got about 6 inches of snow last night and this morning on Kitt Peak. It's starting to clear and the snow is starting to melt. Here is the Spacewatch 36 inch dome with the sun poking out of the clouds. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

Fog on Kitt Peak

Not too much observing tonight on Kitt Peak, and here is the reason: fog and high humidity. Here, the Spacewatch 36 inch dome pokes out of the fog rolling over the mountain top. The 1.8-m dome is also visible to the left. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400, and cropped a bit.

Moonrise over Tucson II

Here's another view of Wednesday night's moonrise. Turns out my friend Dave was set up only a few hundred feet away taking photos of the moonrise. This image was taken with my 75-300mm lens at 130mm focal length with an exposure of 2 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Moon rise over Tucson

We had a pretty full Moon rise over Tucson today. On the way home, I detoured partway up Sentinal Peak (A Mountain) to get this view over downtown Tucson. This image was taken with my 75-300mm zoom at 75mm focal length with an exposure of 4 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Morning Twilight

As the morning twilight grows in strength, telescopes on the north end of Kitt Peak prepare to shut down. In this image, the Spacewatch 36 inch telescope left of center is visible with the Steward Observatory 90 inch Bok telescope and KPNO 4-m Mayall Telescope near center. Just right of the 4-m is the glint of an Earth orbiting satellite. The Big Dipper is near the top of the frame. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 59 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400.

90 inch in moonlight

Here's another image from last months observing run on the 90 inch Bok Telescope. The Moon shines in the upper left and Cassiopeia is visible through the aperture of the dome just below center. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400.

90 inch and the Moon

I took this image last month when we were using the 90 inch Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak. We were waiting for the moonlit cirrus to clear out, so I set up my camera and used my LED flashlight to indirectly light up the telescope. The telescope itself is green (as you can see in some of my other photos) but the LED flashlight gives it a blue tint. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400.

Iridium Flare

It's a bird, it's a plane. Well, actually it's an Iridium satellite flare and a nice bright one, with the prediction being magnitude -8! This image was taken from the landing outside the 1.8-m with my 10mm fisheye lens set at f/2.8 with an exposure of 60 seconds at ISO 400.

Tucson from Kitt Peak

Looking back towards Tucson from the 90 inch Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak. This image was taken with a 30 second exposure at f/2.8 with my 10mm fisheye lens.

Total Lunar Eclipse - Totality

This image was taken during totality with a 300mm focal length and an exposure of 1 seconds at f/8, ISO 800.

Total Lunar Eclipse #3

As we neared totality, a small sliver of sunlight still lights the western edge of the Moon while the rest of the Moon is lit by light scattered through the Earth's atmosphere. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/2 seconds at f/8, ISO 800.

Lunar Eclipse II

A little later than the previous image, this was taken with a longer exposure to show the color in the umbral shadow during the lunar eclipse. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/20 seconds at f/8, ISO 800.

Total Lunar Eclipse #1

Earlier tonight, we watched a total Lunar Eclipse unfold. Here is an image taken just before the umbra had moved halfway across the Moon. This image was taken with my 75-300mm Canon telephoto at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 800.

Geminid?

A probable Geminid meteor streaks through the sky over Kitt Peak last Sunday night (December 12/13). The meteor appears at left over the McMath Solar Telescope. Orion is prominant right of center with the constellation Gemini near center top. The fisheye distortion in this 2 minute exposure with my 10mm fisheye at f/2.8 (ISO 800) may account for the meteor pointing closer to Leo than Gemini.

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.