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Apollo 11 Launch Tower Rescue Effort

Posted by Hemos on from the a-piece-of-the-past dept.

SaveTheLUT writes "Florida Today has this story about the disposal of the last remaining Apollo Launch Tower - the one which launched Apollo 11 to the Moon in July 1969. The campaign to save the tower has also appeared on InsideKSC, CollectSpace, Space.com and there is to be a TV article about it on Central Florida News 13 channel on Monday morning. The Space Restoration Society has created an on-line Petition which has already managed to gather more than 2000 signatures to save this piece of America's history since NASA announced the disposal of the tower early last week."

10 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. Apollo 11 by Can+it+run+Linux · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Did you know that there was more computing power in the original Palm Pilot than was used in Apollo 11 to get the astronauts to the moon? I think that's pretty cool. I mean, they were able to NAVIGATE OUTER SPACE with less technology than we use to KEEP A DATEBOOK.

    So I'm thinkin', can it run Linux?

    1. Re:Apollo 11 by Buran · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The miniaturization of modern computers was originally done so that the Lunar Module could be fitted with a computer to allow it to reach the lunar surface. This computer had to process data from the landing radar as well as allow the astronauts to control the spacecraft.

      Apollo 11 very nearly did not succeed in landing when the rendezvous radar (meant to be used only during rendezvous with the orbiting CSM) was accidentally left on, triggering a computer overload; these are the famous 1201 and 1202 alarm codes that you can hear called out in audio recordings of the final descent.

      --
      i am a soviet space shuttle
  2. Sell it. by heironymouscoward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Cut it into small pieces, 5" square, auction them on ebay. It will raise money and give millions of people a piece of history. I wish someone'd done this with the Berlin Wall, with Sadam's statue, and with the wreckage of the WTC. Come to think of it, it'd be a cool way of disposing of other problems too. Care to buy a small piece of Daryl?

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  3. The Crazy Thing Is... by N8F8 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was flying into Melbourne Florida airpost last week and honestly Cape Canaveral appears barely developed. Hard to imagine they need the room that bad.

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
  4. Already gone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Looks like the damn thing is already disassembled. Looks like the horse is already out of the barn. Space history is super-cool, but I find the spacecraft and human history to be much more compelling than all the nuts and bolts of the logistics. I guess I'm not a geek as I don't find this mostly-disassembled toxic tower to be very compelling.

  5. Junk it by laing · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been "pad hopping" down at KSC. I've seen most of the rusty run-down and abandonded launch facilities. The only thing worth saving is the Apollo 1 memorial there. It's not available for public viewing, but that may change someday. It's a small display case with photos letters and news clippings off in one corner of the pad. The rest of the pad is as bad as most of the others. There's not much worth saving at any of them. It's just a lot of rusted metal and concrete.

  6. Re:What about the money? by garcia · · Score: 4, Interesting

    funny... U-Lands, Gopher Munitions the University of Minnesota "bought" this land from the government years ago after it was abandoned, unfinished, after WWII. Multiple parties have been interested in buying the land but have been ignored. So why should this particular "piece of history" be preserved w/o being torn down?

    Side note, I visited the unfinished sister version of this structure in Rosemount, MN (see here and here). It's in ruins, covered in graffiti, and is just rotting away.

    Why on our dime (the University of Minnesota is a state funded operation mind you...)?

  7. Save the Rockets, not the Platforms by FatHogByTheAss · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Go see the things. NASA has a fully restored Saturn V rocket on display at Kennedy Space Center, set to Smithonian standards. It's an awsem thing to behold.

    The launch platforms themselves are boring, not realy historically relevant, and apparently a hazard to the environment. Scrap them, and use the space for something else.

    --

    --
    You sure got a purty mouth...

  8. Re:Money by Billy+the+Mountain · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Artificial Reef:

    Decontaminate it and sink it into the bay. That way, it will do two things: 1. Create fish habitat, encouraging the growth of endangered species of fish and 2. Provide a diver's mecca with historical significance.

    BTM

    --
    That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
  9. Why not build a replica? by starsong · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems from the article that:
    (1) The tower is disassembled,
    (2) The paint is toxic and leeching heavy metals into the groundwater,
    (3) Having been left to rust since 1983, the tower segments are in highly questionable condition and may collapse if put back together, and
    (4) They may have already disposed of or lost several sections.

    If you want to spend over $40 mil, why not build a brand-new replica, from the original designs? It would preserve the scale of the original and also avoid the dangers and expenses incurred by trying to salvage the old pieces. Provided it was built with historical accuracy in mind, does it really matter if the physical pieces are the same? Bear in mind that it doesn't need to be as expensive as the original, because it doesn't actually need to fuel and support a spacecraft; it only needs to look like it does. And you could easily modify the design to accomodate tourists at $25 a head.