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Moon Rocket Scrubbed and Blown Dry
loid_void writes "Reutersis is reporting that a giant Apollo moon rocket that never got off the ground is about to get a face-lift after years of rusting away in the Texas heat and humidity at the Johnson Space Center.
Workers will construct a shelter for the Saturn V rocket and give it the equivalent of a "blow dry" in the first steps to preserve the relic of NASA's golden age, said Allan Needell, Apollo program curator for the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.
The 363-foot-long behemoth has lain on its side in front of JSC since 1977, a favorite sight of tourists, but also a victim of the elements.
Instead of launching astronauts to the moon as it was built to do, it has become a slowly fading hulk of peeling paint and corroded metal where birds live and plants sprout, Needell said on Wednesday during a visit to the rocket.
"There's a lot of biology growing on there," he said, pointing out streaks of algae staining the rocket's white skin."
hello ma' bitchezzz
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JOHNSON space center.
RED ROCKET
Yeah, really cute. When I post stuff like that I get modded troll.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
How cool would it be to sink a Saturn V rocket as an artificial reef!
Who talks like that anymore? I mean really. Nobody says, nice engine, there's a lot of friction going on in there".
Hmmm.
(No offense to NASA employees, as they have the technology to rain down nuclear fire on my house from orbit..)
In the first of a series of reflective and analytical meta-trolls (trolls on the subject of trolling) we examine parallels between the Slashdot Troll and the Urban Grafitii Artist. You have been owned by another DomKore Early Post special.
Just as the majority of Slashdot readers may be able to see no merit whatsoever it obvious troll postings, many of the urban middle class regard grafitii as pointless acts of vandalism. This viewpoint, clearly not reconciled with that of the 'artists' themselves arrises from nothing more sinister than a conflict of priorities. Police have their time wasted in the constant battle against grafitii vandalism -- their cynical view of the art and critical view of the artists arises mainly from the fact that it is their job to oppose them; similarly the middle class commuter who sees the apparent disregard for the city which their taxes have gone to pay for. Things look entirely different from the artists point of view who is in general more concerned with their own desire for self expression than they are with pissing off parents and police.
So perhaps there should be some compassion in recognising the different motives of the artist, and the same compassion could be shown to Trolls here on Slashdot. Please Consider the following for all you (readers and editors) who oppose trolling.
Thankyou, and Have a Nice Day [tm].
Xenophon, Renegade Master of DomKore
Step 1: Steel Saturn V
Step 2: Steel phantom WMD from Iraq
Step 3: Put up a tent in some desert hell hole
Step 4: ???
Step 5: PROFIT!!
You mean we used to go to the Moon?
For all the people who fuss and complain about the money spent on actual space programs, this is a great example of the kind of wastefulness that goes on. And, now, rather than reuse or slag it, even more money will be spent to clean it up and display it. I'd rather see it broken apart, melted and recycled in more useful form than have a never-used moon rocket sitting in a museum.
I was taking one day at a time, but then several days got together and ambushed me. (from a Rhymes with Orange comic)
I have to object to referring to the 1960's/70's as NASA's golden age. Surely, that should be regarded as NASA's infancy, and that NASA's golden age may be yet to come? Maybe it's too optimistic, but I'm a 25 year old astrophysics grad student, and I know how much is out there waiting to be explored and examined -- I don't want to have to live my life in the belief that my industry's best days were before I was born!
It's taken them several years and untold billions of dollars, but finally NASA has a project they can handle. *drum roll* they can re-paint a 30yr old rocket. I'm glad my tax dollars and american pride is so well invested.
And how much do you think that rocket cost? It's a real shame to see what is likely millions of dollars having gone to waste like this.
There is a difference between "insightful" and "inciteful" other than spelling.
blow job?
No? Well I did, and my first thought was "that must be one helluva mouth.."
I wonder if they'll have any involvement. After all they single-handedly restored the Liberty Bell 7 (their link here. And also helped with the restoration of the Apollo 13 as well. When you tought of Kansas, you probably didn't think of space now did ya?
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
Although I've lived in the US for a few years now, I've never had the opportunity to go see some of this stuff. Seeing this thing cleaned up and in a permanent display will definitely be worth the price of admission.
And in honor of the Saturn V incredible amount of thrust, we'll only serve partially-cooked Mexican food, broccoli and Velamints!
It would be a bit crap actually.
Ships have doors and are built for people to wander around and are highly accessible when sunk. Sinking an overgrown fuel cylinder to dive around would be about as interesting as watching 'The Sphere'...
Agreed. Mod Parent Up.
We need goals. I want to live my life trying to do something big for humanity. Too many people these days see their job as a necessary evil to getting a paycheck.
"Open the pod by doors, Hal" > "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave" sudo "Open the pod bay doors, Hal" > alright
I live in Houston and I've visited JSC a lot of times through the years. The Saturn V is in bad condition, and has been steadily getting worse. Something surely needs to be done.
And to those who have called it a waste of resources, I have only this to say. All the money in the world won't be of any use if we don't create another generation of engineers and scientists. I've personally seen the look in a kid's eyes when they get up close to something enormous and meaningful. You just can't buy that.
I drive past it several times a week (down Saturn Drive for the locals), and it just makes me sick to see it in the shape it's in. Thank God it's finally going to be taken care of and treated as the treasure it is. The pictures don't do justice to the damage being done to the ship.
By the way, as a teenager, I was horrified to hear that they were going to display it on its side. I thought for sure that it was going to be displayed upright. What a dweeb I was (am?). Yeah, that would be great: make it so you could only see the bottom. And then there's the problems it would cause with low-flying aircraft, (lots of them, including those annoying advertizement-pulling planes). Oh, and we get hurricanes down here in these parts.
A clever person solves a problem, A wise person avoids it. -Einstein
Did anybody else read that as 'Moon Scrubbed and Blown Dry'? :P
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
--Aristotle
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The sad fact is, that not only are the glory days of NASA behind us, but the glory days in general are behind us. I, for one, have an extreamly bleak outlook on the future, and I am sure I am not alone.
Surely it's obvious that, in the interests of science, this rocket should be renovated, refueled, and have a Chevy Impala tacked on the top, where it lies.
Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
Reutersis is reporting that a giant Apollo moon rocket...
For a while I thought that Reuter got a sister I don't know about...
The purpose of life is to find the purpose of life.
I agree that we need projects and items which inspire the current generation to believe that will still have the ability to get out and explore. I also believe that it is the likes of daring private projects such as Scaled Composites who best serve this need.
I know that 'Space Ship One' is by no means an orbital system but what about its succesors?
Lighting bloody-great big fireworks and pointing them in the general direction of orbit is probably not the most efficient means of getting anywhere.
We need to be exploring new ideas and concepts rather that always referring to the 'good old days' of the point and pray rockets.
I agree, that as a homage to the histroy of the early space-age a Saturn V should be preserved in near-perfect viewable condition. However, if the money for preservation could alternatively be channeled back into r&d, then preserving more than one example of a complete Saturn V would be wasteful.
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
I've personally seen the look in a kid's eyes when they get up close to something enormous
Michael Jackson beggs to differ.
A similar effort is under way at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In fact, they've created a special license plate to help raise funds. Otherwise, the Smithsonian has threatened to take the Saturn V back. (Which would certainly be an interesting sight.) You can see the license plate at the bottom of this page.
I thought Saturn's used plastic body panels and therefore couldn't rust? Oh wait... that's the car company.
Slag history. Nice troll.
Most of the public will never see all of JSC's relics. The center is a small museum in itself. Tucked away in various display cases at different locations are relics and images from NASA's history. Rocket Park is the most publicly-accessable and visible example (with the historical Mission Control being a close second). However, there are also everything from space suits to models of early Shuttle designs used in anechoic chamber tests on display in buildings only accessable by NASA employees.
Granted - JSC is no Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. But there are a lot of small, neat things to see if you ever get the chance.
The best way to honor the memory of "NASA's golden age" would be to top it.
NASA does excellent unmanned science, but the moon shot, cool as it was, wasn't good science or space policy.
Good thing private efforts are starting to pick up the slack.
I must add that the most awe-inspiring thing to me is that all the construction, design and launch was done on slide rules.
Don't you mean thank the American tax payer?
When I was at Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Al., they used to test the SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engines) at a test stand a few miles from my building. I was amazed at the power and noise of the SSMEs until an oldtimer told me what it was like when they tested one of the Saturn V engines: He said your coffee cup would literally bounce off of the desk, and forget talking on the phone during a test fire. And that was just the one engine. Imagine what it was like when they all fired at the same time...
A clever person solves a problem, A wise person avoids it. -Einstein
Is that some new type of disease?
"after years of rusting away"
rusty titanium?
Surely its not made of ferrous metal?
or even got much ferrous metal in it...?
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
Cant we find a better way to spend $4M, like cancer research. Anyway, I only support the space program for real and cost-efficient research, meaning we need to stop sending up humans.
Homo Sapiens Americanus--A documentary in p
That'll the longest blow job ever
Slashdot inspired pickup lines are the most effective contraceptive there is.
My girlfriend does it to me nightly.
Step 1: Steel Saturn V
Step 2: Steel phantom WMD from Iraq
Step 3: Put up a tent in some desert hell hole
Step 4: ???
Step 5: PROFIT!!
I think Step 4 is "SteAl Spell Checker"... or perhaps I'm just not reading right. The Saturn V might be steel and the WMD's might be steel as well...
Am I the only one who sees this as a great pick up line? .]
[. .
Random gal: *SLAP*
This is why us geeks can't get chicks. Our definition of a "great" pickup line is the one that generates the hardest slap. :)
"Wow, you're like some kind of superhero able to ward off happiness and success at every turn."
-- Ryan Stiles
And in the movie version, Asia Cararre plays the museum staff with Ron Jeremy as the Apollo Rocket....
It made me sad, actually. Something kept telling me "this ship was supposed to go to the moon, and it's here because it didn't."
Call me sentimental, but she looked like a giant failure of human exploration to me.
+++ATH0
It got its own center about 7 years ago. You have to take the KSC Bus Tour to see it. It's in pristine condition, and each of its segments is labeled and described. It's a shame that the KSC site doesn't have a better picture of their Saturn V, but I have one here.
Corny as this may sound, bleak outlooks on the future, however "justified," tend to produce bleak futures. The inverse is also true.
As I've said in more than a few other space related threads, I became an engineer because of Apollo. Despite my mild depression, the space program has instilled in me a sense of optimism and purpose I just can't shake. As long as there are bright people with big dreams, we're in for greater days, I promise.
On a more personal note, if you're young, remember that your life is just beginning and, given enough hard work, courage, and luck, you might just help bring about the next golden age.
If you're older, and forgive me because I can't help but be rude here, please don't infect our youth with that nonsense. They need all the hope they can get.
*that* was funny? Who's modding today, Bob Saget?
Is there a rocket in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Why are we spending precious money that could be better spent either giving it to corporations or proving that the moon landing was a fake
What I'd like to know is what's to become of the birds and other small animals that call the rocket their home? Is it time to give PETA a call and sic 'em on NASA?
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This here slab of inanimate metal gets a wash and a blow-job, and here I am, alone at home on a thursday night.
It just ain't fair.
Up until a couple of years ago, I used to work for IBM on Space Park Drive in Houston (you can see the rocket as you drive out of the parking lot of Building 8). Any visitors I had would inevitably get a trip around JSC.
The rocket is not in good shape - there are holes in it, and the paintwork is cracking and peeling. It was quite sad really. Good they are doing some work on it.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Sounds expensive. Last time my rocket was scrubbed and blown dry it cost me under a hundred bucks.
I worked at the Johnson Space Center for two years, back in 1976-1978, and I was there when they brought in the Saturn V.
... really annoyed, saddened, and angry that NASA has let this vehicle rot away.
This was actual flight hardware that was supposed to have gone to the moon for the Apollo 18 mission. When they brought it in, it still had red "Remove before flight" tags hanging from various places.
I am
Some dude: "There's no air in space." Homer: "But there's an Air 'n' Space Museum."
So if every single Saturn built had made it into orbit, would you have considered the Apollo project a gaint success of human exploration?
So not all the Saturns got launched. I feel sad for this particular rocket, since its sole purpose in life was never realized, but the project itself was still successful--giantly so!
And even this sad, unfulfilled engine of discovery can still find a purpose: to remain here on Earth, to stand as a monument to human exploration, and inspire in all who visit the sense of greatness appropriate to the endeavor it represents.
But you know, hey, feel free to be bummed out about the whole thing, if that's what turns you on.
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.
I could not see the Gantry, so I had to wait 'till it came over the trees. It was a moonless night. The moment it was ignited, and minutes before I saw it, the sky turned an acetylene-yellow and night became as day. Had I been driving on Interstate 95 there is no doubt I could have turned of my lights and drivrn in complete safety at 70+ MPH: it was THAT bright. About 30 seconds later, the groundwave hit and set of every car alarm in the neighborhood, made every garage door rattle and got every dog withing miles howlin' thier arses off. About a minute or so afterwards, the rumble of the motors was heard.
An additional minute passed before it came over the trees and headed North.
What a beast of a machine. I bet the Saturn was at least twice as impressive.
Rock-N-Roll!!!
Yeah...I think this beast is worth saving.
I live in Huntsville, which has two Saturn V's, one actual rocket laying on its side in Rocket Park, and another model standing in full, 360 foot glory, by the interstate. Nothing is more riveting than driving down the interstate at night and being able to see this shimmering white spectacle from miles away. It's a true testament to American ingenuity and brilliance. There are alot of things that are restored with practically no signifigance. This is something that can inspire America once again. The 1960s, between the Apollo program, and the Interstate Highway System, were the last giant American engineering marvels. We need something new to amaze our children and continue our engineering superiority.
PlatinumCursor - "Blinded by the bling..."
Moon Rocket, Scrubbed and Blown Dry
It just sounds kinda dirty, like a review for astronaut porn or something....
"Moon Rocket Scrubbed and Blown Dry" is not a good choice of words. When a launch is postponed it's said to be "scrubbed." And "blown dry" does not evoke the right image because of "scrubbed." If you want to have fun with a headline make it internally consistent so readers will get the joke. A better choice would have been "Moon Rocket Gets a Wash and Blow Dry."
Insert witty sig here.
It is a shame they're going to spend 4 million on one of the few remaigning relics of the zenith of America's space age. Perhaps you would also be concerned about the 400 billion a year corporate welfare state we created for the defense industry, but the difference is a mere 10^5.
http://www.saturnrestoration.org/
I am also in possesion of a rocket which has been neglected for far too long. Where do I sign up to have it 'scrubed and blown'?
Someone submit this thing for X Prize!
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
There is another rusting Saturn V in even worse shape at the NASA museum and space camp in Huntsville, Alabama. I believe they're soliciting donations to restore that one as well.
I thought they were going to clean it up and prep it for launch! Now that would have been worth reading about... =)
Yea, I need someone to blow me dry too... damn, it's been a while.
I'd like Jennifer Lopez to give my rocket a blow dry.
What about documenting its decay?
Let is lay, rusting in that field. Lets spend our interest on documenting its decay.
Watch our fleeting focus on expanse slip away, get ruined by moss and tears.
Whats the hurry? Think this is all we have to achieve?
Take pictures of the dustpile. Our great-great-great-great...great grandchildren will find our travels -- and our sense of accomplishment -- amusing.
History is a long time.
All the launched Saturn V first and second stages are somewhere on the ocean floor. I doubt if they're at reef depth, though.
The clearance system sounds logical. It is not. It is completely arbitrary. -- John Bolton
"Moon Rocket Scrubbed and Blown Dry"
Learn to spell.
First time I have laughed at Slashdot in a while.
you are a communist fucking fuck. you do not sink images of god or god like work in salt water, You fucking communist flying fuck!
you commie pukes are coming out of your caves now tht reagan is dead, and it makes me sick.
the duke and the gipper HATE you more than Cliff Yablonski, fucker!
How come these rockets didn't fly? The development cost was gazillions, the huge manufacturing costs were paid for, was it really just to save a few (million?) bucks that they didn't launch the last appollos? What did the government p!ss away the money they 'saved' on?
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
True story- We used to have a rocket building club among some high school friends of mine, and would semi-regularly launch in the huge, mowed fields next to the JSC Saturn V.
:)
As we were not a proper rocket club, but a bunch of unsupervised geek-childs, the emphasis was on the crazy, unpredicatble, ovepowered, underfinned, prone to explode, etc, etc.
It so happened I built a series of rocket engine powered planes, most of which just spun around. However one made a very dramatic flaming high speed 500 foot long horizontal flight that ended in a head on collision with second stage of the Saturn V.
There was no visible damage to the space-capable behemoth, but my cardboard aeronautical absurdity crumpled and shattered from the blow!
It's too bad, what with the overboard paranoia and touristy admission charging space center they built, you can't even get out there anymore, much less have fire missiles of your own.
disclaimer- I did not aim my plane at the Saturn V, it homed in on its own!
The label says dry-clean only?
You don't need a lab to make mud.
This will probably get lost amongst the noise, but does anyone have a link to a downloadable video of a Saturn V launch?
Cheers,
Roger
Do you have any better hostages?
One of my earliest memories (I was 3 at the time) is of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. The very sight of these things, never mind the strains of Also sprach Zarathustra, gives me goose pimples and reminds me of the glory days of the 1970s.
I'm curious...did they remove anything from the rocket when they set it on its side, like remove equipment from the capsule, etc? Was it ready to fly in that it could have been fueled up and fired, or was it just put together for display purposes?
It's history, and the only answer is to restore and preserve it. Two years ago, I went down to Florida to see the rockets and launchpads. To see that Saturn V in the building was simply amazing and those huge F1 engines with pumps capable of thousands of gallons a minute capacity. And, a computer control system that had about as much power as a pocket calculator. The giant crawler thing, the VAB, all those things are so gigantic and impressive to see. They essentially created a bomb with fins on it and flew people on top. Simply amazing.
-- After all is said and done, more is said than done.
Uh oh!! Sapagettioo!!!
Look what I found at the bottom of the page!!!
Sssshhhh!!
Everybody take note!!!
DON'T post extracts or...[NO CARRIER]
[lawsuit type="dmca" excuse="copyright-theft"]
FBI!!!
GOT YOU HIPPIES!!!
At last! First we shut down Slashdot!Then the net!!
And there's nothing you can do about it lawbreakers!!!
AHA!AHAHA!! AHAAHAAHAAA!!!
[/lawsuit?]
May the Maths Be with you!
Spacecraft Films (www.spacecraftfilms.com) has "The Mighty Saturns" multi-disc DVD sets available, and these are very very cool.
All the footage has been captured direct from the National Archives, and much of it has never been seen by the public before. The 'Mission Reports' series shows quarterly Saturn development reports made to Congress, giving you a true feel for the national scope of the project.
The company also produces excellent DVD sets on each of the Apollo missions, with _every frame_ of video and film shot on the mission, from rocket rollout to splashdown, UN-EDITED. These are the 'complete downlink' editions. Talk about geek pr0n!
You doubters can study the lunar EVA footage and see if you can spot the fakery - but if you watch how the lunar dust comes off the boots and the rover wheels, IMHO there is no way that could be done on Earth...
Also excellent is the book 'Stages to Saturn - a technological history of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles' by Roger E. Bilstein. It's NASA publication SP-4206, has photos and drawings, and is available from the US Gubmint Printing Office, which I believe is www.uspto.gov. More detail than you ever wanted to know...
Have fun kids!
This sure gives a new spin to 'rubbin the rocket'!
One of my earliest memories is live TV coverage of Apollo-Soyuz. My young brain was very puzzled because I didn't know what number "Soyuz" was.
Although, I do want to be a janitor.
That line always works for me. You must be ugly or poor or something.
As a child my parents often took me there to see the exhibits. I am glad to see that they are taking long needed steps to preserve this icon from the "space race" for future generations.
At JSC it has lain outside the front entrance from sometime, and as a child I remember bieng awestruck at the sheer size fo the bohemoth. The thruster cones are as tall as a house. It is about time they did something to preserve this treasure.
*NOTE* Now maybe they will do something about the Seawolf class Sub and Destroyer at Seawolf State Park.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!