Saturn V anecdote

[Beati Dogu]

It's 39 years ago today since the first flight of the Space Shuttle.

Flown by Robert Crippen and John Young, veteran of Apollo 10 and Apollo 16.

[lost in espace]

Beati Dogu said:

It's 39 years ago today since the first flight of the Space Shuttle.

Flown by Robert Crippen and John Young, veteran of Apollo 10 and Apollo 16.

I asked my teacher if we could watch it live, we sat in the library in middle school and watched remember it clearly!

[Beati Dogu]

You were at school on a Sunday?

I remember watching it live too. At home I think. I recall thinking what the hell is that hideous large tank attached to it and being rather less enamoured by it after that.

Forgot to say that Its also 59 years to the day since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.

Edited by Beati Dogu on Sunday 12th April 22:15

[ralphrj]

They may have confused the scrubbed launch with the actual launch.

I can remember watching the build up to the scrubbed launch at primary school.

[Eric Mc]

I watched the Friday launch attempt from a pub in County Roscommon in Ireland. I asked the bar man if he would turn on the TV in the bar. He said, why, is there horse racing on today?

I explained and he did put it on - although nothing happened because of the scrub.

Edited due to keyboard numptyism.

Edited by Eric Mc on Tuesday 14th April 11:28

[ralphrj]

Looking back, it shows how routine space travel became in the public eye* during the shuttle era.

The build up to the first flight was shown live on TV (my Dad even took the Friday off work to watch it only to see the launch scrubbed) and interrupted the school lessons. The actual launch was repeated endlessly on the news.

By the end of the shuttle programme it hardly seemed to feature on the news - other than last flight of the shuttle stories.

• I know that it was't really routine as, tragically, Challenger and Columbia proved but it was perceived as routine.

[Ozzie Dave]

If you havent read it, "Into the black" is worth reading, the story behind the first shuttle and its testing, as is Michelle Evans The X-15 rocketplane, which gives a good insight into the origins of of the X-15 project and how it became the practice that led to the shuttle. together they give a clearer understanding of the logic and powerplays of the time.

[Eric Mc]

Both books are highly recommended by me too.

Another good Shuttle era book is "Riding Rockets" by ex-astronaut Mike Mullane.

[MartG]

Another couple of recommendations for reading on Shuttle background

https://www.amazon.com/Without-Smithsonian-History...

and

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wingless-Flight-Lifting-S...

[MartG]

On this day in 1961...

First flight of a Saturn rocket, SA-1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOKpnXDfyUI&fe...

[Eric Mc]

Who said that Saturn launch team guys didn't get excited.

[saaby93]

von Braun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXIDFx74aSY

[Eric Mc]

I remember watching those Disney productions on TV in the early 1960s. Yes - I'm that ancient. They were amazingly well produced for TV - and in colour although we only saw them in black and white. American TV started colour broadcasting around 1959/60. Europe and the UK had to wait until 1967.

[MartG]

When they won the contract for the Shuttle External Tank, Martin Marietta hired laid-off shipyard workers to construct it, and found to their dismay that their idea of precision placement was 1/8 to 1/4 inch or worse.

Massive retraining followed...

[Talksteer]

MartG said:

When they won the contract for the Shuttle External Tank, Martin Marietta hired laid-off shipyard workers to construct it, and found to their dismay that their idea of precision placement was 1/8 to 1/4 inch or worse.

Massive retraining followed...

Hmmm not to st on that story but I'd want to see a primary source.

The shuttle external tank was made at the Michoud Assembly Facility which is where the Saturn V first stage was manufactured.

Detail design of the shuttle started in 1972 and the first non-flight tank rolled out in 1977.

The gap between the Shuttle tank and the last Saturn first stages (and Skylab which was also built there) was not actually very long at all so I doubt that they lost their knowledge of rocket production.

The only rocket I am aware of using ship yard techniques was the AJ260 which was a massive solid rocket:

http://www.astronautix.com/a/aj-260.html

[MartG]

Talksteer said:

MartG said:

When they won the contract for the Shuttle External Tank, Martin Marietta hired laid-off shipyard workers to construct it, and found to their dismay that their idea of precision placement was 1/8 to 1/4 inch or worse.

Massive retraining followed...

Hmmm not to st on that story but I'd want to see a primary source.

The shuttle external tank was made at the Michoud Assembly Facility which is where the Saturn V first stage was manufactured.

Detail design of the shuttle started in 1972 and the first non-flight tank rolled out in 1977.

The gap between the Shuttle tank and the last Saturn first stages (and Skylab which was also built there) was not actually very long at all so I doubt that they lost their knowledge of rocket production.

The only rocket I am aware of using ship yard techniques was the AJ260 which was a massive solid rocket:

http://www.astronautix.com/a/aj-260.html

Michoud is a NASA/Gov't owned facility used by NASA's contractors for assembly - Boeing built the S-IC there, and Martin Marietta built the ET - each with their own employees.

[MartG]

It seems Apollo 11's LM ascent stage may not have crashed into the Moon after all...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHbLV7xEhc

[MartG]

The first moon walk was of course sent live on Swedish national TV, too. The scientific reporter Bengt Feldreich was commenting the coverage from NASA.

During the moonwalk the phone rung in the studio, and a man started to complain:
- The quality of this broadcast is lousy! You have to do something about it!
- But it’s the first transmission from the surface of the Moon! Feldreich said. They just landed for the first time! Isn’t it fantastic?!
- I don’t care! It’s really poor quality! And by the way, it’s black and white, and I’ve paid for colour!

A true story, told by Feldreich at the 40th anniversary.

[Eric Mc]

He must have been REALLY pissed off with Apollo 12. He did get his live colour images, until Al Bean pointed the camera at the sun and burned out the tube.

[dukeboy749r]

Apollo-era little know anecdote:

Professor Walter Kuehnegger was Austrian by birth, after the war, he worked for Sir Freddie Laker before joining NASA via the NACA.

He met with Wernher Von Braun during his time there, but seeing as he never wanted to join the war effort on the German side (and as he was particularly anti-Nazi) he was not best pleased to have to share a meeting, let alone a briefing, with Von Braun.

This resulted, on one occasion, in him whacking the back of Von Braun's right hand with a telescopic pointer (like the old car aerials) and making it abundantly clear he had little time for the German designer.

On another occasion, one of the Mercury astronauts (in taking a trip out for some sea survival training) dropped his bag at Walter's feet, indicating that he should load it onto the boat.

Walter apparently ignored the request and when asked why replied 'I may not be an astronaut, but neither am I his skivvy.

Nice to have been able to meet him and learn of his fundemental contribution to putting humans on the Moon.