View allAll Photos Tagged MSFC
The Atlas V rocket that will launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is coming together inside a United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama. Boeing’s Starliner will launch on the Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
The lush forest planet of Kashyyyk sits peacefully in the outer rim of the galaxy. The native Wookies live in tree houses on the giant Wroshyr trees. The tropical ocean splashes calmy up against the shores of the main continent beneath the Wookie homes.
My entry to the Micro Sci-Fi contest on Eurobricks: www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77701
I've always been a big fan of Star Wars, and Kashyyyk is probably my favorite planet. This contest has had a lot of REALLY good entries, well done everyone!! :D
Soli Deo Gloria :)
Rockets, big & small, MSFC, 1960. Note also the other S-I stage in the background, on the right, slightly above the pedestal fan.
I think the model is an early Juno V concept. With Titan(?) upper stages. Referred to, in another photograph of the model, as a Saturn C-1.
Must see/read:
www.drewexmachina.com/2018/10/06/juno-v-the-birth-of-the-...
Credit: Drew Ex Machina/Andrew LePage website
Per the "Florida Memory" website:
"This 1/10th model of the three-stage 180-foot Saturn C-1 rocket for display at the Southeastern Industrial Exposition in Orlando."
At:
www.floridamemory.com/items/show/8751
If correctly identified, an amusing reference:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Saturn_I_prof...
Credit: Wikimedia
From my collection of vintage NASA credentials. This badge is an example of the type of credentials that were issued to NASA employees following the initial creation of the space agency in the late 1950’s. This early example is of the type that was issued to all individuals who were employed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL during the Mercury and early Gemini space programs (1960-1965).
Lendle was a rocket propulsion engineer who originally worked for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) in the 1950’s. When he transitioned from the ABMA, Lendle became one of the first engineers to be employed by NASA. During his career at NASA, Lendle worked on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.
Built for the MSFC contest on EB. This MOC is supposed to be a Sci-fi hotel in a luxurious city. I've been wanting to use the technique that gives the building it's curve for a while now, but didn't have any idea what to use it for, until now. It uses 1x4 hinge plates and 1x2 bricks with studs on the sides to achieve this effect. I may post a breakdown shot latter.
A confirmed Perseid meteor (the brighter of the two) and a sporadic meteor viewed by an All Sky camera in Dahlonega, GA.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/MEO
Read more/watch video:
blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2014/05/16/earthgrazer-seen-in-the-southern-sky
View more images from the Meteoroid Environment Office:
www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/sets/72157607380035209/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
1962 MSFC artist's concept of a Saturn V? C-5? Advanced Saturn? Something/somewhere in/around there.
"Saturn 5 Display G. L. Higdon, of P&UE (left) George C. Rogers (Brown Eng.) (right)”
3/27/64"
According to Mr. Dave Dooling, on the Apollo Spacecraft History FB group, this was located in Buildings 4200, Central Laboratory and Office Building, MSFC. Apparently, the distinctive brickwork of the walls gave it away. Outstanding!
Just look at all of those wonderful models.
A striking depiction of what (to me) looks like a Science and Applications Manned Space Platform (SAMSP), aka “Space Platform”. If so, this would then be an MSFC, and possibly, TRW-originated image, per information gleaned from the links provided below.
The image, oriented with the moon toward the top, is featured on page 30 of “The Origins of International Participation in the Space Station”/Monographs in Aerospace History no. 11, by John M. Logsdon:
www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sp-4511.pdf?emrc=...
Despite apparently being one of the ‘more’ acknowledged aerospace/space artists, this is the first & only NASA print by the talented Philip J. Weisgerber that I have in my possession. I believe he was also/even referred to by another NASA artist in a JSC “Oral History” that of course, I can’t find…so, maybe I’m misremembering. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Good stuff pertaining to Mr. Weisgerber:
now.northropgrumman.com/from-new-jersey-swamps-to-top-sec...
Credit: Now/Northrop Grumman website
easyreadernews.com/phil-weisgerber-memories-of-a-fine-hum...
Credit: “Easy Reader & Peninsula Magazine” website
www.illustrationwest.org/48/5023-48.html
Credit: SILA - The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles/“Illustration West” website
nara.getarchive.net/media/a-hand-sketched-illustration-by...
Credit: NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive website
www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/139312/program-do...
Credit: United States Air Force website
www.afapo.hq.af.mil/Public/Presentation/Artists/artistsde...
Credit: Department of the Air Force Art Collection website
SAMSP:
A number of the illustrations here are in fact by Mr. Weisgerber:
www.astronautix.com/s/scienceandaspaceplatform.html
Credit: Astronautix website
spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2016/09/naming-space-stat...
Credit: David S. F. Portree/”No Shortage of Dreams” blogspot/website
“Shown here are the elements of a simulated environmental test program being conducted at the Marshall Space Flight Center to determine the problems of maintaining a carrier rocket in space. In these experiments, an engineer stands on an air-bearing platform within a pressurized space suit. Under these simulated space conditions, he is directed through a series of mechanical and electrical operations, representative of those an astronaut might encounter in his alternate role as a “space mechanic.” These tasks are performed on specially made up units, such as the one on which the engineer is working, and an actual Saturn H-1 engine, seen at right. The tests are being conducted jointly by NASA’s Marshall and Manned Spacecraft Centers. (NASA-Marshall Photo)
January 3, 1962
IMMEDIATE RELEASE”
Above per the official NASA/MSFC caption associated with the image.
The primitivity is absolutely delightful & endearing. Although I know less than squat regarding electrical connections, circuitry, etc., then or now, I do know that's a vacuum tube at the top of the angled "made up unit" with the hand-written numbers on it.
8" x 10.5".
1962 MSFC artist’s concept of an Apollo Saturn C-5 during ascent.
A very static, still-life depiction...no sense of movement...sort of like its suspended and motionless.
“TRW berthing mechanism test for space platform (view 1).”
All that follows is better than me paraphrasing a bunch of stuff…
First, the ‘Space Platform’, which would initially be unmanned:
“NASA has not yet determined what form the station might take but is examining two reference concepts for a facility tended by the Space Shuttle. One, under study by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), is the Space Platform concept; the other approach, being investigated by Johnson Space Center (JSC), is called the Space Operations Center…Both concepts envision a step-by-step modular approach, beginning with a basic facility to which additional units could be attached to increase the utility and versatility of the station.”
Per “Spinoff, Volume 982 (April 1982), page 17, by James J. Haggerty. Some of which, to include the above, is available at:
books.google.com/books?id=stzUanm2G1EC&pg=PA17&lp...
Credit: Google Books
Second, the TRW ‘Berthing Mechanism’:
“Simulation evaluations were performed on the development model of the TRW Berthing Mechanism. These tests were conducted in the six-degree-of freedom simulation facility and simulated the mating of the space platform to an adapter attached to the Orbiter. The tests consisted of mating the Berthing Mechanism under various degrees of misalignment, including combinations of axes simultaneously. The probe was supported from a fixed mounting structure on the ceiling, and the cylinder was attached to a load limiting system on the six-degree-of-freedom platform. The platform, driven by six hydraulic struts, simulated the mass, inertia and the motion response of the space platform during mating.”
Above per the MSFC Research and Technology Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1982, published in November 1982. The photograph is dated 28 October 1981, thereby during FY ’82, and I believe pertinent, hence its citation & found at:
ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19830006897...
Finally, if I'm reading & comprehending the above correctly:
The “fixed mounting structure” looks to be a spare/back-up, engineering model, simulator, or something like that - of the ‘front’ axial(?) docking end of the Multiple Docking Adapter, with an Apollo-era docking target AND U.S. flag, just like on the real thing - that being Skylab.
Yaaay…long live Skylab…in spirit, or at least parts here & there, damnit!
A confirmed Perseid meteor as observed by a NASA meteor camera at Hiram College in Ohio.
#AskNASA #NASA #Perseid #MeteorShower
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/MEO
Read more/watch video:
blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2014/05/16/earthgrazer-seen-in-the-southern-sky
View more images from the Meteoroid Environment Office:
www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/sets/72157607380035209/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
More than 800 students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico launched nearly 50 high-powered, amateur rockets April 15, near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, during the Agency's annual rocket competition.
For the past nine months prior, teams of middle school, high school, college, and university students were tasked to design, build, and launch a rocket and scientific payload to an altitude between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, while making a successful landing and executing a scientific or engineering payload mission.
Student Launch is one of NASA's eight Artemis Student Challenges - a series of activities providing students access to the Artemis program. Through Artemis, NASA will return humans to the Moon for long-term exploration, including landing the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, missions that will help pave the way for future missions to Mars.
The 2023 launch event and award ceremony are available to view on NASA's Marshall YouTube and Student Launch Facebook pages.
For more information, visit: NASA Student Launch.
#nasa #NASAMarshall #MSFC #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #education #space #studentlaunch
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA
Two probable Perseids occurring within seconds as seen by NASA meteor camera at Oberlin College in Ohio.
#AskNASA #NASA #Perseid #MeteorShower
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/MEO
Read more/watch video:
blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2014/05/16/earthgrazer-seen-in-the-southern-sky
View more images from the Meteoroid Environment Office:
www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/sets/72157607380035209/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
The lush forest planet of Kashyyyk sits peacefully in the outer rim of the galaxy. The native Wookies live in tree houses on the giant Wroshyr trees. The tropical ocean splashes calmy up against the shores of the main continent beneath the Wookie homes.
My entry to the Micro Sci-Fi contest on Eurobricks: www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77701
I've always been a big fan of Star Wars, and Kashyyyk is probably my favorite planet. This contest has had a lot of REALLY good entries, well done everyone!! :D
Soli Deo Gloria :)
An early shuttle concept from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Many such proposals included jet engines to assist in flying the booster stage back to the launch site.
A confirmed Perseid meteor observed by one of the All Sky cameras at the Allegheny Observatory near Pittsburgh, PA.
#askNASA #MeteorShower #Perseids
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/MEO
Read more/watch video:
blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2014/05/16/earthgrazer-seen-in-the-southern-sky
View more images from the Meteoroid Environment Office:
www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/sets/72157607380035209/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
The adapter and a United Launch Alliance Delta IV test article were successfully connected during a fit check at the Marshall Center. (NASA/MSFC)
More about SLS:
More SLS graphics and concepts:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr album
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
NASA PHOTO: MSFC-75-SA-4105-2C. REMASTERED by Dan Beaumont.
NASA / MSFC INFO: Explorer 1 atop a Jupiter-C in gantry. Jupiter-C carrying the first American satellite, Explorer 1, was successfully launched on January 31, 1958. The Jupiter-C launch vehicle consisted of a modified version of the Redstone rocket's first stage and two upper stages of clustered Baby Sergeant rockets developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and later designated as Juno boosters for space launches.
Von Braun with (ABMA) and JPL, "Sputnik challenge" with Explorer one (Development in 84 days) 1957 VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U5Y0-dY0FI
WIKIPEDIA INFO: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_1
NASA INFO: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/explorer/explorer-overview.html
EXPLORER 1: " First US satellite "Jupiter C rocket, January 31, 1958 VIDEO ( French audio ): www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK40bJm-G4c
Wernher von Braun: "Missile to Moon", documentary. PBS (2012) VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ch0OgkkJKI
Explorer one, US first satellite, january 31, 1958 VIDEO FROM JPL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNHCEK6cPwI
Jupiter C rocket launch: " Explorer 4 satellite ", July 26, 1958 VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NengyrD9-ag
A wonderful engraving, simple yet elegant. At/from. The obituary is a must read:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/95670671/rosemary-ann-dobbins
Credit: "Find a Grave" website
Also, although disappointingly cursory, with no reference to, nor context as to significance. That being: a woman - during the early 1960s - producing exquisite, foundational & critical technical illustrations - for NASA - specifically, pertaining to the APOLLO PROGRAM (and who knows what else) - as part of one of the United States’ most incredible accomplishments - when a woman’s “place” was “in the kitchen”. Particularly underwhelming since it was posted in conjunction with Women's History Month.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the effort, but it totally misses the point & would more fittingly be part of "Command Module History Month". But at least she’s finally “somebody” via a NASA outlet, hence a “WIN”:
www.nasa.gov/image-feature/rosemary-dobbins-illustrating-...
Marshall Center engineers conduct the first circumferential weld of the pathfinder version of the adapter design. (NASA/MSFC)
More about SLS:
More SLS graphics and concepts:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr album
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
You gotta start somewhere, right? A MSFC test subject/engineer appears to be testing the use of some common terrestrial/household/garage tools, while standing on a crude plywood low-friction air-cushion platform, to ascertain the action/reaction challenges astronauts might face with similar tasks in zero-g. Good old-fashioned rope, tied to his harness and anchored above, appears to be the safety/fall prevention mechanism - OUTSTANDING. And possibly an H-1 rocket engine up on blocks behind him?
8" x 10.5".
Description: At its founding, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) inherited the Army's Jupiter and Redstone test stands, but much larger facilities were needed for the giant stages of the Saturn V. From 1960 to 1964, the existing stands were remodeled and a sizable new test area was developed. The new comprehensive test complex for propulsion and structural dynamics was unique within the nation and the free world, and they remain so today because they were constructed with foresight to meet the future as well as on-going needs. Construction of the S-IC Static test stand complex began in 1961 in the west test area of MSFC, and was completed in 1964. The S-IC static test stand was designed to develop and test the 138-ft long and 33-ft diameter Saturn V S-IC first stage, or booster stage, weighing in at 280,000 pounds. Required to hold down the brute force of a 7,500,000-pound thrust produced by 5 F-1 engines, the S-IC static test stand was designed and constructed with the strength of hundreds of tons of steel and 12,000,000 pounds of cement, planted down to bedrock 40 feet below ground level. The foundation walls, constructed with concrete and steel, are 4 feet thick. The base structure consists of four towers with 40-foot-thick walls extending upward 144 feet above ground level. The structure was topped by a crane with a 135-foot boom. With the boom in the upright position, the stand was given an overall height of 405 feet, placing it among the highest structures in Alabama at the time. This aerial shot gives a birds eye view of the test stand construction site in its entirety as of August 25, 1961. The site is now ready for its foundation. The original Redstone Test Stand can be seen in the upper center portion of the photograph. The far upper right hand corner reveals the S-4 Dynamic test stand which was later taken down.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: SPD-MARSH-0600502
Date: August 25, 1961
Caption: First place, college race: University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, Team 2.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Fred Deaton
View all 2014 race photos here:
www.flickr.com/photos/122910914@N04/sets/72157643807281893
More about NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge:
NASA today declared the winners of the first NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge, held April 11-12 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. Student racers from the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology in Reno, Nev., claimed first place in the high school division; the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao Team 2 won the top prize in the college division.
Organized by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and building on two decades of competitive student innovation in the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race (held in the "Rocket City" from 1994-2013), the new event challenges students to design, build and race lightweight, human-powered roving vehicles, solving technical problems along the way just like NASA engineers must do.
Those NASA engineers are paying attention: Students' most innovative vehicle and hardware designs could help inform NASA's own development of rovers and other space transportation systems for future exploration missions across the solar system.
Just as importantly, the experience is designed to provide the future workforce to realize those new missions, inspiring students to pursue careers in the technical "STEM" fields -- science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- so crucial to the agency's endeavors.
Check here for full news release and full list of winners/awards:
www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2014/14-...
More about the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge:
2014 Rover Challenge Photo Gallery:
www.flickr.com/photos/122910914@N04/sets/72157643807281893/
Class of 2014: Face of the Race:
www.flickr.com/photos/122910914@N04/sets/72157643816443805/
______________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Marshall Center engineers receive materials to begin manufacturing the flight adapter. (NASA/MSFC/Ray Downward)
More about SLS:
More SLS graphics and concepts:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr album
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
In honor of Presidents Day, this is a photo of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-1961, at the Dedication of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama (September 8, 1960)
Read more about past presidents and their role with NASA:
www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/10presidents.html
and
The Atlas V rocket that will launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is coming together inside a United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama. Boeing’s Starliner will launch on the Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
MSFC model shop-manufactured Advanced Saturn, circa 1961/62(?), at 1/96th scale and a whopping 45".
Compare to:
www.pinterest.com/pin/Ae8w5FkT7bKMZ2YbOpF77E7Z_CFSxJ8a1vO...
Credit: Pinterest/Quitus Maximus
The Atlas V rocket that will launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is coming together inside a United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama. Boeing’s Starliner will launch on the Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
A MSFC test subject/engineer tests the use of some common terrestrial/household/garage tools, while standing on a crude plywood low-friction air-cushion platform, to ascertain the action-reaction challenges astronauts might face with similar tasks in a weightless environment. Old-fashioned rope, tied to his harness and anchored above, appears to be the safety/fall prevention mechanism - PRECIOUS.
He appears to be working up quite a sweat, note the condensate in the immediate vicinity of his nose/mouth...I hope his air conditioning/cooling unit is working properly. And by the looks of the form-fitting nature of the suit, along with it being quite pressurized, he's probably fighting its resistance just as much as any 'action' induced 'reaction' of the air table platform he's standing on.
The triangular outline and the checkerboard pattern behind the stern looking fellow in the background may be part of a Saturn I interstage adapter?
8" x 10.5".
Rigging of the protective shields for Skylab was rehearsed many times in the neutral buoyancy simulator. Here, a shield made of netting (for simulation only) is being rigged underwater to determine the problems that would be encountered in space.
history.nasa.gov/SP-400/p55.jpg
history.nasa.gov/SP-400/ch3.htm
Credit: NASA History website, specifically "SP-400: Skylab, Our First Space Station"
Additional informative reading:
www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-exploration/skylab/plan...
Credit: Space Safety Magazine website
And - appropriately enough - this being an MSFC photo:
"The second manned Skylab crew was launched on July 28, 1973. In addition to continuing the Skylab science program, the crew had to replace the parasol sunshade with the Marshall sail when the temperature inside the workshop started rising again. On August 6, with Astronaut Alan Bean standing by inside the workshop, Astronauts Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma exited the Skylab space station and successfully erected the Marshall twin-pole solar shield."
history.msfc.nasa.gov/skylab/skylab_planning.html
Credit: MSFC History Office website
At its founding, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) inherited the Army's Jupiter and Redstone test stands, but much larger facilities were needed for the giant stages of the Saturn V. From 1960 to 1964, the existing stands were remodeled and a sizable new test area was developed. The new comprehensive test complex for propulsion and structural dynamics was unique within the nation and the free world, and they remain so today because they were constructed with foresight to meet the future as well as on going needs. Construction of the S-IC Static test stand complex began in 1961 in the west test area of MSFC, and was completed in 1964. The S-IC static test stand was designed to develop and test the 138-ft long and 33-ft diameter Saturn V S-IC first stage, or booster stage, weighing in at 280,000 pounds. Required to hold down the brute force of a 7,500,000-pound thrust produced by 5 F-1 engines, the S-IC static test stand was designed and constructed with the strength of hundreds of tons of steel and 12,000,000 pounds of cement, planted down to bedrock 40 feet below ground level. The foundation walls, constructed with concrete and steel, are 4 feet thick. The base structure consists of four towers with 40-foot-thick walls extending upward 144 feet above ground level. The structure was topped by a crane with a 135-foot boom. With the boom in the upright position, the stand was given an overall height of 405 feet, placing it among the highest structures in Alabama at the time. In addition to the stand itself, related facilities were constructed during this time. Built directly east of the test stand was the Block House, which served as the control center for the test stand. The two were connected by a narrow access tunnel which housed the cables for the controls. This construction photo taken August 17, 1962 depicts a view of the Block House from the test stand site. The tunnel opening is visible in the forefront center of the photo.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: SPD-MARSH-0600551
Date: August 17, 1962
The Atlas V rocket that will launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is coming together inside a United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama. Boeing’s Starliner will launch on the Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
The Atlas V rocket that will launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is coming together inside a United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama. Boeing’s Starliner will launch on the Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
The 2019 Lunar Rover Challenge Competition was hosted by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This annual event celebrated the 25th anniversary of what began as the Great Moonbuggy Race in 1994. High school and College teams from the United States and foreign countries competed. The awards ceremony was held at the adjacent Marriott on Saturday evening.
Image credit: NASA/Fred Deaton
Rover Challenge awards news release
The 2019 Lunar Rover Challenge Competition was hosted by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This annual event celebrated the 25th anniversary of what began as the Great Moonbuggy Race in 1994. High school and College teams from the United States and foreign countries competed. The awards ceremony was held at the adjacent Marriott on Saturday evening.
Image credit: NASA/Fred Deaton
Rover Challenge awards news release
“Thrust structure for the Saturn V moon rocket first stage (S-IC) is lowered into its vertical assembly position, as assembly of the first S-IC stage began this week at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Michoud Operations. The 33-foot-diameter, 90,000-pound corrugated tail section, built by the Boeing Company’s Launch Systems Branch, will support the booster’s five, 1.5-million-pound-thrust engines. Assembled on top of the thrust structure will be the fuel tank, intertank structure, liquid oxygen tank and forward skirt assembly.”
Hand-highlighted areas are due to this photo having been used for news/press release purposes, and I'm assuming the crude printing techniques of the time required the highlighting to provide definition and delineation within the photo.
Per Wikipedia:
“S-IC-D was the first to be built by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans using the tooling that had been developed in Huntsville.”
Per the Saturn Illustrated Chronology (for 1965):
“Technicians at Michoud on March 24 installed the S-IC-D thrust structure in the Vertical Assembly Building.”
“On October 13 the S-IC-D arrived at MSFC's Saturn V dock after leaving Michoud dock aboard the barge Poseidon October 6, the Poseidon's first trip.”
For 1966:
“Saturn V milestones on January 13 involved the first stage and instrument unit. The S-IC-D booster went into the dynamic test stand at MSFC on this date...”
And for 1967:
“The S-IC-D stage arrived at MTF from Huntsville on April 23. Workmen at MTF placed the stage in storage pending its use in the early fall.”
SA-1 liftoff: MSFC re-release to mark the 20th Anniversary of the first research and development flight of the Saturn space vehicle (SA-1), 27 October 1961.
“In 1970, NASA initiated Phase A contracts to study alternate Space Shuttle designs in addition to the two-stage fully reusable Space Shuttle system already under development. A number of alternate systems were developed to ensure the development of the optimum earth-to-orbit system, including the Stage-and-a-half Chemical Interorbital Shuttle, shown here. The concept would utilize a reusable manned spacecraft with an onboard propulsion system attached to an expendable fuel tank to provide supplementary propellants.”
Above and image at/from:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chemical_Interorbital_Shu...
Credit: Wikimedia Commons website
Excellent reading regarding the Chemical Interorbital Shuttle, i.e. space tug:
www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/chemical-interorbital-sh...
Credit: SECRET PROJECTS FORUM website
Further informative reading, with the image featured on the cover:
ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19740013405/downloads/1974001...
Actually, my primary purpose for posting this was because it’s by Manuel E. Alvarez, an extremely talented & formerly elusive North American Rockwell/Rockwell International artist.