Thanks for taking the time to tour and post this video. It amazes me to see all the components and the engineering and machining that has gone into making these things a reality. It is amazing what people can do when they make up there minds to tackle a project, no matter how daunting it must be right from the start.
I'm blessed to see that Saturn 5 model outside every day. Really puts it into perspective how large it is. I was up on Monte Sano the other day, over 10 miles away, and the Saturn 5 model was still clearly visible and recognizable. Amazing how large it is.
The Space Shot was built by S&S Rides. You're correct, the red chamber is main air tank and that was the compressor house. The smaller four cylinders around it are the pistons. The ride cables are attached to each piston on both ends, fed around pullies at top and bottom of the tower, and to the gondola. Right before it launches the ride control system weighs each car so it knows exactly how much air to charge the system to for the launch. After the initial pressurized launch, the ride bounces on the depleting air back down because air doesn't escape the air cylinders fast enough. There's another version called Double Shot which gives a second shot as riders fall back down, which is the model I've operated when I worked for Herschend FEC. Dr. Doom's Freefall at Universal Orlando was also built by S&S and is a Space Shot.
Can you imagine the craftsmanship and machining on all these "one off" parts that went into "EVERY SINGLE PART" back in the day !! .... and even today to make machines to leave the earth etc... nice...
Adam -- Thank You for taking us along on your adventure . PS: I had a very small part in the Space Shuttle Program , I helped mine the Colemanite used in the Ablative Tiles on the Space Shuttles . We mined the Colemanite from over 1000 feet beneath the Furnace Creek Wash in Death Valley National Monument . Colemanite has a very high "Coefficient of Thermal Expansion" and when small amounts of it are added to Glass or Ceramic products it imparts those properties to the Glass or Ceramic allowing them to withstand sudden extreme temperature changes ( that's why you can take Corelle Dishware out of the freezer and put it into the microwave and it won't shatter. ) . Colemanite allowed the Ablative Tiles on the Space Shuttles to withstand the freezing temperatures of Space and the red-hot temperatures from the re-entry into Earths atmosphere . - < Doc , Miner for nearly 50 years > .
I remember being there almost 50 years ago, want to go back! Wasn't as fancy back then but I remember it was so cool. The Saturn 5 was laying horizontal outside and we had a picnic lunch under it.
Those engines were made at Aerojet General In Folsom California.Growing up every last Tuesday? of every month they would do a test burn and from many miles away you could hear the rumble.
Hey Adam! Great video. I’ve been to Kennedy space centre in Florida and the Johnson Space Centre in Houston ... both magnificent venues but this one in Alabama seems to be the best. To be with those machines and to appreciate the ingenuity to design them and make them fly in the 50s and 60s was simply awesome. Thanks for sharing and also great to see how Abby is into all this cool stuff too. Great lady you’ve got there!
Greetings from western Canada. I spent 3 weeks in Huntsville back in the early 90's. I stood under the shuttle during a rain storm, and dried off under a hand dryer in the bathroom. There was no way I was going to miss seeing a Saturn V up close. I didn't care how wet I had to get. At the time the Saturn V was outside. Looks like they've made tons of upgrades to the whole center.
Great video Adam. Thanks for taking the time to film it nicely and edit for us. Many of us don’t have the ability to make it to Alabama so it’s very much appreciated! -r
Great video. We were there about 30 yeas ago, and so much has been added over the years. The rocket engine engineers assembled absolute plumbers nightmares! Awesome techknowledgey.
Thanks for including us on your adventure weekend Adam and Abby. Great photography as always. You have a very good feeling for what makes an interesting shot. Saturn V engines are really impressive! Great job guys!
thanks for sharing. you do a great job video wise, and stills as well. enjoy your weekend with your better half, and thanks for taking us along. bet it would be really cool to see there shops where they make every thing. once again have a great weekend.
Adding to your comment for Adam to read. The A-12 is called Oxcart and not Blackbird. Pilots called it Cygnus. And it had much higher performance than the SR-71. I had a higher operational ceiling and flew faster than the SR-71. The A-12 pilots thought the SR-71 was far inferior.
Took me back 40 years Adam. I was there as a kid...back then the big attraction to see was the Apollo Rocket layed out end to end with each stage separated. We got to see all kinds of things I didn't understand back then, but it was so cool. Thanks for sharing!
The International Space Station office is actually the Astronauts Sleeping Quarters. In your view to the right is a sleeping bag which is tethered that is how they sleep. They have their personal items, family pictures and a laptop computer. Excellent video and trip. That is on my bucket list forsure. Thanks Adam and Abby!!!
What a place !! Truly amazing, I can just imagine the size of those rockets, the engineering is pure science and craftsmanship.... allot of stainless and titanium I would say ... thanks to you both for sharing... best wishes from the U.K.
When you consider the Saturn V was built with 1960's technology it is truly amazing. Look closely at the F1 engine especially the welded parts and you will see that it was all hand-welded! And those welds had to withstand ENORMOUS pressures! Not to mention all the engineers did their calculations with slide-rules!
We are so going there now Adam and Abby after seeing this video. I want to see just how massive all those rockets are. Looks like an awesome place. -Mark
From black powder to hydrogen, the bottle rocket to Space Launch System, all the engineering to all the machining, our quest to break our earthly bonds. In conflict and in peace, seeking higher realms, overcoming obstacles bettering our future, reflecting our past. Our goal limitless horizons,for all humankind. Enjoyed being there with you
Thanks Adam and Abby. That place has been on my bucket list since it opened and you guys gave me just the views I was looking for - the technical bits, a notion of how the heat economy is arranged, the piping, those wonderful pumps where they squash tens of thousands of HP in a package the size of a trash can. And the scale. Awesome! Plenty of scope for our trade, huh?
I've been there and it's incredible. I'm old enough to remember Apollo 11, so getting to see an actual Saturn V was really neat. I also liked that you could get right up close to a number of the historic rocket engines. I guess they figured if they were designed for the stresses and temperatures they were, there wasn't much a bunch of tourists could do to them.
Cool video, bringing back memories, been there last year in May. I was really impressed by the Saturn V and the Apollo exhibits they are hosting there. Greetings from southern Germany!
Adam one of the engineering professors i had in college was a rocket engine engineer on the Apollo moon Program , he had awards from the President !! Pretty cool stuff for sure !!
Adam that was awesome. I’m from the uk and the US space program I’ve always found totally fascinating. Next time I’m in the US I will definitely give that place a long visit. Thanks for uploading
Excellent video. Thanks. A friend of mine worked on one of the Telemetry Rings for the Saturn Skylab launch. Very similar to the one shown at 17:25 in the video. He gave me his Skylab Familiarazation Manual with lots of his written notes. Very cool to see this on display.
Awesome video Adam and Abby. You need to go to the Kennedy space center as well. We were there last month. Really cool. Went on a bus tour out near the launch pads. Then it stops at the Saturn 5 display there. Dave
That rocket center is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I thought there was just going to be a few rockets here and there. I was floored at all that's on display there. If I'm ever out that way, I'll be definitely visiting that place. Thanks for sharing, great video!
Oh yea, Huntsville space center. I was fortunate to be a chaperon there with my son's field trip and space camp when he was still in school...a long time ago now. But I was like a little kid myself there. Kind of makes you appreciate NASA launches when you see just how massive the aircraft is in person. Also makes you seriously think about getting in such a space vehicle and being shot out into space as well.
Great video Adam. I have visited the Kennedy Space Centre, awesome place. I live in Ireland, and remember watching a space shuttle launch live on NASA tv, and about 18 minutes later I went outside my house and watched the separated shuttle and fuel tank pass overhead. Great sight.
At the bottom of the plaque for the Saturn V it says "On Loan from the Smithsonian Institute." Imagine if one day they said they wanted it back! Thanks for taking us along :)
Smithsonian has an agreement with nasa that they get all their stuff. The catch is that if they need it back they can have it. After the Columbia accident nasa came back and swiped the leading edge of the Enterprise to test it to see if foam would punch a hole in it. It did, which pretty much proved that this is what caused that spacecraft to break up.
Great video. Looks like the Saturn 5 that used to be the central attraction at Cape Canaveral, but was replaced at Canaveral by the excellent Space Shuttle Exhibition. I will have to visit Huntsville next time I'm in the US.
Adam, Thanks you for another great video. It brought back memories of stepping outside in Orlando to watch the rockets launch from Cape Canaveral in the '60s. And, while in college in ~1981, we went to Huntsville for a behind the scenes tour of the active facilities and actually met an elderly German who was developing methods to assemble space stations in space, without causing chips or any other FOD (Foreign Object Damage) or needing to use multiple piece assembly methods like bolts, washers, & screws, etc. I think that he may have been on one of von Braun's teams! Please tell Abby that the Apollo capsule that she was in was built before they could make really small computers with the power to control everything all of those switches controlled. The Apollo missions did have some small computers, including the ones that controlled the booster rockets. To see a bit more about the booster rocket computers and the ones in the LEM, go look at Fran Blanche's videos on them. She's building an exact copy of the DSKY computers, including the hundreds of miniature relays used in the DSKY's logic. Also, you can see another Saturn V on display at the Space Center at Cape Canaveral, just like the one you and Abby walked under & around. One last quick point -- the Space Shuttle's External Fuel Tanks were manufactured at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans -- seeing the manufacture of them from start to finish was extremely interesting, including their vertical lathes to turn parts of the entire diameter of the external fuel tanks. They are 27.6 ft (8.4 m) in diameter (per Wikipedia).
Thanks for the great tour Mr. Bom. I couldn't imagine tossing one of those beautiful stainless steel engines into the ocean. If I had room I'd have one sitting in my living room. :-). Greetings from Arizona.
I saw an SR71 take off in Okinawa 1972. The sound was geological in volume, the angle of climb appeared vertical, though they are not supposed to do that. Many stories on video worth watching including U-2.
You really can't appreciate the scale of the space programs until you go there in person. I was shocked at how much rocket it takes to launch so little payload.
Now you're in my old stomping grounds. A few notes...the movie Space Camp was filmed there, the opening scene was where the A12 sits. The 8 engine Saturn 1 is actual flight hardware IIRC. The Pathfinder was an 1:1 engineering model to test ground equipment fitment. The booster once had flight hardware nose cones, but they were recalled and actually flew. The upright Saturn 5 out front is a hollow model. The one inside The Davidson Center was also flight hardware but was left in Huntsville when it's mission was cancelled. The IMax theater [its an IMax, not Omnivision] was one of the first series made. Last but not least, you were just a few miles from the Marshall Space Flight Center, a very historic place. If you ever come back, try to come on an open house date. The tour is mind boggling. If you think the shuttle and Saturn 5 were big, wait til you see the buildings they put them in to test, and the live fire test stands. They moved the live fire of the big stuff to Stennis due to too much window breakage here, but the facilities are still standing. Glad you made the trip, overjoyed you liked it, please come again. p.s. all the really good BBQ places are closed, but maybe Keith Rucker might know some. Greenbrier used to be good 25 yrs ago.
Thanks for the video. I just came back from Kennedy Space Center. The Orbiter is on display and the Solid fuel rockets. Kennedy has a lot to see and do. Huntsville looks really neat. I will check it out.
My 4 year old Grand daughter the Amazing Gracie would love this place. She wants to be an Astronaut Pirate when she grows up. Me, I want to be just like her when I grow up.
Hey Adam, The A-12 is not a Blackbird. The Blackbird is the SR-71, which succeeded the A-12. The A-12's codename was the Oxcart, but the crews preferred calling it Cygnus. The SR-71 was a bigger plane, had a two person crew, instead of one. They both ran the same powerplants and had similar designs, and intended missions, but they were different planes.
Great Video. Will have to put that on my bucket list. Hope to visit the gulf coast within the next year. If you ever get the chance to visit The Museum at Wright Patterson Air Base in Dayton Ohio you will be in for a real treat. I was shocked to see one of the bombers that my Dad took care when he was in the service. I was not sure it was one until I look at some of his old pictures and saw the same plane. What a surprise.
Absolutely fantastic - Abom! But there is a hidden story behind the most powerful machine built by European man. It is the story of Arthur Rudolph. One of von Braun’s top lieutenants, Arthur Rudolph developed the Saturn V, the world’s greatest booster rocket and the one used in the Apollo mission. However, once America no longer needed Rudolph, the Office of Special Investigations accused him of war crimes. The “evidence” was nothing more than biographical details that Rudolph himself had freely revealed when he was interrogated and cleared in Germany before he came to America. But the OSI threatened to take away his retirement benefits and to proceed against his wife and daughter. Under duress, Rudolph agreed to give up his U.S. citizenship and return to Germany in 1984 - at the age of 77, after almost four decades in the U.S. In Germany, he was investigated for war crimes, but cleared. Never forget the two men who put us on the moon - Sir Isaac Newton and Arthur Rudolph. God bless and rest in peace.
Hey adam. The A12 is the hotrod version of the SR-71 blackbird built exclusively for the CIA. They could go faster and had more power to weight than a SR-71 as well as only having 1 pilot instead of a pilot and a radio officer for the SR-71.
I'm just at the start of the video. I went there way back in '77. I'm interested in seeing how it's changed. The space monkey Miss Baker was still living there back then.
I love that place haven't been there in about 10 or 15 years do they still offer the bus tours of redstone arsenal? That used to be a pretty interesting tour. I know they have added a lot to the place since i was last there. Have a great week. God Bless!!!
Awesome video...I have a good friend that has flown a few missions....Look him up Robert Hoot Gibson...He lives in the same town as I do. I met him at the airport through one of my friends. He’s a great guy and has some great stories.....If you ever make it to Tennessee, I’ll hook you up....Thanks for the video.
Thanks for taking the time to tour and post this video. It amazes me to see all the components and the engineering and machining that has gone into making these things a reality. It is amazing what people can do when they make up there minds to tackle a project, no matter how daunting it must be right from the start.
I'm blessed to see that Saturn 5 model outside every day. Really puts it into perspective how large it is. I was up on Monte Sano the other day, over 10 miles away, and the Saturn 5 model was still clearly visible and recognizable. Amazing how large it is.
The Space Shot was built by S&S Rides. You're correct, the red chamber is main air tank and that was the compressor house. The smaller four cylinders around it are the pistons. The ride cables are attached to each piston on both ends, fed around pullies at top and bottom of the tower, and to the gondola. Right before it launches the ride control system weighs each car so it knows exactly how much air to charge the system to for the launch. After the initial pressurized launch, the ride bounces on the depleting air back down because air doesn't escape the air cylinders fast enough. There's another version called Double Shot which gives a second shot as riders fall back down, which is the model I've operated when I worked for Herschend FEC. Dr. Doom's Freefall at Universal Orlando was also built by S&S and is a Space Shot.
Thanks for the info. Sounds about like I had imagined it working.
Can you imagine the craftsmanship and machining on all these "one off" parts that went into "EVERY SINGLE PART" back in the day !! .... and even today to make machines to leave the earth etc... nice...
I guess it is rocket science after all...
Thanks for taking us along. Fascinating place.
You guys gotta come to Dayton Ohio to see the U.S. Air Force Museum.
Thank you Abbie and Adam for taking me to a place I have never been before.
Adam -- Thank You for taking us along on your adventure . PS: I had a very small part in the Space Shuttle Program , I helped mine the Colemanite used in the Ablative Tiles on the Space Shuttles . We mined the Colemanite from over 1000 feet beneath the Furnace Creek Wash in Death Valley National Monument . Colemanite has a very high "Coefficient of Thermal Expansion" and when small amounts of it are added to Glass or Ceramic products it imparts those properties to the Glass or Ceramic allowing them to withstand sudden extreme temperature changes ( that's why you can take Corelle Dishware out of the freezer and put it into the microwave and it won't shatter. ) . Colemanite allowed the Ablative Tiles on the Space Shuttles to withstand the freezing temperatures of Space and the red-hot temperatures from the re-entry into Earths atmosphere . - < Doc , Miner for nearly 50 years > .
Thanks to you and Abby for sharing your day with us!
I remember being there almost 50 years ago, want to go back! Wasn't as fancy back then but I remember it was so cool. The Saturn 5 was laying horizontal outside and we had a picnic lunch under it.
Those engines were made at Aerojet General In Folsom California.Growing up every last Tuesday? of every month they would do a test burn and from many miles away you could hear the rumble.
Hey Adam! Great video. I’ve been to Kennedy space centre in Florida and the Johnson Space Centre in Houston ... both magnificent venues but this one in Alabama seems to be the best. To be with those machines and to appreciate the ingenuity to design them and make them fly in the 50s and 60s was simply awesome. Thanks for sharing and also great to see how Abby is into all this cool stuff too. Great lady you’ve got there!
Greetings from western Canada. I spent 3 weeks in Huntsville back in the early 90's. I stood under the shuttle during a rain storm, and dried off under a hand dryer in the bathroom. There was no way I was going to miss seeing a Saturn V up close. I didn't care how wet I had to get. At the time the Saturn V was outside. Looks like they've made tons of upgrades to the whole center.
The outside (real) Saturn V is now indoors in its own building. The Saturn V standing vertically is a mockup, built in the mid 90s.
The complexity of the engines impresses!
Great video Adam. Thanks for taking the time to film it nicely and edit for us. Many of us don’t have the ability to make it to Alabama so it’s very much appreciated! -r
Thank you folks so much for taking the time to shoot the video and post this! Best 23 minutes of my week so far. :)
Great video. We were there about 30 yeas ago, and so much has been added over the years. The rocket engine engineers assembled absolute plumbers nightmares! Awesome techknowledgey.
Thanks for including us on your adventure weekend Adam and Abby. Great photography as always. You have a very good feeling for what makes an interesting shot. Saturn V engines are really impressive! Great job guys!
thanks for sharing. you do a great job video wise, and stills as well. enjoy your weekend with your better half, and thanks for taking us along. bet it would be really cool to see there shops where they make every thing. once again have a great weekend.
Rockets are cool. Especially the Saturn series.
Thanks,
John
Your right about the clouds over the rocket. It was like staring up saying. I'll be right there if I can get loose of these tethers.
This is super cool. I've always been fascinated by the space program and the things that went on in it. Thanks for taking us along on the tour!
A-12 and SR71 blackbird are different aircraft. Your film is great, I also went to 2016.
Thanks for taking us on the tour
There's more space junk lying around in Huntsville than almost anywhere else in the world. Great that you had a chance to experience it.
Very cool video, thanks for sharing this, hope that you & Abby are doing great.!.!.!.
So many rockets!! The A-12 was the predessor to the SR-71. It was the speedy one seater older brother. For 1950's technology it is mind blowing!
Adding to your comment for Adam to read.
The A-12 is called Oxcart and not Blackbird. Pilots called it Cygnus. And it had much higher performance than the SR-71. I had a higher operational ceiling and flew faster than the SR-71. The A-12 pilots thought the SR-71 was far inferior.
Took me back 40 years Adam. I was there as a kid...back then the big attraction to see was the Apollo Rocket layed out end to end with each stage separated. We got to see all kinds of things I didn't understand back then, but it was so cool. Thanks for sharing!
The International Space Station office is actually the Astronauts Sleeping Quarters. In your view to the right is a sleeping bag which is tethered that is how they sleep. They have their personal items, family pictures and a laptop computer. Excellent video and trip. That is on my bucket list forsure. Thanks Adam and Abby!!!
What a place !! Truly amazing, I can just imagine the size of those rockets, the engineering is pure science and craftsmanship.... allot of stainless and titanium I would say ... thanks to you both for sharing... best wishes from the U.K.
It's cool to see Abby n u taking a mini vacation. Enjoy I know I enjoy seeing u two enjoying life together keep it up
When you consider the Saturn V was built with 1960's technology it is truly amazing. Look closely at the F1 engine especially the welded parts and you will see that it was all hand-welded! And those welds had to withstand ENORMOUS pressures! Not to mention all the engineers did their calculations with slide-rules!
We are so going there now Adam and Abby after seeing this video. I want to see just how massive all those rockets are. Looks like an awesome place. -Mark
Sounds great Mark!
Great video. The A12 was prior to the SR71 Blackbird. The A12 was a single seat where as the SR71 was two. Sadly the SR71 has been retired now.
What a great museum. It was lovely to watch you and the wife and how excited your both were. Great video thanks Adam.
From black powder to hydrogen, the bottle rocket to Space Launch System, all the engineering to all the machining, our quest to break our earthly bonds. In conflict and in peace, seeking higher realms, overcoming obstacles bettering our future, reflecting our past. Our goal limitless horizons,for all humankind. Enjoyed being there with you
Thanks Adam and Abby. That place has been on my bucket list since it opened and you guys gave me just the views I was looking for - the technical bits, a notion of how the heat economy is arranged, the piping, those wonderful pumps where they squash tens of thousands of HP in a package the size of a trash can. And the scale. Awesome!
Plenty of scope for our trade, huh?
Thanks for the tour. I live in Alabama and have been to the Space and Rocket Center but that was years ago. Now I know that I need to go back.
Dee
I've been there and it's incredible. I'm old enough to remember Apollo 11, so getting to see an actual Saturn V was really neat. I also liked that you could get right up close to a number of the historic rocket engines. I guess they figured if they were designed for the stresses and temperatures they were, there wasn't much a bunch of tourists could do to them.
iNCREDIBLE , Thanks for showing this .
Thanks for taking the time to film and post this. Hope to get there in the future.
Cool video, bringing back memories, been there last year in May. I was really impressed by the Saturn V and the Apollo exhibits they are hosting there. Greetings from southern Germany!
Thanks, Adam... Reminds me of my and my wife's tour of the Kennedy space center in Florida years ago. Made me smile! Great job on the video!
Adam one of the engineering professors i had in college was a rocket engine engineer on the Apollo moon Program , he had awards from the President !! Pretty cool stuff for sure !!
Another great video, Adam! From now on Huntsville is on my bucket list. And by the way: Aby would have made a great astronaut!
Adam that was awesome. I’m from the uk and the US space program I’ve always found totally fascinating. Next time I’m in the US I will definitely give that place a long visit. Thanks for uploading
I have been there and enjoyed it. Great place to see.
That shot of the mean side of the shuttle and boosters was awesome...
almost unbelievable. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Excellent video. Thanks. A friend of mine worked on one of the Telemetry Rings for the Saturn Skylab launch. Very similar to the one shown at 17:25 in the video. He gave me his Skylab Familiarazation Manual with lots of his written notes. Very cool to see this on display.
Awesome video Adam and Abby. You need to go to the Kennedy space center as well. We were there last month. Really cool. Went on a bus tour out near the launch pads. Then it stops at the Saturn 5 display there. Dave
We hope to visit it during the Labor Day weekend.
That rocket center is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I thought there was just going to be a few rockets here and there. I was floored at all that's on display there. If I'm ever out that way, I'll be definitely visiting that place. Thanks for sharing, great video!
Was there at the NASA museum in the late 80s. The Saturn V was still outdoors getting rusted and weather beaten.
Adom,
this is one of your coolest videos I think, really nice,thanks for sharing....
Oh yea, Huntsville space center. I was fortunate to be a chaperon there with my son's field trip and space camp when he was still in school...a long time ago now. But I was like a little kid myself there. Kind of makes you appreciate NASA launches when you see just how massive the aircraft is in person. Also makes you seriously think about getting in such a space vehicle and being shot out into space as well.
I see circles of floodlights around the Space Shuttle and some of the rockets. They must look awesome lit up at night.
Thanks for bringing us along. This place will be going on my list of "things to see and do", along with the Kennedy Space Center.
Great video Adam. I have visited the Kennedy Space Centre, awesome place.
I live in Ireland, and remember watching a space shuttle launch live on NASA tv, and about 18 minutes later I went outside my house and watched the separated shuttle and fuel tank pass overhead. Great sight.
Yeah how's that for a day out! Thank you both love that.
WE love Abby.
At the bottom of the plaque for the Saturn V it says "On Loan from the Smithsonian Institute." Imagine if one day they said they wanted it back! Thanks for taking us along :)
Smithsonian has an agreement with nasa that they get all their stuff. The catch is that if they need it back they can have it. After the Columbia accident nasa came back and swiped the leading edge of the
Enterprise to test it to see if foam would punch a hole in it. It did, which pretty much proved that this is what caused that spacecraft to break up.
Thanks for the tour Adam just ace :-)
Great video. Looks like the Saturn 5 that used to be the central attraction at Cape Canaveral, but was replaced at Canaveral by the excellent Space Shuttle Exhibition. I will have to visit Huntsville next time I'm in the US.
Very cool. I hope to get to that museum someday. Maybe SpaceX will have a similar museum out here in Southern California someday. Thanks for sharing.
Adam, Thanks you for another great video. It brought back memories of stepping outside in Orlando to watch the rockets launch from Cape Canaveral in the '60s. And, while in college in ~1981, we went to Huntsville for a behind the scenes tour of the active facilities and actually met an elderly German who was developing methods to assemble space stations in space, without causing chips or any other FOD (Foreign Object Damage) or needing to use multiple piece assembly methods like bolts, washers, & screws, etc. I think that he may have been on one of von Braun's teams! Please tell Abby that the Apollo capsule that she was in was built before they could make really small computers with the power to control everything all of those switches controlled. The Apollo missions did have some small computers, including the ones that controlled the booster rockets. To see a bit more about the booster rocket computers and the ones in the LEM, go look at Fran Blanche's videos on them. She's building an exact copy of the DSKY computers, including the hundreds of miniature relays used in the DSKY's logic. Also, you can see another Saturn V on display at the Space Center at Cape Canaveral, just like the one you and Abby walked under & around. One last quick point -- the Space Shuttle's External Fuel Tanks were manufactured at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans -- seeing the manufacture of them from start to finish was extremely interesting, including their vertical lathes to turn parts of the entire diameter of the external fuel tanks. They are 27.6 ft (8.4 m) in diameter (per Wikipedia).
Thanks for the great tour Mr. Bom. I couldn't imagine tossing one of those beautiful stainless steel engines into the ocean. If I had room I'd have one sitting in my living room. :-). Greetings from Arizona.
I saw an SR71 take off in Okinawa 1972. The sound was geological in volume, the angle of climb appeared vertical, though they are not supposed to do that. Many stories on video worth watching including U-2.
U-2 冖in 1962 to 1974 December used to be an aircraft base in Taiwan (Republic of China)
coordinate
25.049995, 121.231624
You really can't appreciate the scale of the space programs until you go there in person. I was shocked at how much rocket it takes to launch so little payload.
Now you're in my old stomping grounds. A few notes...the movie Space Camp was filmed there, the opening scene was where the A12 sits. The 8 engine Saturn 1 is actual flight hardware IIRC. The Pathfinder was an 1:1 engineering model to test ground equipment fitment. The booster once had flight hardware nose cones, but they were recalled and actually flew. The upright Saturn 5 out front is a hollow model. The one inside The Davidson Center was also flight hardware but was left in Huntsville when it's mission was cancelled. The IMax theater [its an IMax, not Omnivision] was one of the first series made. Last but not least, you were just a few miles from the Marshall Space Flight Center, a very historic place. If you ever come back, try to come on an open house date. The tour is mind boggling. If you think the shuttle and Saturn 5 were big, wait til you see the buildings they put them in to test, and the live fire test stands. They moved the live fire of the big stuff to Stennis due to too much window breakage here, but the facilities are still standing. Glad you made the trip, overjoyed you liked it, please come again. p.s. all the really good BBQ places are closed, but maybe Keith Rucker might know some. Greenbrier used to be good 25 yrs ago.
Thanks for the video. I just came back from Kennedy Space Center. The Orbiter is on display and the Solid fuel rockets. Kennedy has a lot to see and do. Huntsville looks really neat. I will check it out.
The most amazing thing to me about liquid fuel rocket engines is the diameter of the fuel lines in relation to the engine. Gigantic!
My 4 year old Grand daughter the Amazing Gracie would love this place. She wants to be an Astronaut Pirate when she grows up. Me, I want to be just like her when I grow up.
That's cool that you both like the same stuff. Interesting cutaway of the turbo machinery.
Nice, imagine the thought and time someone put into all that space age old iron
Thanks Adam and Abby.
And just think...y'all drove right by Conecuh Sausage packing, outlet and gift shop in Evergreen, AL...twice!!!
Pathfinder is a mock up made of wood and steel.
Hey Adam, The A-12 is not a Blackbird. The Blackbird is the SR-71, which succeeded the A-12. The A-12's codename was the Oxcart, but the crews preferred calling it Cygnus. The SR-71 was a bigger plane, had a two person crew, instead of one. They both ran the same powerplants and had similar designs, and intended missions, but they were different planes.
@3:00 I believe the Oxcart was the predecessor of the Blackbird.
Great Video. Will have to put that on my bucket list. Hope to visit the gulf coast within the next year. If you ever get the chance to visit The Museum at Wright Patterson Air Base in Dayton Ohio you will be in for a real treat. I was shocked to see one of the bombers that my Dad took care when he was in the service. I was not sure it was one until I look at some of his old pictures and saw the same plane. What a surprise.
I'm lucky live south of the Cape Canaveral got to see a moon mission from the Cape when I was a kid still all I can say is wow
@13:00 the german A4 ( Vergeltungswaffe 2) . Without this, the USA would not have been on the Moon yet.
You should go to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio
that place is so damn cool. Houston is a close second.
Man, and this all started with the German V1 and V2 Rockets. Especially the engines still look like vintage German stuff
that sun roof is badass
Absolutely fantastic - Abom!
But there is a hidden story behind the most powerful machine built by European man. It is the story of Arthur Rudolph.
One of von Braun’s top lieutenants, Arthur Rudolph developed the Saturn V, the world’s greatest booster rocket and the one used in the Apollo mission. However, once America no longer needed Rudolph, the Office of Special Investigations accused him of war crimes.
The “evidence” was nothing more than biographical details that Rudolph himself had freely revealed when he was interrogated and cleared in Germany before he came to America. But the OSI threatened to take away his retirement benefits and to proceed against his wife and daughter. Under duress, Rudolph agreed to give up his U.S. citizenship and return to Germany in 1984 - at the age of 77, after almost four decades in the U.S. In Germany, he was investigated for war crimes, but cleared.
Never forget the two men who put us on the moon - Sir Isaac Newton and Arthur Rudolph. God bless and rest in peace.
A bit of local lore....the people who were into machinery liked to call it the race and sprocket center. :-)
Stuff like this, is what has made America great! As for all the other things - like politics, well....
Thanks for the tour! ;)
Thanks for the tour 👍🏻🇺🇸👍🏻
Hey adam. The A12 is the hotrod version of the SR-71 blackbird built exclusively for the CIA. They could go faster and had more power to weight than a SR-71 as well as only having 1 pilot instead of a pilot and a radio officer for the SR-71.
Great Trip, the Saturn 5 pushed 1960's rocket technology to the limit.
Wrist Check? Looked like an aviator-style chronograph?
the office was a bedroom i think. the fabric on the wall on the right was a bed/sleeping bag
Should have made a "contribution" to that wall @5:00. :D
I'm just at the start of the video. I went there way back in '77. I'm interested in seeing how it's changed. The space monkey Miss Baker was still living there back then.
I've drove by that place many times always wanted to stop in the semi but figured there was no room for me to park
Awesome trip Adam! I so want to go to Hunstville.
I love that place haven't been there in about 10 or 15 years do they still offer the bus tours of redstone arsenal? That used to be a pretty interesting tour. I know they have added a lot to the place since i was last there. Have a great week. God Bless!!!
19:30 thanks for the nice view ;)
Awesome video...I have a good friend that has flown a few missions....Look him up Robert Hoot Gibson...He lives in the same town as I do. I met him at the airport through one of my friends. He’s a great guy and has some great stories.....If you ever make it to Tennessee, I’ll hook you up....Thanks for the video.