Officially, Carl moved to Florida for "retirement"... Secretly, Carl moved to Florida to sneak into Cape Canaveral, gaining direct access to even more historic spaceflight equipment for Marc, Ken & the restoration team. Standing by for an upcoming 500-sequel YT series on restoring Cape Canaveral Spaceforce Station - block house by block house! 😇😀
Love the throw-away 'Look Mum No Computer' reference… I wonder how he’d re-wire the kit in one of these block houses to turn it into a musical instrument 😊
"..that was for the..." > "Burroughs guidance computer" > "..computer which is right there?" > "..this whole room is the guidance computer" --- Love it :)
As a young kid in 1960s, I was fixated on all things NASA and space related. I visited the site on the mid-1980s and felt like I was visiting a candy store of my youth. I couldn’t get enough. Thank you to Carl for being able to get Marc behind the NASA tour curtain and bringing back such wonderful memories. The memorial to Grissom, Chaffee, and White is a somber reminder of the risk these and current astronauts take. We’ve become blasé about it since SpaceX’s routine launch without incident dulls our sense of awe at the power of these machines.
Came for the tour but happy to have gotten a "Carl Update" - his face was so familiar from those amazing hotel room videos! SO COOL! Love to see how well he retired and am extra happy to see him sharing his knowledge both here and at the museum. What a treat - thanks for sharing one and all 🙏
My Dad brought us on holiday in 1994 to Florida and of all the places that made me happy it was Cape Canaveral , going from Ireland to USA in 94' was special for most here and with not many people here with internet access or even a computer back then , all my friends wanted to know about disney and all I wanted to talk about was the fluke of landing in orlando with a titan launch the next week. So many memories of that place , best day of my life by far.
Fascinating, your channel is one of those amazing gems on RUclips, this kind of detail and access has been unheard of since the actual era of the space race. All we say was a few seconds on TV. Now 60 years later we have all this detail coming to us. Thank you so much 👏🏻🙂
This channel has consistently been an amazing source of history and knowledge that would otherwise be lost to time. Thank you so much for all the work that goes into this!
Excellent video. I was at cape caneveral many years ago, and for space X, 5 years ago MY transceivers were on a cubesat (MOVEII still transmitting), it was great to watch the launch , some of the students of the project were at the site at space X for watching and the rest at the University (LRT TUM) life, very very very exiting to watch a launch and wait for the first transmitter signals of the transceivers (expecially as it where MY PCB with my name in space now) and later to see the norad data for the path of the MOVE II after locating -- Its absolutly fantastic. I can totally feal now how all that launching feels for the contributors -- and great work Curious Marc for all the history.
@@juergenschimmer960 yes still active doing a lot beside satellite communication also medical stuff as novinvasic glucose research ... But working for SPACE is really fun and challenging, also did some ballon tests before start of the satelitte into space. -- If you check the orbit at norand you can hear the sat on VHF at 145.950Mhz the morscode with its name -- upling is coded on UHF for reprogramming and more compilated is the sband at 2.Ghz, the sat needs to be positioned with the antenna towards earth ... but lot of experiments where sucessfulyl done by the students also a ESA test for special solar cells aboard worked perfectly, this was around 5 years work. Challenging was the detumbling to to a fault in the cable a magnetic motor was build. bu the detumbling using the on board coils work though never thought to be used for this -- alswys suprise in space and you cannot take your scope there to find out
he transceivers were said to be the first SDR transceivers used in cubesats in Space, the VHF/UHF module (100x100mm) uses a xilinx FPGA an mram for integrity so the sband transceiver. we run out of space a little bit on the sband , but the code can be dynamically changed and uploaded. Also the boards makes a periodic timeout and reset on the main cpu boards so no hangup shoudl occur, the antenna I protected with special EMV diodes.
Marc, Dad was a Science teacher in the 50s, back when a science class was able to build rockets as a class project (the whole class on one rocket). Dad told me about building one using ~6-inch (~150-mm) in diameter! Some flew, some didn't, some drilled down into the ground instead of actually launching. I assume that he was also the Chemistry Teacher! ;) We moved to Orlando in late '59 for a better paying job (twice his Teacher salary). Of course, he's go down to the Cape and, at first, watch the rockets blow up. I remember him coming home one day excited about the new Gemini program, so we named my new dog Gemini (pronounced like you say it, unlike the actual pronunciation (long-E sound at the end). We lived in Orlando and could step outside and watch the contrails going up.
Brings back memories. I was a very young child, just 4, when I watched Apollo 11 launch from my grandmother's house many miles away. I still remember it streaking into the sky on a pillar of flame. Astounding memory, even from so far away and so many years ago.
when i had been watching it i kept thinking ,how could i miss this video to watch for years ? only in the end when i return to smaller screen and could have read thhat its just released 4 days ago. ohhhoooo thanks for bringing us the detailed tour of history . great work
When I was there in the early 2000s, there was less of a feeling of being in a museum. Now, everything is partitioned and covered in plexiglass. I remember watching Shepherd’s launch as a very young boy. Quite a thrill to wander around in such an historical place. Almost missed my flight home because I opted for the Canaveral tour, but worth it.
My dad was publisher of a magazine called Space Aeronautics when I was a kid. I grew up loving everything about rockets. Thank you for allowing us to tag along!
I am soo happy to share in seeing the Carl Claunch tour of the Space Command facilities. I got tickets for this back around 2016, and it's worth the effort totally to get to see the facilities out in Air Force/Space Command part of the base. And Carl definitely got you into Blockhouses that were NOT on the tour we went on. 👍
I watched it all on TV as a child of the 60s, and now am a retired electronics tech. Wow! How amazing has been the progress in computers and science. Thanks so much for this closer look at the original rocket ship, user interfaces and supporting tech. I learned some fun new things today 🙂
Some would call that technology dated, others would go so far as saying archaic, I see wonderfully beautiful analog wizardry. Did it smell of old electronics surplus store? Please tell me it did. I sure miss the adventures to Mendleson’s in Dayton as a kid in the 70’s. Another gift that’s sadly gone the way of condos, why do Americans seem to despise the past so much? I’m glad they’re preserving as much as they seem to be there, perhaps there is hope.
It’s the wee hours on the east coast, and it’s clear I won’t get back to sleep soon! Thanks Marc, this is compelling video. 👍👍 EDIT: I was just able to catch the Kollmorgen name on the bunker periscope, made in nearby Northampton, Mass. I worked there in the 80’s. It’s all gone now, sadly.
I went to UMass and knew a guy who got a job there. Had forgotten the name until you mentioned it. The Connecticut river valley used to be a hotbed of hi tech precision machinery until all of a sudden...it wasn't :-(
This video brings back fond memories of 25ish years ago. NASA had, the "Then and now tour". It went to some of the launch sites you highlight. I didn't really understand then what I was looking at. I was spending time remembering the launches my father and I watched on TV. Thank you for a chance to revisit those sites. Nice to have a bit more understanding of what was going on.
This was really fun to see. On my honeymoon, we went on the "normal civilian" version of that early space flight tour via the KSC visitor center, the normal visitors dismissively mentioned a few times 😅. (The extra addon tour) I found it fascinating even with just a normal small tour group and normal guide. Really fun to see those sights again. What an incredibly change in level of sophistication since then.
You look at the technology used, and it looks so crude. Some obviously purpose-built, others shoehorned into service. Impressive how it was all marshaled together to make human history. Late 50’s and early 60’s; such a special time for nascent space technology! 😊
We visited KSC and paid extra for the bus tour to the Saturn V exhibit. I have a pic of my wife standing under the engines (for scale). They are truly massive. And there are FIVE of them. To see the entire assembly, from engines to escape tower, laid out horizontally is very impressive, and something I won't soon forget. I was a little disappointed at how "Disnified" the KSC exhibit was, but I suppose that's what you have to do to attract the crowds. Charging for parking did seems to be a step over the line, though.
The manned spaceflight program was just one program of all the launch programs going on at that time. There's a period photo of all those Cape launch pads with a tower - "Missle Row." The development of launch vehicles for civillian and military applications, was the bigger story at the time.....but the manned program is what got all the press. There are thousands of nameless engineers and technicians who worked on all of these programs.
Truly amazing to see . Imagine being there in those pioneering ''Space Race" days . The workload was punishing for those guys , perhaps even more so after the fire . I couldn't have been a flight controller , no way , 2 milliseconds to make a decision & reply or Kranz hands you your arse (butt for the US!)
As a kid me and my dad visited there...1970-71 most of the old launch towers were still in place. A different time and place compared to now. One of the Apollo rockets was on the pad too.
Vanguard TV-3 may have blown up on the pad, but Vanguard-1 (which my uncle also launched), remains the oldest man-made object in space. A family legacy.
Those clocks most likely were not syncing with the WWV signal we pick up on shortwave but instead likely used the WWVB signal, which has a 60KHz carrier at 70kW power. It comes from the same location as the WWV signal, and syncs to the atomic clocks on site. A lot of radio clocks in the US still use the WWVB signal now. This was a fascinating video. I love all this historical space stuff. Thank you for taking the time to make the video and show us all of this.
@@rocketman221projects Yes as WWVB you are correct but WWVB started as KK2XEI in July 1956. At that time it was low power and not 24/7. In March 1960 they obtained WWVB call sign, but even this low power signal was deemed far more stable than the shortwave signals, so much so that there were plans for WWVL on 20KHz carrier that was going to be a world wide signal. But I will stand corrected if those clocks did not use the KK2XEI (now WWVB) in favour of the older and slightly less accurate WWV. :)
Just a note. At sometime in the 60's (as I remember) WWV was moved from Greenbelt MD operated by the Navy?) to Ft. Collins CO. They may have used wither one. WWV still as a timecode subcarrier. NIST probably has the documentation on it. I defer to others on WWVB.
@@Herby-1620 I think WWV was moved a few times before settlign where it is now. WWVB, and it's prior call sign, as far as I know, were always at Ft Collins, but if I am wrong someone will correct me :) I probably should go to the NIST website as they do have a really good article, quite a lengthy one, on the history of WWV, WWVB, WWVL and WWVH. I just am relying on my dodgy memory for now lol
🤔 So now you can have an armadillo at the end of each episode like Usagi Electric has a bunny at the end! 🤓 Fun video, I'd love to go tour those facilities as well but for now vicariously is very nice too! Thanks for sharing! 😃
Hey! I've been there! A few years ago, they were just getting started again after COVID. We only got to see the Sands Space History Center building, but it was well worth the visit. The remainder of the exhibits were closed. Great video...especially the Burroughs computer -- the maintenance console blinking away (thanks, no doubt, to an Arduino behind the scenes) and the National HRO HF receiver in the launch blockhouse. My sister-in-law has a friend who owns a condo on the beach (maybe she's Carl's neighbor) and we watched a SpaceX launch from there. Thanks, Marc, for this channel. I was first attracted by the AGC restoration, and the subsequent releases have been up to the same standard. Keep up the great work...we old hardware geeks really appreciate your work.
Cool Video! In the early 1990's as an electrical engineering junior at the University of Florida I was privileged to tour this very control room. I vividly remember the stand with the glass. I also remember walking around a corner and seeing an HP Oscilloscope and realizing why our lab scopes had Nasa property tags!
Great video. I work on the Starliner, and our building is right next to the VAB. The old Orbitor Refurbishment Building 3, aka C3PF. I've driven around around the old launch pads but have yet to take any of the tours.
My father worked for RCA Astro-Electronics in Hightstown, New Jersey working on SATCOM 🛰️ and TIROS Weather Satellite 🛰️ . The Hightstown RCA satellites 🛰️ were then sent down to Cape Canaveral and launched on board Air Force rockets 🚀
In October 1969 I was on a guided tour of the space complex. We were able to go into the blockhouse for the Mercury-Redstone launch pad and walk out to the pad and stand where the rockets stood at the launch tower. We were also allowed into the blockhouse for Pad 39B - Apollo 12 was on the pad a few weeks from launch on 39A. We also toured the vehicle assembly building and were able to walk around the transporters parked near the building. Of course, tours are very different today.
I remember in the Apollo 13 book by Jim Lovell (the one the film is based on), he said that all the astronauts were aware and accepting that they might die in space. But nobody expected that three of them would lose their lives without even leaving the launch pad. RIP to all.
Just discovered your channel and subscribed. Thank you for a very entertaining and informative episode. I plan to try and be there for a Falcon Heavy launch one day soon! A computer geek for about 55 years now, I loved the early control computer with a Core of only 256 words....I can't stop laughing as my 24GB RAM desktop plays this video. Those were the days when programmers REALLY had to understand the concept of writing "tight code" lol.
Rare shot right before the 24 min mark of the Gemini V backup crew getting out of the Pad 19 elevator. I recognized Eliot See and Neil Armstrong fully suited.
My dad and I took the historic tour some years ago. Not quite as in-depth as Carl's personalized tour, but fascinating nonetheless. The Apollo 1 pad is sobering. Also the resting place of Challenger. It's definitely worth spending a day at the Cape to see a lot of it. It's tough to see it all!
Very cool Marc. Thanks for.sharing. one of these days would love to visit the museum. But I'm on the left coast (as you folks are) so some day. "Sigh".
11:13 I mean they're kinda similar in terms of the upper-stages, but the Juno II was based on the actual Jupiter while Juno I used the Redstone. Though a similar configuration was sometimes called Jupiter-C it was still a Redstone (just used to test some components for the Jupiter). After Jupiter the next ABMA design was named Saturn, with two of the third-series of Saturn designs flying as Saturn I and Saturn V.
Back in the late 80's before the launch control had plexiglass installed over everything, Me and my father were part of the last Spaceport USA tour, and a janitor let us in and we got to touch the launch controls.
Oh damn, what a beautiful place... Lessons learned in electronic engineering, too! And the Skinner box that flew into space. Questionable ethics time, same as with Belka, Strelka and Laika... but those were the very beginnings of living organism space flights, the trails had to be blazed before humans went up there. It's easy to have high standards for research on living subjects nowadays, but certain lessons had to be learned back then, that's how we know. Sad but true. Also, I wonder if Half-Live developers visited Canaveral, Vandenberg or other launch site and drew inspiration from the early space program. Gordon Freeman launched two rockets over the course of the series, one in Black Mesa, the other in White Forest in HL2 Episode 2. Both launch sites had silos rather than launch pads on the surface, and yes, they had blockhouses with windows through which the launch could be watched. Sam Battle's favorite uniselectors indeed! Sarah Autumn of ConnectionsMuseum would surely like them too. SpaceX launch, seen live? Definitely awesome!
Spectacular launch. Armadillos when spooked at night take off running. Due to poor eyesight in darkness, you can hear when they meet a tree or log.... Thud.
Now i know the next time I build a model rocket launcher how I will rig the controller - two momentary switches in rocker covers thrown at the same time to pass the voltage to the igniter. 😉 and thanks for reminding me of my bucket list wish to get down to space coast on a vacation. 🤔😁
just the systems involved in getting those early rockets off the ground is impressive. and to see the footage from the blockhouse during the launch is captivating. it's such a shame that all of this ends up just being a footnote to apollo 11.
You used to be able to tour Patrick Air Force Base. By purchasing tickets at the KSC visitor center. One time we were allowed to visit LC-34 (Apollo 1).
It looked more like the military tradition of leaving coins on headstones. "A penny left behind means that they stopped to pay their respects. If someone leaves a nickel on a grave, it means they served in boot camp together. A dime means they both served in the military together in some capacity. If someone leaves a quarter on a grave, it means they were there when the soldier was killed."
Alot of visitors leave coins on the benches and sometimes challenge coins. Money that is left on the benches is saved up and used to purchase new flags when the ones there are worn out.
Carl can see launches from his beach front house? That’s how you retire in style folks, well done Carl!
Officially, Carl moved to Florida for "retirement"...
Secretly, Carl moved to Florida to sneak into Cape Canaveral, gaining direct access to even more historic spaceflight equipment for Marc, Ken & the restoration team. Standing by for an upcoming 500-sequel YT series on restoring Cape Canaveral Spaceforce Station - block house by block house! 😇😀
I dare say we will rebuild the Apollo Program itself one computer at a time. Just need to work on those F-1 engines.
Love the throw-away 'Look Mum No Computer' reference… I wonder how he’d re-wire the kit in one of these block houses to turn it into a musical instrument 😊
Mmmm, rocket music.
"..that was for the..." > "Burroughs guidance computer" > "..computer which is right there?" > "..this whole room is the guidance computer" --- Love it :)
As a young kid in 1960s, I was fixated on all things NASA and space related. I visited the site on the mid-1980s and felt like I was visiting a candy store of my youth. I couldn’t get enough. Thank you to Carl for being able to get Marc behind the NASA tour curtain and bringing back such wonderful memories.
The memorial to Grissom, Chaffee, and White is a somber reminder of the risk these and current astronauts take. We’ve become blasé about it since SpaceX’s routine launch without incident dulls our sense of awe at the power of these machines.
Woke up this morning, got my coffee, started RUclips, saw this posted 3 minutes ago. 🚀🌇
Morgen!
@@CuriousMarc Haha. Guten Morgen to you, too.! ;)
Goedemorgen in Dutch!
Das ist der Vorteil wenn man in Deutschland lebt.
If you're a Nazi with secrets and lucky
Came for the tour but happy to have gotten a "Carl Update" - his face was so familiar from those amazing hotel room videos! SO COOL! Love to see how well he retired and am extra happy to see him sharing his knowledge both here and at the museum.
What a treat - thanks for sharing one and all 🙏
I was a little boy when all of this happened. I remember being so amazed by it all. And I still am. Thank you Marc for a wonderful first class tour.
Fascinating.! Surprising how the Burroughs computer with so little RAM space, occupying so much space could guide rockets into space.
You don't need a lot of RAM for that kind of guidance
My Dad brought us on holiday in 1994 to Florida and of all the places that made me happy it was Cape Canaveral , going from Ireland to USA in 94' was special for most here and with not many people here with internet access or even a computer back then , all my friends wanted to know about disney and all I wanted to talk about was the fluke of landing in orlando with a titan launch the next week. So many memories of that place , best day of my life by far.
Fascinating, your channel is one of those amazing gems on RUclips, this kind of detail and access has been unheard of since the actual era of the space race. All we say was a few seconds on TV. Now 60 years later we have all this detail coming to us. Thank you so much 👏🏻🙂
This channel has consistently been an amazing source of history and knowledge that would otherwise be lost to time. Thank you so much for all the work that goes into this!
Excellent video. I was at cape caneveral many years ago, and for space X, 5 years ago MY transceivers were on a cubesat (MOVEII still transmitting), it was great to watch the launch , some of the students of the project were at the site at space X for watching and the rest at the University (LRT TUM) life, very very very exiting to watch a launch and wait for the first transmitter signals of the transceivers (expecially as it where MY PCB with my name in space now) and later to see the norad data for the path of the MOVE II after locating -- Its absolutly fantastic. I can totally feal now how all that launching feels for the contributors -- and great work Curious Marc for all the history.
Nice to see RDK here and also seeing your still doing electronics -even satellites
@@juergenschimmer960 yes still active doing a lot beside satellite communication also medical stuff as novinvasic glucose research ... But working for SPACE is really fun and challenging, also did some ballon tests before start of the satelitte into space. -- If you check the orbit at norand you can hear the sat on VHF at 145.950Mhz the morscode with its name -- upling is coded on UHF for reprogramming and more compilated is the sband at 2.Ghz, the sat needs to be positioned with the antenna towards earth ... but lot of experiments where sucessfulyl done by the students also a ESA test for special solar cells aboard worked perfectly, this was around 5 years work. Challenging was the detumbling to to a fault in the cable a magnetic motor was build. bu the detumbling using the on board coils work though never thought to be used for this -- alswys suprise in space and you cannot take your scope there to find out
he transceivers were said to be the first SDR transceivers used in cubesats in Space, the VHF/UHF module (100x100mm) uses a xilinx FPGA an mram for integrity so the sband transceiver. we run out of space a little bit on the sband , but the code can be dynamically changed and uploaded. Also the boards makes a periodic timeout and reset on the main cpu boards so no hangup shoudl occur, the antenna I protected with special EMV diodes.
Carl's perfect retirement... as a NASA docent! Good luck for us! Thanks for taking us along, KSC/CCNS another bucket list item left to do.
Marc, Dad was a Science teacher in the 50s, back when a science class was able to build rockets as a class project (the whole class on one rocket). Dad told me about building one using ~6-inch (~150-mm) in diameter! Some flew, some didn't, some drilled down into the ground instead of actually launching. I assume that he was also the Chemistry Teacher! ;)
We moved to Orlando in late '59 for a better paying job (twice his Teacher salary). Of course, he's go down to the Cape and, at first, watch the rockets blow up. I remember him coming home one day excited about the new Gemini program, so we named my new dog Gemini (pronounced like you say it, unlike the actual pronunciation (long-E sound at the end). We lived in Orlando and could step outside and watch the contrails going up.
Brings back memories. I was a very young child, just 4, when I watched Apollo 11 launch from my grandmother's house many miles away. I still remember it streaking into the sky on a pillar of flame. Astounding memory, even from so far away and so many years ago.
when i had been watching it i kept thinking ,how could i miss this video to watch for years ? only in the end when i return to smaller screen and could have read thhat its just released 4 days ago. ohhhoooo thanks for bringing us the detailed tour of history .
great work
When I was there in the early 2000s, there was less of a feeling of being in a museum. Now, everything is partitioned and covered in plexiglass. I remember watching Shepherd’s launch as a very young boy. Quite a thrill to wander around in such an historical place. Almost missed my flight home because I opted for the Canaveral tour, but worth it.
My dad was publisher of a magazine called Space Aeronautics when I was a kid. I grew up loving everything about rockets. Thank you for allowing us to tag along!
I am soo happy to share in seeing the Carl Claunch tour of the Space Command facilities. I got tickets for this back around 2016, and it's worth the effort totally to get to see the facilities out in Air Force/Space Command part of the base. And Carl definitely got you into Blockhouses that were NOT on the tour we went on. 👍
I watched it all on TV as a child of the 60s, and now am a retired electronics tech.
Wow! How amazing has been the progress in computers and science.
Thanks so much for this closer look at the original rocket ship, user interfaces and supporting tech.
I learned some fun new things today 🙂
Some would call that technology dated, others would go so far as saying archaic, I see wonderfully beautiful analog wizardry.
Did it smell of old electronics surplus store? Please tell me it did. I sure miss the adventures to Mendleson’s in Dayton as a kid in the 70’s. Another gift that’s sadly gone the way of condos, why do Americans seem to despise the past so much? I’m glad they’re preserving as much as they seem to be there, perhaps there is hope.
It’s the wee hours on the east coast, and it’s clear I won’t get back to sleep soon! Thanks Marc, this is compelling video. 👍👍
EDIT: I was just able to catch the Kollmorgen name on the bunker periscope, made in nearby Northampton, Mass. I worked there in the 80’s. It’s all gone now, sadly.
I went to UMass and knew a guy who got a job there. Had forgotten the name until you mentioned it. The Connecticut river valley used to be a hotbed of hi tech precision machinery until all of a sudden...it wasn't :-(
This video brings back fond memories of 25ish years ago. NASA had, the "Then and now tour". It went to some of the launch sites you highlight. I didn't really understand then what I was looking at. I was spending time remembering the launches my father and I watched on TV. Thank you for a chance to revisit those sites. Nice to have a bit more understanding of what was going on.
Great tour and video! Thank you for taking us with you!
This was really fun to see. On my honeymoon, we went on the "normal civilian" version of that early space flight tour via the KSC visitor center, the normal visitors dismissively mentioned a few times 😅. (The extra addon tour) I found it fascinating even with just a normal small tour group and normal guide. Really fun to see those sights again. What an incredibly change in level of sophistication since then.
You look at the technology used, and it looks so crude.
Some obviously purpose-built, others shoehorned into service.
Impressive how it was all marshaled together to make human history.
Late 50’s and early 60’s; such a special time for nascent space technology! 😊
What a time to have been alive! And no, Marc, you can't have any of the consoles! 😁
I visited a couple of years ago. Walking under the Saturn 5 rocket seeing all the stages separated
brought tears to my eyes.
It so huge , my last visit was in 2006
We visited KSC and paid extra for the bus tour to the Saturn V exhibit. I have a pic of my wife standing under the engines (for scale). They are truly massive. And there are FIVE of them. To see the entire assembly, from engines to escape tower, laid out horizontally is very impressive, and something I won't soon forget. I was a little disappointed at how "Disnified" the KSC exhibit was, but I suppose that's what you have to do to attract the crowds. Charging for parking did seems to be a step over the line, though.
Me too.
Thanks for this, Marc. Super informative. The last time I was at the Cape was in the 90's when I lived in the UK.
Up next: we'll be replicating this entire launch center's machinery and consoles from scratch!
I remember Gemini just barely. Thanks for the tour, good stuff! 🚀
Wow, thank you so much Mark and Carl for this very special tour. I enjoyed it very much.
The manned spaceflight program was just one program of all the launch programs going on at that time. There's a period photo of all those Cape launch pads with a tower - "Missle Row." The development of launch vehicles for civillian and military applications, was the bigger story at the time.....but the manned program is what got all the press. There are thousands of nameless engineers and technicians who worked on all of these programs.
Truly amazing to see . Imagine being there in those pioneering ''Space Race" days . The workload was punishing for those guys , perhaps even more so after the fire . I couldn't have been a flight controller , no way , 2 milliseconds to make a decision & reply or Kranz hands you your arse (butt for the US!)
This is really cool! The history is so interesting and being able to see it up close is even better, thank you so much for sharing!
As a kid me and my dad visited there...1970-71 most of the old launch towers were still in place. A different time and place compared to now. One of the Apollo rockets was on the pad too.
Visited in 1988...yes, it was a different place then. But still not to be missed.
Wow, what a tour! Carl is the man!
I love the look of all that gear.
Vanguard TV-3 may have blown up on the pad, but Vanguard-1 (which my uncle also launched), remains the oldest man-made object in space. A family legacy.
Now the question is..... did Ken take enough notes and photos to reverse engineer the entire system?
Those clocks most likely were not syncing with the WWV signal we pick up on shortwave but instead likely used the WWVB signal, which has a 60KHz carrier at 70kW power. It comes from the same location as the WWV signal, and syncs to the atomic clocks on site. A lot of radio clocks in the US still use the WWVB signal now.
This was a fascinating video. I love all this historical space stuff. Thank you for taking the time to make the video and show us all of this.
Fascinating detail. I caught right on when the guy mentioned NIST
WWVB didn't go on the air until 1963 and it was running much less power back then.
@@rocketman221projects Yes as WWVB you are correct but WWVB started as KK2XEI in July 1956. At that time it was low power and not 24/7. In March 1960 they obtained WWVB call sign, but even this low power signal was deemed far more stable than the shortwave signals, so much so that there were plans for WWVL on 20KHz carrier that was going to be a world wide signal.
But I will stand corrected if those clocks did not use the KK2XEI (now WWVB) in favour of the older and slightly less accurate WWV. :)
Just a note. At sometime in the 60's (as I remember) WWV was moved from Greenbelt MD operated by the Navy?) to Ft. Collins CO. They may have used wither one. WWV still as a timecode subcarrier. NIST probably has the documentation on it. I defer to others on WWVB.
@@Herby-1620 I think WWV was moved a few times before settlign where it is now. WWVB, and it's prior call sign, as far as I know, were always at Ft Collins, but if I am wrong someone will correct me :)
I probably should go to the NIST website as they do have a really good article, quite a lengthy one, on the history of WWV, WWVB, WWVL and WWVH. I just am relying on my dodgy memory for now lol
🤔 So now you can have an armadillo at the end of each episode like Usagi Electric has a bunny at the end! 🤓 Fun video, I'd love to go tour those facilities as well but for now vicariously is very nice too! Thanks for sharing! 😃
Hey! I've been there! A few years ago, they were just getting started again after COVID. We only got to see the Sands Space History Center building, but it was well worth the visit. The remainder of the exhibits were closed. Great video...especially the Burroughs computer -- the maintenance console blinking away (thanks, no doubt, to an Arduino behind the scenes) and the National HRO HF receiver in the launch blockhouse. My sister-in-law has a friend who owns a condo on the beach (maybe she's Carl's neighbor) and we watched a SpaceX launch from there.
Thanks, Marc, for this channel. I was first attracted by the AGC restoration, and the subsequent releases have been up to the same standard. Keep up the great work...we old hardware geeks really appreciate your work.
Cool Video! In the early 1990's as an electrical engineering junior at the University of Florida I was privileged to tour this very control room. I vividly remember the stand with the glass. I also remember walking around a corner and seeing an HP Oscilloscope and realizing why our lab scopes had Nasa property tags!
A very interesting video as I worked from '64 to '69 at a NASA STADAN satellite tracking station at Winkfield UK.
Great video. I work on the Starliner, and our building is right next to the VAB. The old Orbitor Refurbishment Building 3, aka C3PF. I've driven around around the old launch pads but have yet to take any of the tours.
My father worked for RCA Astro-Electronics in Hightstown, New Jersey working on SATCOM 🛰️ and TIROS Weather Satellite 🛰️ . The Hightstown RCA satellites 🛰️ were then sent down to Cape Canaveral and launched on board Air Force rockets 🚀
Great history. Fascinating projects that were the peak of human ingenuity and dedication to accomplishing a seemingly impossible goal.
In October 1969 I was on a guided tour of the space complex. We were able to go into the blockhouse for the Mercury-Redstone launch pad and walk out to the pad and stand where the rockets stood at the launch tower. We were also allowed into the blockhouse for Pad 39B - Apollo 12 was on the pad a few weeks from launch on 39A. We also toured the vehicle assembly building and were able to walk around the transporters parked near the building. Of course, tours are very different today.
I remember in the Apollo 13 book by Jim Lovell (the one the film is based on), he said that all the astronauts were aware and accepting that they might die in space. But nobody expected that three of them would lose their lives without even leaving the launch pad. RIP to all.
Just discovered your channel and subscribed. Thank you for a very entertaining and informative episode. I plan to try and be there for a Falcon Heavy launch one day soon! A computer geek for about 55 years now, I loved the early control computer with a Core of only 256 words....I can't stop laughing as my 24GB RAM desktop plays this video. Those were the days when programmers REALLY had to understand the concept of writing "tight code" lol.
Rare shot right before the 24 min mark of the Gemini V backup crew getting out of the Pad 19 elevator. I recognized Eliot See and Neil Armstrong fully suited.
Thank you very much for sharing this entertaining round trip. Also thanks to the guide
Thanks Marc for the wounderbar content as always!
Greetings from Barbados 🇧🇧. This is a great video.
If you want original comes to Evans Area in NJ.. I love the panels of meters that dance!
Thank you Carl, and Marc for the personal tour.
Always love a good museum visit with Marc and the crew :) Nice to see Carl again, too. Next up: New Guinea and the ESA site? ;)
My dad and I took the historic tour some years ago. Not quite as in-depth as Carl's personalized tour, but fascinating nonetheless. The Apollo 1 pad is sobering. Also the resting place of Challenger. It's definitely worth spending a day at the Cape to see a lot of it. It's tough to see it all!
Very cool Marc. Thanks for.sharing. one of these days would love to visit the museum. But I'm on the left coast (as you folks are) so some day. "Sigh".
11:13 I mean they're kinda similar in terms of the upper-stages, but the Juno II was based on the actual Jupiter while Juno I used the Redstone. Though a similar configuration was sometimes called Jupiter-C it was still a Redstone (just used to test some components for the Jupiter). After Jupiter the next ABMA design was named Saturn, with two of the third-series of Saturn designs flying as Saturn I and Saturn V.
Carls looking good! Retirement’s treating him right!
Back in the late 80's before the launch control had plexiglass installed over everything, Me and my father were part of the last Spaceport USA tour, and a janitor let us in and we got to touch the launch controls.
Oh damn, what a beautiful place... Lessons learned in electronic engineering, too! And the Skinner box that flew into space. Questionable ethics time, same as with Belka, Strelka and Laika... but those were the very beginnings of living organism space flights, the trails had to be blazed before humans went up there. It's easy to have high standards for research on living subjects nowadays, but certain lessons had to be learned back then, that's how we know. Sad but true.
Also, I wonder if Half-Live developers visited Canaveral, Vandenberg or other launch site and drew inspiration from the early space program. Gordon Freeman launched two rockets over the course of the series, one in Black Mesa, the other in White Forest in HL2 Episode 2. Both launch sites had silos rather than launch pads on the surface, and yes, they had blockhouses with windows through which the launch could be watched.
Sam Battle's favorite uniselectors indeed! Sarah Autumn of ConnectionsMuseum would surely like them too.
SpaceX launch, seen live? Definitely awesome!
Spectacular launch. Armadillos when spooked at night take off running. Due to poor eyesight in darkness, you can hear when they meet a tree or log.... Thud.
That's my buddy carl! Super smart guy and knows his history!!
Cool beans. I remember all of the manned launches. I watched every launch televised....
8:29 Expecting Sam from This Museum Is Not Obsolete to come in here and wax lyrical about the beauty of the wire lacing.
Thanks for the tour it was great, and it good to see Carl again.
I love the old consoles. They have such a navy feel to them :)
Beautiful video, hope to visit a rocket launch once in my life.
Love this early space race stuff. What a treat
Now i know the next time I build a model rocket launcher how I will rig the controller - two momentary switches in rocker covers thrown at the same time to pass the voltage to the igniter. 😉 and thanks for reminding me of my bucket list wish to get down to space coast on a vacation. 🤔😁
just the systems involved in getting those early rockets off the ground is impressive. and to see the footage from the blockhouse during the launch is captivating. it's such a shame that all of this ends up just being a footnote to apollo 11.
Always fascinating!
this is so kool to see :) carl is the koolest :) thanks so much :)
Thanks for sharing. Amazing
You used to be able to tour Patrick Air Force Base. By purchasing tickets at the KSC visitor center.
One time we were allowed to visit LC-34 (Apollo 1).
You mean Cape Canaveral, Patrick is about 30 minutes south of the cape
I stand corrected. 👍
I'm glad I went to Google maps before trying to argue.😅
@@brianb8060 Its actually a common mistake! Google map with the satellite view and check out all the pads from space! Alot of history there!
This channel is a gem! Fantastic videos and content.
I see Ken has been taking detailed photos as you progress through the tour. I am sure he will have a working prototype ready for test before bedtime !
I saw it here first:) so excited for a new video!
Great as always.
wow went there many times but never got to see this. part of a tour hope i can check it out on a future visit looks super cool
Excellent video. Thx
Cudos to Marc for correct pronunciation of Sputnik. FYI for everyone else: It's pronounced as Spoot-nick
Hey you were just in my neck of the woods! (Not woods, more like ocean). Would've killed to have been able to say hello! :)
awesome episode, with the launch at the end topping it !
Brill video thanks - more 🙂
So, can we count the armadillo as having its own "blockhouse"?
Fantastic!
Amazing
Great video! And a nice "Usagi outro" 😂
great video. Now I just need to go back to Florida...
Great vid !!
17:43 the redstones launch really does look like a v2 lauch with the boom falling away and the rocket sitting on a tiny pad.
I am 100% convinced one day marc will launch a rocket, controled by AGCs, HP 85s and a couple of arduinos
a couple of arduinos will suffice i guess
Were those challenge coins on the Roger Chaffee bench? Left in tribute?
Some on Ed White's bench also.
It looked more like the military tradition of leaving coins on headstones. "A penny left behind means that they stopped to pay their respects. If someone leaves a nickel on a grave, it means they served in boot camp together. A dime means they both served in the military together in some capacity. If someone leaves a quarter on a grave, it means they were there when the soldier was killed."
@@Scrizati, thanks for the info, I noticed those coins as well.
Alot of visitors leave coins on the benches and sometimes challenge coins. Money that is left on the benches is saved up and used to purchase new flags when the ones there are worn out.
lol next time on curiousmarc, we are working on repairing and reviving this historic launch site.. (cue elevator music and history lesson)
Did you get to see the 1960's tracking telemetry antennas ?
Is it possible to book a tour like you had ?
Thanks Dave