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Working up from the bottom, here are the seams between the smooth stressed skin and the reinforced sections of the Saturn Five Rocket. It is displayed horizontally at Cape Canaveral but is shown here vertically to allow the sequence of pieces to make sense, so the context might look a little strange. More to follow.

Gemini Control Panels

Racks of control panels for the Gemini program in one of the launch block houses at Cape Canaveral.

Gemini Control Panels

Gemini Control Panels

Clocks, Gemini Launch Site

Gemini Control Panels

Gemini Control Panels

Gemini Control Panels

Lunar Module

Another stereoscopic view of the Lunar Module on show at Cape Canaveral. The stereoscopy helps lift it our of the noisy distracting background. I will post a bunch more things from Cape Canaveral this week – after the first trip we took a second round some of the older launch sites.

Lunar Module

An exterior view of the lunar module. A few people have commented that some of my drawing instruments resemble this craft, and the legs of Instruments Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight have similar leg geometry although the sections and character of the legs are very different – and they are tripods rather than quadrupeds (the Lunar Module is the latter). They also share a two part organisation with a lower supporting element holding the more active programs. There was certainly never any intention to mimic the lunar module in the drawing instruments but it is something I like very much –  a simple interior with program shrink wrapped around it.

This is from the Saturn Five Hall at Cape Canaveral, and the architecture of the hall provides a noisy background for this wonderful object so I have posted a close up of the core of the Lunar Module. I also took some wider views where it separated from the background when viewed stereoscopically. I might post some more general views later.

As usual, to view the images in 3D go cross-eyed until a common feature in the two images registers over the other image. Try to relax for the three dimensional depth to improve. If you are finding it hard to register, shift your head slightly to get the horizon to align.

Lunar Module Interior

An interior view of the Lunar Module – thanks again for the drawings, Anne!

Crawler driving past VAB

Some more views of the crawler. The view above is from the interior of the Vehicle Assembly Building  as the crawler is driving by. The images below are of the same crawler driving towards the launch sites, with attendant water spray trucks.

Crawler

Crawler seen from Launch Control Centre

The crawler carried the Saturn Five rockets of the Apollo program and the Space shuttles to the launch sites, keeping the load level as it climbed the hill up to the launch pad. Here is a view of a naked crawler (without the steel box that holds the rocket during launch) crawling towards the launch sites. We were told it was testing its new disc brakes. The view is from the launch control centre.

Crawler

It runs on a bed of rocks buried six feet in the ground.

Crawler

You can see the new disk brakes at the end of the engines, with the callipers painted bright blue

Crawler

Crawler

Crawler

I will post a few more pictures of the crawler when I have a minute.

Saturn Five Rocket Motor

Rocket motors from the giant Saturn Five rockets, the lowest stage above and the middle stage below.

Usual procedure for viewing them in 3D. The lower image works well and is quite an easy one to register, if you normally have trouble getting the three dimensions.

Saturn Five Rocket Motors

De-mating crane

When the Space Shuttles landed in California they were flown back to Cape Canaveral on top of a modified Boeing 747. The De-mating crane is there to separate the two craft.

As usual, to view the stereoscopic pair go cross-eyed until a common feature in both images resolves into one image in the moddle. Try to relax to get the full stereoscopic depth. You will see three images when the images are resolved – concentrate on the middle one. If you have difficulty doing this, make the image smaller until you find it easy to locate one image over the other.