NASA Visit Part 2

  This is a continuation of my NASA visit that I started back a week ago.  We took a shuttle bus around the complex and saw a few neat things....like the assembly building

    This was used to build the Apollo Saturn V rocket and then the Space shuttle.  There was a Space X rocket inside getting ready for a launch to the ISS in orbit.   While we were driving around, we also saw one of the crawlers used to move a rocket 1 mile an hour from the assembly building to the launch pad.

The crawler is controlled from two control cabs located at either end of the vehicle, and travels along the 5.6 km (3.5 mi) crawlerway at a maximum speed of 1.6 km/h (1 mph) loaded, or 3.2 km/h (2 mph) unloaded. The average trip time from the VAB along the Crawlerway to Launch Complex 39 is about five hours.Each crawlerway is 2 m (7 ft) deep and covered with Alabama and Tennessee river rock for its low friction properties to reduce the possibility of sparks. In 2000, NASA unearthed and restored an Apollo-era segment of the crawlerway to provide access to a high-bay building in order to provide protection from a hurricane.
Kennedy Space Center has been using the same two crawlers, nicknamed "Hans" and "Franz",since their initial delivery in 1965. In their lifetime, they have traveled more than 5,500 km (3,400 mi), about the same driving distance as from Miami to Seattle.

The crawlers were overhauled in 2003 with upgrades to the Motor Control Center, which houses the switchgear and electrical controls of all of major systems on board, a new engine and pump ventilation system and new diesel engine radiators, and replacement of the two driver cabs on each vehicle (one on each end). As of 2003, each crawler had 16 traction motors, powered by four 1,000 kW (1,341 hp) generators, in turn driven by two 2,050 kW (2,750 hp) V16 ALCO 251C diesel engines. Two 750 kW (1,006 hp) generators, driven by two 794 kW (1,065 hp) engines, were used for jacking, steering, lighting, and ventilating. Two 150 kW (201 hp) generators were also available to power the Mobile Launcher Platform. The crawler's tanks held 19,000 liters (5,000 U.S. gal) of diesel fuel, and it burned 296 liters per kilometer (125.7 U.S. gal/mi). Due to its age and the need to support the heavier Space Launch System and its launch tower, in mid-2012 one of the crawlers was undergoing an upgrade involving "new engines, new exhausts, new brakes, new hydraulics, new computers," to increase its lifting capacity from 5,400,000 to 8,200,000 kg (12,000,000 to 18,000,000 lb).

* The overall length and width of the Crawler is 131 by 113 feet.

* The Crawler burns a gallon of diesel every 42 feet, or gets about 0.008 mpg.

* The water pump is a 75hp electric motor, and the cooling system holds 500 gallons.

* The Crawler has six mufflers, the heaviest coming in at more than 3,000 pounds.

* Two eight-cylinder White-Superior 1,065hp motors are used just for electric and hydraulic power.

* For power, the Crawler uses two 2,750hp, 16-cylinder Alco diesel engines to power sixteen 375hp electric motors.

* Just the Crawler itself, without the Shuttle, is still three stories high.

* Each track (or shoe) on the Crawler weighs 2,200 pounds-and there are 456 of them.

* The Crawler's fuel tank will hold 5,000 gallons, giving it a range of about 40 miles.

* The Crawler is wide enough to take up an entire four-lane freeway-all lanes in both directions.

* The instruction manual on how to start and warm up the Crawler is 39 pages.

* Although there are up to 30 people monitoring various systems, the Crawler can actually be driven by just one person.

* There is a speedometer on the Crawler-from 0-2 mph.

* From the vertical assembly building to the launch platform is a little more than 4 miles. The Crawler can make it in about a day.

* The Crawler's drive system (think rear axle ratio) has a gear ratio of 168:1.

* The Crawler has to tilt the 12-million-pound shuttle and platform at up to 5 degrees to keep it perfectly level on the way to the platform.

* A Crawler can move the slightest distance (for example, only 1/8-inch) if it needs to.

* Both Crawlers, combined, have traveled thousands of miles since being built.

The bus also took us to the Saturn V building, where they had a Saturn V rocket laid down on a platform, kinda like we saw in Huntsville a few years ago. 

   We also saw the origional camper that they used for the Apollo Astronauts to the platform.

  I also took another pic of the First Stage rocket...

    We saw a lot of artifacts, including "Snoopy"

Snoopy was used as a mascot for the space program, he also was used to award people in NASA for doing exemplary things.  Charles M Schultz was happy to have NASA use snoopy on the sole condition that "He" would draw him and nobody else.  And with no royalties involved.
     We also saw the Apollo 11 symbol,

They had all the Apollo Missions patches shown,  My phone by this time was giving me the "Bong of Death".  so I could only take a few more pictures.
     They had set up the mission control room as it looked back in 1968, and it was real neat!

They played the launch sequence from 12:00 out until launch and they would light up the stations as the sequence played out for the launch.

And of course the media had access to the control room during the launch..

  I enjoyed the visit immensely and would like to go back, the picture above was the last picture my phone took before it ran out of power.  They had moon rock exhibits, a food court, slightly overpriced but it was what it was.  My inner geek was very happy.  I want to spend an entire day just in the Saturn building and really look at everything. 

   I really wanted this....would have fit in with my other Haynes Manuals

Some musings on a Saturday...

I have some musings that are bubbling around my head while I am assembling my NASA part 2 post.  So I will post the musings and keep rolling on the NASA post and then the shooting evaluation post.   First off, I worked 12 hours Overtime so that slowed me down a bit but I don't complain:)

 I was catching up on my reading and Peter posted a comment and a cartoon linkie to his site talking about the moral relativism that is seen today. There is a line that I remember from Babylon 5 from a movie of the series called "In the Beginning"

  I believe that we have a problem as a nation, the lack of morals and lack of a spine that our society has shown.  We no longer have the fire and integrity as a nation that made us the beacon of the free world.
   Here is the cartoon that started the thinking.

   it is a good cartoon and says much.   I believe that God does love us unconditionally but we will have to make an accounting for our actions with St Peter and the ledger when we reach the Pearly Gates

  And finally a last thought, I had a fellow blogger who went by the name "American Mercenary"  and his blog was "Random thoughts and guns".  His was a military centered blog with some personal experience thrown in. To me he wasn't particularly political but it dealt in military tactics and future developments.  Well he abruptly pulled the plug on his blog and shut it down.  his reason was as follows:

---

Bob | Wednesday, Oct. 7th | View on http://randomthoughtsandguns.blogspot.com/ Hey AM; I hate to ask, what is going on? If you must go, then thank you for all the good stuff you had posted, I found it all useful ...

AM replied | Wednesday, Oct. 7th | View on http://randomthoughtsandguns.blogspot.com/ Someone aggregated enough personal information about my real life to trigger my "cut sling load" criteria. I use an alias when I blog as do a lot of others, it is sad that there are trolls out there that see great joy in running people off the internet.    I have been following his blog almost as long as OldNFO,Murphy, Peter and Momma Fargo.  He had problems with certain marines that took offense that their corp wasn't the pinnacle of Military services and the  end all and be all of all the services when he made comments about the F35(white elephant) and that the Marines were sacrificing their future air assets on this plane to keep their dedicated air assets.  Any criticism even if it was constructive was anathema to the hard core.  I wonder if those are the ones that shut him down.   I find blogging therapeutic, it helps me get my thoughts out and organize them, and it makes me a better writer.

"Number one with a bullet"

This is a quick post as I still wade through my schedule...

 I ran across this video from Bill Whittle from "Afterburner".  I like his videos partly because he lets the imaging tell the story without overloading the viewer.  His dry wit and humor add to the impact of the video story.

Busier than a....You guessed it!

I went out of town on a company trip and just got back and my schedule is jacked up like a

 I had tried to post my NASA Post part 2 before I left. and was unable to.  I didn't take my laptop with me like I wanted to.  Internet was iffy where I was.  I also did an ammo shoot for Eric of Ammoman on Sunday before I left so I also have that post to do and I missed my "Monday Music".  Needless I am busier than a ...

   Yep....You guessed it..

    Read the folks on my sidebar, they are good reads and are better at this stuff than I am.

My NASA trip...Part 1

I would have posted this earlier in the week but some stuff happened during the week  and it got pushed off to the back burner.  I mentioned that we had returned from a Disney Cruise...Nobody does it like Disney....sure there is a lot of kids on board, but there is stuff for the adults, and unlike other cruise lines, all of your cost is up front, you ain't nickel and dimed like some of the other cruise lines.

Well we got off the boat in Port Canaveral and what is next to the Port....Matter of fact we could see it from the port...

That is the huge assembly building used for the Apollo and shuttle missions..used to prep the ship for launch.   More on that in a few.
    Well we drove there, we had left the car parked at the Disney Terminal at the Port.  We used my "Waze" app on my kinda smart phone and went right there.  We got out and I being the camera person that I am...got a pic of the kid in front of the NASA emblem..

  He looked totally thrilled.....He hates having his picture taken...so what do I do....take his picture...It is a Dad thing.  We also saw the memorial monument to  President John F Kennedy,

We also saw that is called "The Rocket Garden".

This pic of the Rocket Garden was snagged off "Google".  My phone was being cantankerous and wouldn't function so I didn't take the picture like I wanted.  Oh well, this will facilitate another trip down there later for the missed opportunities. 
     We walked around and headed to the "Atlantis exhibit",   The first thing we saw walking up to it was the boosters.

 

  All I can say is that they were huge.   We were ushered into an auditorium that showed the video of the initial development of the shuttle back in 1971.

   This video was a bit different than what was shown, but you will recognize some of the stuff from the video that I do have pictures of.   After the video was over, we were released into the shuttle display area, the first thing we saw was the shuttle itself..

  The actual shuttle itself, very impressive.  I walked around and saw a lot of things and my inner geek was impressed.  

I also took a picture of the space tiles that imitially caused problems for the shuttle, they had tiles dropping off on the shuttle and NASA had to work hard to find a solution to the shuttle tile dropping off...I remembered seeing pictures of the shuttle looking like she had mange from the tiles that would not stay on the ship.

They got the problem fixed....the tiles protected the shuttle during reentry so she wouldn't burn up like a meteor and the tiles worked...except when they were damaged in the case of the Columbia tragedy.   I saw the interior of the shuttle and they had the docking arm deployed and it was a neat view.

 I couldn't get a good view of the docking arm because of the way it was situated and I had people all over the place.  Oh well...
    Here was the inspiration for the shuttle from the Chief Mercury program engineer, he used it to show the next step of the program in 1971.

 They also had the camper that they used to transport the astronauts to the launch station.

     This was used to transport the astronauts to the launch platform, the astronauts used to carry their own cooling units and to help keep them cool, they would give them a ride in this camper.
     I also saw the remembrance area for the astronauts that died in the shuttle disasters. 

   I saw memento's from all the astronauts, I was again amazed how many of them had ties to the Boy Scouts.  The timeless value's that are taught humbled me and made me proud of being part of this organization.  I also saw part of the Challenger's hull.

  They also had part of the Columbia shuttle there.

  It was sobering seeing all this stuff.   I will post more on the 2nd part of my visit to NASA in a day or 2.  I was walking around seeing this stuff and a part of me was saddened, This almost reminded me of our nation living in the past, that our best days are behind us and we are sliding into mediocrity.  To me the space program represented America and that we grounded the shuttle fleet and now have to pay the Russians exorbitant amount of money to get our astronauts to the space station is appalling. 
      I did enjoy the visit immensely, my inner geek was pleased.  I did miss on the opportunity to see Astronaut Carr from the Skylab missions,

This is from my collection of stuff in my man cave.

I remembered my blogging about Skylab back in 2012, and that I was angry that NASA didn't try to save her in the late 70's.  I had written letters to NASA and to President Carter at the time, my 13 year old anger couldn't understand why they let her burn up.  I will post in a day or 2 the second part of my visit to the Saturn V building....*WOW* and the journey around the complex.

Now a rant........on the school shooting.

Well yesterday we had that deranged man kill 9 people and wound a bunch of others....and before the blood was cold, we had the liar in chief lecture us for 12 minutes on gun control.He was almost gleeful, this shooting will dominate the news cycle. it will pull the abortion known as his middle East policies off the front page, gotta worry about a legacy you know.....At Umpqua college, the liberals had their wish, it was a totally gun free zone....nobody had guns...even the security guard that was there was unarmed...

    The liberals had what they wanted....no guns.....and look what happened...dang...it is like criminals disobey laws.......Really?   wonder when the dose of reality showed up...
    It doesn't fail, we have a shooting in a "gun free zone" then we have the same suspects immediately start their clarion call for gun control....".gotta get rid of those old nasty guns....so only the government will have them.....it works soo well in Chicago..."

          I heard some sport caster, "wish I could recall his name."..made the comment that "Americans have blown their rights and need to have them curtailed..".  Now the following language will be NSFW and cover the eyes of small children..."Who the fuck does this asshole thinks that my inalienable rights are "blown" and need to be restricted...he has no idea what the bill of rights is for, the bill of rights are our protection against tyranny from either government or individual.

   Gun control will not work...it is trying to legislate morality and guns are an inanimate object totally lacking in the ability of right and wrong.   The shooter determines the good or evil.  The president talked about gun ownership is falling in America.....The latest polls say so.....right....when somebody you don't know ask if you have guns in the house....you tell the truth.....right?.....totally honest....right?......sure...when somebody strange ask me if I have guns in the house...I lie like a cheap rug...it is nobody's  business what guns I have.....
     What will fix the problem?   gun control won't fix the problem...what is causing the problem is a lack of morality in this country....life is cheap here.....there is no respect for human life anymore....we have planned parenthood selling baby parts and nobody seems to care.  We have as a society have lost the ability to tell right and wrong and this will continue...especially when the shooter sees this as their 15 minute of fame. 

School shooting......Here we go again.....

School Shooting in Umpqua Oregon.  .....Our prayers and thoughts go out to the community...

    Awaiting new details...

      And I have heard the rejoicing already from the usual candidates...

Classy.....can't wait for the facts...gotta push the cause.

Quick Humor...

I still am writing my "NASA" post with Pictures..*Yay*!!, but I decided to throw some humor out there.....because I am like that.....

I saw this in my morning surfing and I decided to google it and get some more stuff..

This is a humorous rendition of a brain of a SJW.   Those creatures that exist on pure emotion and live in the here and now....Logical thought and long term insight are lacking in these creatures.

  I always to shock people  by making comments about my clubbing baby seals in the early 80's.  The look of horror is so worth it.   I almost feel sorry for the SJW's, their cause is so fleeting and always looking for the next cause to feel relevant in today's world.   They have forsaken honor and integrity in their  search for the next great cause, and when they can't find them..they turn angry and bitter and are further excluded by their fellow humans.....they turn to this...

  Ask Murphy about the crazy cat people down the street ...

    And finally....

I have a strange sense of humor.........

Monday Music "Major Tom" Peter Schilling and David Bowie

  I decided to roll with this song partly because I always liked it, it has a cool beat and the video is interesting also.  We went and visited NASA at the Kennedy Space center and my inner geek did rejoice.  So since we went to NASA and saw some really cool stuff, I figured to use this song. 
    I remembered this song when it hit MTV, you know MTV...back when they played Music video's

They used an astronaut in their promo's on the TV, the flag would change colors as the music played, and you tube even has it on file...Yay...

This was back when MTV was good...before it sucked...
    Sorry I was distracted....*Ooooh  a shiney!*   Like I was saying, this song made a lot of runs on MTV, this helped push the song up to number 14 on the American charts in 1983. 

Error in the System is the first English album by German singer Peter Schilling, and is literally the English counterpart to the German album Fehler im System. The English and German version have been combined and sold as a single box set in several parts of the world.

"Major Tom (Coming Home)" (German: Major Tom (völlig losgelöst), translation: "Major Tom (totally disconnected)"), is a song by singer Peter Schilling from his album Error in the System. With a character unofficially related to "Major Tom", the theme of David Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity, the song is about the character being caught in an accident in space.
The song was originally recorded in German, and released in West Germany on January 3, 1983. It reached #1 in West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The English version was first released in the United States on September 24, 1983. It reached #1 in Canada, #14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in late 1983, and #4 in South Africa. The English-language version of the song also reached number two on the dance chart in the U.S.
In 1994, Schilling made and released a remixed version along with Bomm Bastic, titled "Major Tom 94". Another remix was released in 2000, titled "Major Tom 2000", and yet another in 2003 titled "Major Tom 2003".
   
Major Tom is a fictional astronaut referenced in David Bowie's songs "Space Oddity", "Ashes to Ashes", and "Hello Spaceboy" (particularly in the remix by the Pet Shop Boys). Bowie's own interpretation of the character evolved throughout his career. 1969's "Space Oddity" depicts an astronaut who casually slips the bonds of the world to journey beyond the stars. In the 1980 song "Ashes to Ashes," Bowie reinterprets Major Tom as an oblique autobiographical symbol for himself. Major Tom is described as a "junkie, strung out in heavens high, hitting an all-time low". This lyric was interpreted as a play on the title of Bowie's 1977 album Low, which charted his withdrawal following his drug abuse in the United States. Additionally, the choked and self-recriminating tone used in the lyrics "Time and again I tell myself I'll stay clean tonight." reinforces an autobiographical and retrospective interpretation. A short time later, there is another reversal of Major Tom's original withdrawal, turning 'outwards' or towards space.

In 1983, Peter Schilling continued the story of Major Tom in his hit single "Major Tom (Coming Home)". Other artists who have subsequently made substantial contributions to the Major Tom story include K.I.A. and The Tea Party, among others. Due to some similarities in Elton John's "Rocket Man", there is a possible connection between the Rocket Man and Major Tom, a connection notably made by Bowie himself, who while singing Space Oddity in concert would sometimes call out, "Oh, Rocket Man!"

In "Space Oddity", from the 1969 album David Bowie (later retitled Space Oddity), Major Tom's departure from Earth is successful and everything goes according to plan. At a certain point during the travel ('past one hundred thousand miles'), he thinks that "my spaceship knows which way to go" and proceeds to say "Tell my wife I love her very much." Control then informs him, "Ground Control to Major Tom: your circuit's dead, there's something wrong" and attempts to reestablish contact with Major Tom. Tom's final words in the song (possibly not heard by Ground Control) are: "Here... am I floating in my tin can, far above the Moon. Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do."
In the 1969 music video version, David Bowie plays as Major Tom, Ground Control (GC), and the Countdown Announcer. When the lyrics "And the stars look very different today" are said, two lovely women appear, portraying either angels or aliens, or perhaps both. The moment "Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles, I'm feeling very still" are said, the two women can be seen removing Major Tom's helmet and spacesuit. Later a still fully outfitted Major Tom can be seen spinning around in space, with a panicked Ground Control attempting to contact him; the spinning Major Tom is either the reality of the situation, or Ground Control's imagination. The music video ends with Major Tom sitting in his tin can, far above the Moon, with the two women by his side in a ménage à trois style.
In 1980, Bowie created a sequel entitled "Ashes to Ashes". The song was a Number 1 hit single and also appeared on his Number 1 LP Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). The song doesn't actually say much about Major Tom, except to call him a "junkie" (slang for a person with a heroin addiction or other compulsive habit). The context of the lyrics seems to indicate that the song is mainly about Bowie's own soul searching, rather than a literal continuation of the Major Tom story. There is an inclusion of saying "strung out in heavens high, hitting an all time low" referring to him getting high on heroin, while his life is low.

In Peter Schilling's 1983 song "Major Tom (Coming Home)" Tom sends a final message, "Give my wife my love..." with no transmissions back to Earth from that point. He then declares that he's "coming home", being commanded by the light, which can be taken to refer to the afterlife. The associated music video also shows an object falling back through the atmosphere, presumably either Major Tom or his ship. In this song the word "light" in "now the Light commands" is often heard or transcribed as "life" but the liner notes of the Error in the System LP (and the original German) confirm the word "light." The German-language version "Völlig losgelöst" is contained in Schilling's 1983 German LP Fehler im System. Both albums also contain a different song without lyrics entitled "Major Tom, Part II". In 1994, Schilling teamed with Bomm-Bastic to record a sped-up Techno-Trance Mix of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" that was released in English and German versions under the EP title of Major Tom '94. A recent cover, renamed "Major Tom", was released in 2009 by the American rock band Shiny Toy Guns and later featured in a commercial for the Lincoln MKZ.