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  #1  
Old 10-08-2017, 07:07 PM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Default Huntsville Displays

Anybody need a specific photo from the USSRC/MSFC at Huntsville? I'm taking my daughter tomorrow and can shoot a pic or two if the weather cooperates and if we have time.
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Old 10-09-2017, 07:36 AM
Faithwalker Faithwalker is offline
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Hi Tbzep,
Pics of the Atlas D and the Nike Hercules would be appreciated, if you get the chance.

Thanks!

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
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  #3  
Old 10-09-2017, 10:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Faithwalker
Hi Tbzep,
Pics of the Atlas D and the Nike Hercules would be appreciated, if you get the chance.

Thanks!

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR


I checked my email around 7:00 this morning and you hadn't replied yet. I only took a couple photos of those two because we were trying to get through the museum/rocket park in time to eat a bite and make the 12:30 bus tour. If I had thought to check the forum again after the tour and Imax movie I'd have run back out to the rocket park for a bunch of detail shots. I'll get the few I have up and post a link for you in the next night or two as soon as I figure out where to host such large files. They are 24mp images, but I'm afraid I just took quick shots and didn't do anything for composition or detail.

For those like me that haven't been to Huntsville in decades, there have been some changes. The bus tour now stops and lets you get out and up close and personal with the Redstone test stand. We just drove by it the last time I did the bus tour. The other two stops included the ISS Payload Ops Center and the Marshall propulsion research hub which had a real SRB sitting outside that flew on the first shuttle launch. When I was a kid we got off the bus at the "Flat Floor" building (think of the perfect supersized air hockey floor, but in reverse) which is still in use, and the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, which has now been decommissioned. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, well beyond the rehearsed stuff. He welcomed questions and he got only one question he couldn't answere and he admitted he didn't know instead of BS'ing regarding a question asked if all engines were test fired before being flown on a mission.

Most of the main museum stuff and quite a bit of the stuff from the rocket park was missing, which really upset me considering the trip was for my daughter. I was relieved that nearly all of it had been restored and put in the big Saturn V building. The big Saturn looked wonderful. It was pitiful looking the last time I saw it outside. Of course, the payload (LEM shroud, SM and LEM) were all fake and the big solid motor portion of the escape tower was way too short. The CM was painted up like a Little Joe II test round. The Titan missile that was laying by the Saturn outside is gone, hopefully to get refurbished and displayed. The NERVA engine was gone, but there was one at the last stop of the bus tour, possibly the same one. I didn't see the old X-15 mockup either.

The SR-71 has been painted and now looks like a plastic model. That's one bird that looked better in its original old flat paint (burned paint?), but I understand it had to be done to preserve it. Too bad it couldn't have been put inside from day one to preserve the real finish.

I remember several interstage sections being used as buildings last time, but I only noticed one of them today. I started searching and found that they had a fire in one a couple years ago. The G-Force Accelerator ride was closed and was only surrounded by a 3 ft fence. Last time I was there it was completely hidden from view by a high wall and was running. The LEM mockup located in the rocket park's gold paint has turned orange. They have a CH-47 Chinook in the area that the 2nd stage of the Saturn V formerly occupied, which seems odd, but they had a lot of Army stuff displayed inside the museum area to tie in with it, including a rock climbing wall. We know how closely related a rock climbing wall is to the MSFC and NASA missions.
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Last edited by tbzep : 10-09-2017 at 10:38 PM.
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  #4  
Old 10-09-2017, 10:43 PM
Faithwalker Faithwalker is offline
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Hi Tbzep,
Thanks for the update! It's nice to know some care is being taken to preserve the artifacts they have there. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

Just curious, where in Tennessee do you live? Do you ever come to Memphis to fly with Mid-South Rocket Society?

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR
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  #5  
Old 10-09-2017, 10:47 PM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Faithwalker
Hi Tbzep,
Thanks for the update! It's nice to know some care is being taken to preserve the artifacts they have there. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

Just curious, where in Tennessee do you live? Do you ever come to Memphis to fly with Mid-South Rocket Society?

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR

I'm half way between Memphis and Nashville. My son and I went down there several years ago and flew with YORF members Barone (Don) and DaveR. I haven't seen either of them post here in a long time.

BTW, here is a Google Drive link to 5 images of the Atlas and Nike Herc. There were people standing in front of the tail and I never got back over there to get a shot of the business end.

https://drive.google.com/drive/fold...RmM?usp=sharing
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  #6  
Old 10-09-2017, 10:49 PM
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Speaking of the Atlas, they used to have an air compressor to keep the tanks pressurized that would kick on every little bit. I never heard it kick on when I was around it today. Maybe they got some leaks sealed where it seldom has to kick on.
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  #7  
Old 10-09-2017, 11:45 PM
Faithwalker Faithwalker is offline
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Tbzep,
Thanks for the photos! Both the Atlas and the Nike Hercules have seen better days. Perhaps, they'll be getting a face lift before long, too.

I'll be traveling near your area to Linden, TN this coming weekend. We have an annual camporee there for Royal Ambassadors (boys 1st-6th grades). We average about 600-800 in attendance with lots of fun activities including Pinewood Derby cars and all kinds of outdoor activities. We plan to have some model rocket exhibition launches there also.

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR
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  #8  
Old 10-11-2017, 01:21 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I checked my email around 7:00 this morning and you hadn't replied yet. I only took a couple photos of those two because we were trying to get through the museum/rocket park in time to eat a bite and make the 12:30 bus tour. If I had thought to check the forum again after the tour and Imax movie I'd have run back out to the rocket park for a bunch of detail shots. I'll get the few I have up and post a link for you in the next night or two as soon as I figure out where to host such large files. They are 24mp images, but I'm afraid I just took quick shots and didn't do anything for composition or detail.

For those like me that haven't been to Huntsville in decades, there have been some changes. The bus tour now stops and lets you get out and up close and personal with the Redstone test stand. We just drove by it the last time I did the bus tour. The other two stops included the ISS Payload Ops Center and the Marshall propulsion research hub which had a real SRB sitting outside that flew on the first shuttle launch. When I was a kid we got off the bus at the "Flat Floor" building (think of the perfect supersized air hockey floor, but in reverse) which is still in use, and the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, which has now been decommissioned. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, well beyond the rehearsed stuff. He welcomed questions and he got only one question he couldn't answere and he admitted he didn't know instead of BS'ing regarding a question asked if all engines were test fired before being flown on a mission.

Most of the main museum stuff and quite a bit of the stuff from the rocket park was missing, which really upset me considering the trip was for my daughter. I was relieved that nearly all of it had been restored and put in the big Saturn V building. The big Saturn looked wonderful. It was pitiful looking the last time I saw it outside. Of course, the payload (LEM shroud, SM and LEM) were all fake and the big solid motor portion of the escape tower was way too short. The CM was painted up like a Little Joe II test round. The Titan missile that was laying by the Saturn outside is gone, hopefully to get refurbished and displayed. The NERVA engine was gone, but there was one at the last stop of the bus tour, possibly the same one. I didn't see the old X-15 mockup either.

The SR-71 has been painted and now looks like a plastic model. That's one bird that looked better in its original old flat paint (burned paint?), but I understand it had to be done to preserve it. Too bad it couldn't have been put inside from day one to preserve the real finish.

I remember several interstage sections being used as buildings last time, but I only noticed one of them today. I started searching and found that they had a fire in one a couple years ago. The G-Force Accelerator ride was closed and was only surrounded by a 3 ft fence. Last time I was there it was completely hidden from view by a high wall and was running. The LEM mockup located in the rocket park's gold paint has turned orange. They have a CH-47 Chinook in the area that the 2nd stage of the Saturn V formerly occupied, which seems odd, but they had a lot of Army stuff displayed inside the museum area to tie in with it, including a rock climbing wall. We know how closely related a rock climbing wall is to the MSFC and NASA missions.
Maybe the rock climbing wall was a training facility left over from the cancelled Apollo mission where the LEM surface crew would have gone down into the crater Tycho... :-)
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  #9  
Old 10-11-2017, 12:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I'm half way between Memphis and Nashville. My son and I went down there several years ago and flew with YORF members Barone (Don) and DaveR. I haven't seen either of them post here in a long time.


I'm still around and check in now and again, just not much time for rockets these days.
Our little get together was 8 years ago - where does the time go. Haven't seen or heard from Don in years.
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  #10  
Old 10-11-2017, 06:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveR
I'm still around and check in now and again, just not much time for rockets these days.
Our little get together was 8 years ago - where does the time go. Haven't seen or heard from Don in years.

Hey, Dave! Good to hear from you. Eight years...wow. Time has flown. Kody is married and is an engineer at Lockheed, Ft. Worth now. Katie is a freshman engineering major and has a full time boyfriend. The kids being grown and not here sort of takes the wind out of the sail even if I did have time to build and fly. I still read the forum, look at the rockets hanging on the wall, and look at the build pile, but that's about it. I use my CA to close cuts instead of tacking rocket parts.
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