2009 Kennedy Space Center Visit

The flame trench and the SRB side of the flame diverter. Note the firebrick walls, the eroded goop on the surface of the flame diverter, and the pipes for the water deluge system.

Looking up at one of the vent holes in the launch platform for an SRB (which occupies the dark area on the left side of the hole).

Parked at the pad, having just delivered Discovery.

Control cab.

Part of the launch pad at LC14

The blockhouse at LC-12.

The Mercury Seven Monument at LC-14.

The Mercury 7, at the Mercury Monument outside LC14.

The Mercury Seven Monument at LC-14.

The blockhouse and launch mount at LC-14.

Part of the launch pad at LC-14.

At LC-14.

The launch mount at LC-14, used for the Mercury Atlas launches.

The image on the left is scanned from a slide my grandparents shot while driving around Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center in early 1965. The picture on the right was taken on August 7, 2009 from roughly the same location (perhaps a little closer in). Note that in the picture on the left, the apparently still-under-construction crawler is parked on the crawlerway, in front of the two VAB highbays used for storage and the hurricane safe haven today. Out of frame to the right of the "today" picture are OPF 1 and 2, the conjoined building where Orbiters are refurbished between flights.

The image on the left is scanned from a slide my grandparents shot while driving around Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center in early 1965. The picture on the right was taken on August 7, 2009 from roughly the same location (about 10 yards back), showing the area as it looks today (the wider angle of the photo on the right is indicated by the desaturated area).

The image on the left is from a slide taken by my grandparents in early 1965, the one on the left I took in August 2009, showing the same scene today. Unfortunately, the printed image I was using as a reference was not complete, cutting off at the corner of the pedestal. It was also nearly impossible with my D-80 to get the perspective to match the original image, even while crouching down to simulate an old slide camera held at chest height (judging by the crossbar on the monument, I obviously didn't crouch down enough). The people in the photo are other tourists, no connection to my grandparents (ie: I don't know who they are).