So Big You Can See It from Space
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- This is a revisit of an old blog post from PopSci: www.popsci.com/...
VAB album on Imgur: imgur.com/a/GUVX0/
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Music: Sneaky Adventure by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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Dress: Was my grandmother's in the 1960s.
#AmyShiraTeitel #History
I love that KSP used royalty free music in the assembly building so that you could set the mood in this video with the same music.
KSP's music was made by Kevin MacLeod who makes royalty free music and he is basically the musician of the internet, he's extremely prolific. Like if you're watching a video and there's music, there's a reasonably good chance it's by him
IIRC, the original plan was that it was going to be placeholder music until more suitable music could be found, but just like having 4 DLCs, that never happened.
Look up Kevin MacLeod
Hey people, stop being so patronising. It's possible to know exactly who Kevin McLeod is and how prolific he is on CZcams and still be pleased by the fact that his music was used both in KSP and on a space video. A side effect of the fact that McLeod is so prolific is that his discography is also pretty extensive, so it's still a) a pretty neat coincidence if unintentional and b) an equally neat hat-tip if not for Amy to chose one of the specific tracks out of his extensive library that happen to be particularly ingrained in every KSP player's mind as indelibly associated with the VAB.
Frankly, any time a space-based channel uses Dreamy Flashback, Arcadia, or Sneaky Adventure, it's a good bet it was an intentional KSP reference.
I am proud to say that I toured the VAB in spring of 1969 and saw in person the assembling of the Apollo 11 Saturn rocket.
My dad took me there in 1970 when I was 9 years old. I got to touch that building, and I recall the part that I touched as a piece of'
that corriugated fiberglass material used to make roofs for sheds. At least that's what I recall. I also remember being suprised even at that age. I appologize for the typos and misspellings. No spell checker on YT.
I too have toured the VAB. As I have been to the cape many times. That is since my family has some friends that live in the area/ work(ed) on the base.
I would have been tempted to sneak into a crevice or duct to hide out for a free ride. I know that wouldn’t work, but I might have been overcome by zeal!
I'll never forget touring with my Dad in 1970. He died not long after, but we got to see so much, including a Saturn IV on the launch pad. One thing I remember was how they loved telling us the VAB was the only building in the world that had "weather" inside...
Years later, my dear ex-wife and I just happened to drive down to Florida for a few days because it was FREEZING all over the southeast. SUre enough, we finally made it down to Melbourne, FL to stay the night and visit the Space Center the next day. We pretty much did the same tour as my Dad and I had done all those years before. After seeing the launch pad, now with a shuttle waiting for its mission, we were escorted into the Apollo Control Room. The memories of my Dad flooded back just as the tour guide announced our's was the last tour ever for that room as it was being torn down and replaced with something else. It was a great feeling to be showing my wife something my Dad and I had shared all those years before.
Thanks for your terrific videos!
Your quite wrong the Hangars at Cardington have weather.
Personally, I'm stuck on the "my dear ex-wife" part...
The Vintage Space is good historical journalism, well presented. Amy is a star. It’s as simple as that.
I agree with you completely!!
Star? More like honeypot shill. Werner von Braun by the way is a confirmed not_see that was saved by project paper clip. Then was paired up with 33rd racist walt Disney to make a bunch of propaganda films and cartoons. $52 million a day and they can’t even do something that was achieved 50 years ago with a Texas Instruments calculator for a computer. Use your brains people.
@@skrillgorefuski Sure, von Braun had some issues. But I don't think he was a "confirmed" Nazi. I say he basically pretended to adopt the Party's philosophy to advance his career. I say being a whore is better than being a Nazi. Regarding Amy, I say she is sizzling hot AND smart.
As a young kid of twelve years ago my brother and I witnessed the launch of Apollo 11.. A few days before that we were able to take a tour of the VAB.. Now as a sixty-five year old I still consider this the most amazing thing I have ever seen..
I heard that when the Saturn 5 was launched the ground shook.
@@Sherwoody I'm hoping the new Starship Heavy does the same. It will launch soon enough that there will be people to see it launch who were also there to see the Saturn V launch. They will let us know if this unlocks the floodgates and brings all those memories back.
IT'S THE SAME EXACT THING!
This is what I want to hear. Then if/when I visit Starbase to watch a launch, it will be like I never missed out on the Saturn V launches.
I can almost hear the meeting deciding to go to Cape Carneval: "those for moving permanently to somewhere cold and wet? No one? Those who want to move to Florida, raise your hands?" "Well, that was not as close as I thought it would be".
The VAB music from Kerbal is an amazing touch :D
And,Yet AGAIN Amy has showed me several new things to learn about the VAB. Bravo ! (VERY cool you got the access to explore the VAB Amy. ;) I am a bit jealous now ! )
Hi, Amy! So glad you stood for what you wanted. As far as i am concerned, it is a much more interesting channel. i am a real nerd for what the future looked like from that era.
Agree. It still looks like the shuttle heads stopped by to give five down votes! 😂
The biggest launch facility was in in the Carolinas... the biggest launch tower. .. the biggest tow tractor to move the biggest Saturn 5 Apollo rocket which was the largest rocket configuration of them all!
Excellent run-down, and *perfect* choice of music. I could practically _hear_ the odd sucking click sound of parts joining while maintenance vehicles hoon around on the floor below.
I took several KSC tours during the Apollo era. Before the STS, KSC tours took us up to and even INSIDE the VAB. It was explained to me on a Shuttle era tour that this was no longer possible due to the presence of the SRBs.
I'm glad the entire space program lies within my memory, even though that means I'm an old fart who may not live to see humans on Mars. Hurry up, folks!
Yep. I am also an older person. You see my dad was on the construction crew for the Cape back in the late 50's. But the family moved to Va around 1960. I was told I got my 1st haircut in Titusville. So my family have friends there. The friends even got us a base pass for one of the Launches of the STS. it was a kool to was the launch, The only one I have seen.
I just love all this vintage space stuff - super nostalgic. I never knew any of this about the massive assembly building. Amy sure does research thoroughly & gives a wonderfully engaging & concise presentation. Space historian par excellance.
I can see the rockets launch from my ranch in central Florida. It always fascinates me seeing them go up. I have a telescope setup and tracking system so I can watch up close. It’s amazing to see details.
really cool.. wish I lived close enough to watch rockets lauch
Preach it space momma . I love this channel.
Amy, thank you for pinpointing when in time the VAB was renamed from _Vertical_ Assembly Building to _Vehicle._ I grew up during that era and remember calling it Vehicle Assembly Building, then getting confused when both terms were used. The tidbit of information never bothered me enough to look it up, but knowing is better.
Kind of like "Gem-in-EYE" versus "Gem-in-EE", which I know you've addressed elsewhere!
Enter the Space Force, changing Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 😭
@@FlyingSavannahs Oh, right, that's another one: Cape Canaveral => Cape Kennedy => Cape Canaveral. Kennedy _Space Center_ I can understand, but what happened with the back & forth on naming the Cape?
@@bobblum5973 It was renamed Cape Kennedy as an hommage six days after the assassination. But Floridans in general and inhabitants of Cape Canaveral in particular hated it and Florida decided to change back the name ten years later.
@@bobblum5973 Boy, I don't recall the rename impetus right now. There was a humorous radio show that would have a recurring skit involving sending the newscast to a reporter in the field. The anchor would say, "we now go to John Smith in Cape Canaveral, formerly Cape Kennedy, formerly Cape Canaveral, for a report on NASA's...yada, yada..." Childishly simple, but rib cracking funny the first time I heard it. 😂
Also, the area code for Brevard county and surrounding area is 321 for a reason!
@@booketoiles1600 That matches up with the events as I knew them, I just wasn't sure _when_ they happened. Thank you!
Thank you Amy for another knowledgable and entertaining look at this era. My father worked at the VAB during this time, for Grumman on the Lunar Module. I remember as a kid there were times when workers were allowed to bring their families to work and we got a first hand look at the facility. I remember hearing stories that the building was so massive, that it had its own weather inside, at times the humidity forming its own clouds and would sometimes rain inside the building. A truly remarkable facility. Thank you again. Steven Albanese.
Same thing happens inside the Boeing 747 assembly facility, the building is so massive it has its own internal weather including rain.
I was there when they were still assembling Skylab back in the 70s. It was impressive. It's the worlds tallest one story building. (And yes, there are smaller rooms and stuff, but the main assembly area is one room.)
I remember being there on the tour in 2017, still staggered by the size. Also cool seeing the old crawler supports for the Shuttle being dismantled.
The fact of sound resistance and the distance of launch pad from the building is really interesting depth detail. The photos from rooftop towards the traik look like the building had that continuous size and shelter protection without having it. The music short for transition in the video is roomy and involving, great great great choice there. Artistic composition all and all in one video. Trully amazing. Thank you
I was lucky enough to get “Up Close” tour tickets of LC-39 in November 2011 before they sold out, and we got to see Endeavour up close in VAB High Bay 4 (I think), before it was shipped off to a farm upstate to run around and play with all the other shuttles. Apparently it was a short window between the end of the program (before which public tours of VAB weren't permitted for safety since the seventies) and all the orbiters leaving LC-39 forever.
Just a few metres away from the nose, in that hallowed building was something I won’t forget. It seemed smaller than expected, but just about anything bar a Saturn V or SLS will seem small in that place.
The previous year, we saw (at a distance) Discovery stacked up on LC-39A for STS-133, but unfortunately our one opportunity to see a shuttle launch was scuppered when they found cracks in the tank insulation… fair enough, though!
I got to do that tour too, January 2012! The ceiling was so high it made me dizzy, my brain couldn't process what it was seeing 😅 Saw Endeavour as well, it had some panels removed but it looked amazing!
What was that "seemed smaller than expected" thing? P.S. SLS is being assembled in there for launch on 39B, while 39A has been converted to receive horizontally assembled rockets from the SpaceX assembly building. Like the Soviets, they protect the rocket joints by a massive backbrace that stays on the ground opposite the service tower. That backbrace rolls out from the assembly building fully attached, just like the Apollo tower used to do, but with a smaller crawler underneath. Unlike the Soviets, they don't rotate the rocket launchpad to aim, they just turn the rocket mid air like Apollo.
Also did the tour but right after the Shuttles were removed. It was an awesome feeling knowing not many have been in there to see the inside of such an iconic building.
My father was an employee of ITT. They had the NASA contract to manage the computers that solved the NASA mathematicians' calculations during most of the Mercury and Gemini missions. We lived in Cocoa Beach and I attended Freedom 7 Elementary School. In addition to witnessing virtually every Gemini launch, I was fortunate enough to also tour the VAB going all the way to the top. I also climbed all over the crawler and sat in everyone of the control booths on it. I also went to the top one of the Saturn gantries to the white room and slid down the corkscrew slide into the emergency bunker underneath. I witnessed the Saturn 1b launch at night and it was just like an artificial sun rising. Even in Cocoa Beach it was so loud I could barely hear my mother talking to me. What a great childhood I had, I'm 67 now and retired.
I look forward to your videos!! Keeping space history alive is a wonderful thing. Thanks!! Cheers!!
Thank You!! I'm 62 yrs old and grew up very limited in resources with regards to our U.S. space program. I enjoy and appreciate VINTAGE SPACE so much!!
I think I can hear Pete in this video. Also what a great topic, the building is epic.
Just love your videos Amy. Best wishes from the UK.
Thanks for the clarification on the VAB's name, Amy. I remember as a child in the 60s referring to 'Vertical Assembly Building' and was wondering if I had learned it incorrectly. Your detail on the 1965 rename to 'Vehicle Assembly Building' cleared that up for me.
I went to Liverpool to see where the Beatles lived. I went to the Johnson Space flight center. We went to the Kennedy Space flight center. I can die in peace. It's so tall it has its own weather inside. Thanks Amy for another adventure.
I hope you and Pete are doing well!
Still have to get myself to Liverpool!
Gotta go to The Dakota to pay respects, if you haven’t been yet.
@@xiaoka No my friend. We have not. I was in NY in January after 9/11 for work. Saw the pit and the wreckage thar was still there. I wanted out of NYC. I don't like NYC.
To be honest, I don't think I would go to the Dakota. I saw John's home, went into the cavern club, walked Matthew street, signed the wall on strawberry fields, saw were John and Paul met. I'm good. All of it was super positive. The museum was fantastic and we took the "magical Mystery tour". I like millions of other kids started playing guitar after Ed Sullivan. Mine hang quietly on the wall now. Get to Liverpool if you can. The people were beyond nice. One cab driver refused a tip from me. He said it was way to much. I said my wife's a nurse, I'm a Dietary Manager. We work hard just like you,so please take it. He finally did.
Go my friend! They have a Beatles Hotel there now!
@@xiaoka I live in the area. I’ve visited numerous times. Strawberry Fields is a wonderful place to visit, meditate, and contemplate. Always plenty of Beatle-people to share with. But that archway at the Dakota is still the saddest, eeriest place ever. Literally and figuratively, too close to home.
I got to go there once. I wasn’t allowed inside of the VAB, but I did get to watch the shuttle launch! I took the tour and was allowed sole access to the hanger with Apollo 20’s LM inside of it. I was a licensed pilot at the time and rented a Cessna from a nearby airfield. The Kennedy approach control allowed me to do a flyover of the Shuttle landing facility there. I wasn’t allowed to touch down, but I did do a 500-foot flyover of the runway there.
Great video, Amy.
Thanks
Cool! I never thought about how important the Vechicle Assembly Building was Thank You Amy.
The background music fits :) I know another VAB that had that music
Damn, I knew that was familiar. Sounds a lot like The Sims also (I think they both use the same music style)
Either Sims or KSP, but I have to shut the music off or it starts to mess with my brain 😂
54 years ago I arrived in Titusville to begin working on Apollo at KSC. We watched the first Saturn V launch from our room at the Howard Johnson motel along the Indian River. A few days later I began my employment with Boeing and was given an office in the VAB.
Enjoyed the info and early photos of the construction. What an amazing feat Apollo was! The highlight of my career. And I was only 24.
A *GREAT* video! Everyone who cruises from Port Canaveral sees this building, but I sometimes wonder how many realize what they're looking at.
I always wanted to tour the inside of the VAB since I was a kid, but didn't make it there until 2002. Of course, by then there were no longer public tours inside (post 9/11) so we got a great presentation in the parking lot. Another great video! Thanks Amy!
Love, love, LOVE this channel and your presentation style!
You have beem doing these videos for almost 10 years now! Keep'em coming!
I saw the VAB on a tour as a kid. The way it warped the sense of scale was incredible. Later in the same trip, We were on a cruise and you could still see the building from maybe 15-20kms away over the horizon.
Thank you Ms. Teitel for this.
For how much of a lover of Space science and history I can be, I never knew most of the details regarding the construction of the VAB - that you have outlined in the video.
Regards,
That was absolutely fascinating.....and YOU, Amy, are absolutely AWESOME. Thank you.
I knew nothing of the history of the VAB before this video. Thank you! I particularly liked the proposal design sketch of the rocket being ported to the launch site on a barge with the launch tower onboard.
The orange color on your outfit seems to fit with the "all things mid-century" theme. I do look forward to the day when you talk about your other mid-century interests. Loved your books by the way.
If you haven't already done it, take a tour of the SpaceX facilities in Boca Chica TX. The contrast is amazing: their rocket sit outside or in buildings with open faces, exposed to the weather and the Texas dust. More like Serenity than Apollo. But they still appear to be in the process of changing the future of the solar system. Many CZcams sources exist for this work.
Second comments are kinda thirsty but I felt this would worth sharing. When I was a kid I talked to one of the men who worked on the VAB. Normal concrete trucks are limited to carrying 9 cubic yards of "mud" on public roads around here, concrete is heavy. He told me that for this project alone special concrete trucks were made to carry something like 15yds if I remember correctly. Those trucks were only used on grounds at Cape Canaveral.
I was lucky enough to get a tour from a professor knew, I got to see things that most people wouldn't get to see and the vab was pretty much gutted out in preparation for the sls retool. I didn't get to go to the roof, but did get close and personal with Atlantis before it moved into its permanent home.
I don't recall the year offhand but like others commenting below, I was able to tour the VAB. I found the view from up high to be impressive.
Congratulations to you Amy for getting to see the girder and the view from the roof. Something I haven't been able to do,......yet. ;-)
I was able to see it first-hand some 50 or so years ago.
I remember my Dad (an architect) being struck speechless.
Worlds largest garage doors !
Everything about that place (including the crawlers) is mind boggling.
Later in life, my career would take me to working for ANASA and JPL.
At the Marshal Space Center in Huntsville, I used to walk over and watch them put together the ISS and various other craft.
Amazing stuff.
Great job, Amy! Love this channel. Love your work! Love your passion! Looking forward to your next installment. ✌️❤️🚀
I was part of a tour of International Science Fair winners who toured the Cape in 1981. We were allowed into the VAB where there were indeed SRB segments waiting to be assembled, and they looked like soda cans on the ground of the enormous assembly bay. We were also escorted to the hangar where the orbiter Columbia was being refitted between missions in space and allowed to walk around underneath her, witnessing the laborious testing of the problematic re-entry tiles, every single one of which had a red or green pass/fail sticker on it. My favorite VAB story is that when it was new Time magazine sent a team of photographers out to document it. NASA warned them that it was impossible to capture the scale of the building but the Time people assured them that "this is what our guys do." After a couple of weeks of combing around the area looking at observation points, they concluded that no, you really couldn't capture the scale of the building on a photograph.
you are absolutely wonderful, lovely and simply perfect. thanks for everything.
Thank you Amy, this was a lovely appetiser! Now I want to see a 90min documentary solely focussing on the building design and use. _snaps fingers_ …. Bother, out if magic again!
Amy's videos are so IMPRESSIVE, they can be seen from SPACE!!!!
Nice touch of using the lounge-music used in the "SPH/VAB" buildings in Kerbal Space Program... In a video about the VAB. Full-circle nerdism, I love it 😁
I'm instantly a fan of yours because you're in forming an teaching about the great Apollo missions thank you
My wife and I took the KSC bus tour last year and I told her about the VAB. She didnt seem very impressed since from a distance it looked like another tall building. When we passed in front of it, I looked at her and she was leaning down to try and see the top. All she could say was "Holy Sh*t!" We took a cruise from Port Canaveral earlier this year and you could see the VAB clearly from there and I pointed it out to her. Someone told us we were about 10 miles away and my wife just shook her head and said "You are never going to get me to the top of that thing!"
I guess I’m showing my age (60) but I was admiring your dress and was tickled to discover that it was your grandmother’s from the ‘60’s. She had good taste.
Yeah Amy posted a cool new video on my Birthday, thank you hun x
Always an awesome sight. I lived in Titusville right across the river from the VAB for ten years
Amy, you and your books are such a treat.
Nice to have you back!
yay! yet another fabulous presentation.
Glad you get to do what you love to do.
Love this, and I love your way of sharing this info.
Would love more on this infrastructure and more details. :)
This was fascinating, but I'm commenting to show appreciation that Amy is studious enough to credit herself for her own photos.
Totally awesome! Thanks for your hard work!
Great video - thank you! Not only can you see the VAB from space, but its height makes it an amazing sight from out on the water. I'm an offshore sailor and, while headed south down the coast of Florida, am always amazed at how far away we can see the VAB. One one clear day, we were able to see it peeking above the horizon from almost 12 miles away.
Thank you. Your videos are always fun.
Fritz Lang’s 1929 movie, “Frau im Mond” (Woman in the Moon) had it’s Moon rocket assembled in a VAB then transported to the launch pad. A 17 year old Wernher von Braun would have seen this and been inspired.
Thank you so much Amy!
Absolutely brilliant little video. As much as I’m not a space fan I’ve always been a fan of the Saturn 5, Apollo missions and the VAB building itself. Watched the Apollo 11 moon landing as a kid and always found it very interesting. Have never seen much on the VAB but if I ever got the chance to go to the US a visit there would be top of my list. Thanks so much for sharing.
I am so enjoying "Breaking the Chains of Gravity". Well written, very informative, and enjoyable read. Very much like how it tells the story of all the people before they became famous in the space program. Thank you Amy Shira Teitel. My next read is your book "Fighting for Space" now on my table.
Thanks for making this!
Love your space related videos and your twitch streams playing Mario mods!! You're just a fun person overall, which is why I recently subscribed. Keep up the great work.
I'm a rough critic of newcomers in the CZcams space video genre... Amy, you're a keeper...
Not mentioned here probably due to the sheer number of neat facts about the VAB is that the building has such a large internal volume that without the powerful HVAC system it would develop its own weather and clouds would form just below the ceiling. It also has more internal volume than either the Empire State Building and the Pentagon, and its doors are the largest on Earth. Cool stuff. Wright Flyer, USAF (1968-1972).
Thanks for the history Amy, I rolled past the VAB in the tour bus 4 days ago.
I tried scanning the barcodes on your dress for space flight secrets! My Dad signed off on a mini VAB building in Valley Forge GE Space Systems back in the early 60’s. He had top secret clearance and secret stuff happened there. He had a MOL ;)
Amy, I really enjoy your videos. I have been following you for years.
Got to eat lunch in the VAB and walk around the ground floor thanks to a friend inviting me to a NASA friends and family day. The scale of the thing is awesome from a distance but mind-boggling up close.
Very nice presentation-- yes; I need more. I took a really wretched tour of NASA and drove past the VAB. My vantage point was far enough away that I couldn't really get a feel for how large it was. Ah well.
That building is a wonder. The crawler too.
I've heard Vertical Assembly Building and Vehicle Assembly Building used back and fort so many times I always was unsure which was right. Thanks for answering that for me.
Have a new respect for the VAB now that I work in it. The people that built it also didn't skimp on the asbestos 🤣. I've done some exploring inside and found neat stuff in some of the abandoned offices such as a SSME engine controller and a crate full of foam posters of shuttle mission astronaut group photos.
I worked in one of the adjacent buildings to the VAB. I miss it so much!
Amy, you're so beautiful and a great teacher. A wonderful combination :)
Just found this video so someone may have mentioned it. The VAB is still the tallest one story building in the world. Yes, it's that tall but you can look from the floor to the roof. I've taken several tours at KSC, but never one that stopped at the VAB.
Desire to play Kerbal space programme intensifies. Also liked Pete´s commentary
When I’m traveling down SR 528 and I wonder if I’m near the coast yet, I just look to my left to check if I can see the VAB in the distance. Even far away, it’s still gives me the thrills.
Man, this makes me want a load more detail on the construction part of it. Little quirks and facts and such.
I wondered why I could hear a cat, then I remembered Pete. I took pictures of the VAB from a cruise ship, in Port Canaveral, 12 miles away.
I’m reading “Across the Airless Wilds” about the development of the lunar rovers. It’s a good book. The author mentions the canceled Prospector program of moon landers. That would make a good topic for a Vintage Space video.
Much appreciated, ty for all your top shelf content.
I love your videos, I only wish they were more frequent.
I got some good photos of the VAB during a clear flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Charlotte a few years ago.
I have been very fortunate to visit the VAB three times. My favorite part is the red circle in the concrete floor. It's supposed to be perfectly level and flat.
Great vid thanks for making and posting 👍
Got to go inside when they were offering tours. I never ever thought I would go inside that beast of a building. When i did I started laughing and could not stop. The one thing I did notice was how dirty the place was. Oh well.
Another EXCELLENT video by Amy!
Great video to appear in my timeline
Amy: posts an episode
Subs: happy clicking noises
Of all the locations at KSC I worked around when upgrading the weather instrumentation at CCAFS and KSC in the 90s, and special tours including a pad tour of STS-93 😻🎉, I never got into the VAB.😭 It did a good bit of rattling during Shuttle launches.
You forgot to mention reason 3 for why White Sands Missile Range was chosen. The New Mexican food in Las Cruces is second to none!
Pete sounding @4:15! 😻
Super job, Amy!
🇨🇦🤝🇺🇲
Sorry for getting into your politics.
ᴹᵉᵒʷꜝ𓆋
Thank you very much!
"That's what she said"
~Michael Scott
~Taylor
As you drive to the space center across the wide flat terrain of Florida, you first see the VAB a good 10 miles away. inside - it is gigantic. Toured the inside when it was allowed; that was after Apollo ended and before Shuttle operations moved in... 1976.
Remember first time to Orlando for a business trip to Cocoa Beach. Weren’t far out of Orlando when you can start to see the VAB from a distance. Taller than most anything in that part of FL.