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Iconic rocket at Alabama rest stop to be taken down, NASA says

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23 comments

  • Rocky Raab

    That's a Saturn I. Nothing lasts forever, and rockets were never meant to.

    0
  • montanajoe
    • Community moderator

    Why? What's the problem with it staying?

    0
  • BobJudy
    Iconic rocket at Alabama rest stop to be taken down, NASA says
    The NASA rocket that towers at the north Alabama welcome center on Interstate 65 will be taken down, the space agency and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center said in a statement Friday night. It’s the final verdict on a long-running issue of how best to deal with the deteriorating Saturn 1B rocket that’s become a popular landmark near the Tennessee state line. Officials have spent months studying ...

    It has deteriorated to the point that it would cost a fortune to repair. Sad, but like Rocky said nothing lasts forever. Bob

    0
  • montanajoe
    • Community moderator

    Well in that case,,,

    0
  • jimdeere

    Well, it IS white and it's predecessors owned slaves.

    27
  • kannoneer

    Man, how long has that thing been up? I think it was there the first time I ever drove a truck down that way in '80 or '81.

    0
  • Brookwood

    NASA is just doing their part in the war effort. They are going to ship that thing to the Ukraine! 😲

    15
  • Anti Kue

    They should tape a bunch of bottle rockets to it and light it off πŸš€πŸ’₯

    0
  • Gunnut358

    Someone refresh my memory. I remember reading an article a while back on a older, massive rocket used years ago (Saturn V?), that supposedly would collapse in on itself unless it was loaded with fuel, or was under a certain amount of air pressure inside. It seems like it was either on display at a museum, or in the process of going to one. The pictures I remember showed it on its side. Any ideas?

    0
  • Rocky Raab

    That was the original Atlas ICBM/space booster. It was essentially a stainless steel balloon with walls thinner that that of a dime. It had to be kept pressurized or it would collapse under its own weight.

    3
  • Ditch-Runner

    cultural appropriation did it in LOL

    after all its long big and white.

    not a common trait

    just guessing based on current P.C.

    3
  • Grasshopper

    Stopped by there about a half dozen times. Liked to always take a look.

    0
  • Gunnut358
    Rocky Raab: 30379141730971/comments/

    That was the original Atlas ICBM/space booster. It was essentially a stainless steel balloon with walls thinner that that of a dime. It had to be kept pressurized or it would collapse under its own weight.

    That's the one! Thanks, Rocky.

    0
  • allen griggs

    I stopped to look at that rocket many times. It is beautiful.

    0
  • Rocky Raab

    The Saturn I was another of Von Braun's brainchildren. It was essentially eight Redstone rockets strapped together to make one medium-huge booster. It was used to take the upper stages and Apollo capsule to low orbit, both to test Apollo systems and to get to our first space station - which was the upper stages of a Saturn V! They launched the Saturn I from a Saturn V launch pad with a steel "adapter" to take the place of the V's first stage. Clever.

    0
  • allen griggs

    There is a Saturn 5 at the welcome center on I 10 in Alabama

    . Quite a sight to see.

    6
  • Rocky Raab

    That's just the first stage. You should see a complete one! They have one at KSC.

    0
  • austin20

    My uncle worked at Redstone Arsenal/ Marshall for several years. I remember as a kid hearing about how he could not discuss what he was working on and later after he died we heard some great stories from my aunt about how he would travel back and forth to Germany for the government all hush hush stuff at the time.

    0
  • Don McManus
    Rocky Raab: 30379141730971/comments/

    That's just the first stage. You should see a complete one! They have one at KSC.

    The Saturn V at KSC is truly a sight to see.

    The engineering to just transmit the thrust of the five main engines to the structure is incredible, not to even mention generating that thrust.

    3
  • KenK/84Bravo

    That rocket could be the Poor Man's Space X ticket to the stars.

    I Vote for Ricci, to be the 1st up, to test it out for us. (You know, make sure everything works OK.) Kinda like Chimps in space. 😁

    We're all pulling for you Ricci. πŸ‘

    0
  • austin20
    @...: 30379141730971/comments/30379181206939

    That rocket could be the Poor Man's Space X ticket to the stars.

    I Vote for Ricci, to be the 1st up, to test it out for us. (You know, make sure everything works OK.) Kinda like Chimps in space. 😁

    We're all pulling for you Ricci. πŸ‘

    Too late Slim Pickens already did that πŸ˜ƒ


    0
  • KenK/84Bravo

    Great movie. πŸ‘

    A CLASSIC.

    3
  • KenK/84Bravo

    Maybe we can shoot that Rocket towards Somalia, with Ricci on board, in order for him to apply for that new position that opened up. πŸ‘

    That photo above, is what I imagine Ricci would look like on re-entry, coming down into Mogadishu.

    0

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