Author Topic: Amazon founder finds Apollo engines on ocean floor  (Read 82422 times)

Offline Jester

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #80 on: 09/24/2012 12:00 pm »
I thought they all followed the same trajectory initially.

To amplify on RyanCrierie's point about stage markings, let me point out that the trajectories varied somewhat, and predicted S-IC mpact points were many kilometers apart (recall that one minute of longitude is a nautical mile or about 1852 meters in linear terms; at 30 degrees latitude, a minute of longitude is about 1600 meters).

I took a stab at it some time ago....
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=28468.0

Offline JohnFornaro

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #81 on: 09/25/2012 03:27 pm »
... the recent case of the Spanish galleon where the gold was all recently returned to Spain, after about 500 years of being on the bottom of the ocean. The U.S. government upheld Spain's right of ownership.

I remember that, and also remember thinking about whose gold it was before the conquistadors took it.  But I digress...

...there were something like 30 complete engines left over at the end of the Apollo program, and some of them went straight into preserved storage in case the program was re-started.

Another digression I know, but why can't we reverse engineer them and make an F-2?

As to OV-106, that's a good question.

Shoulda been built in 1986.  Congress would have funded it in near unanimity.

Back to the OP:  Pretty cool.
Sometimes I just flat out don't get it.

Offline dasmoth

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #82 on: 03/20/2013 02:35 pm »

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #83 on: 03/20/2013 02:41 pm »
That LOX injector looks incredible!!! Job well done!
« Last Edit: 03/20/2013 02:41 pm by kevin-rf »
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Offline Space Pete

And... he's got a couple:

http://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html

WOW! :o

Amazing to think that those pushed men to the Moon over 40 years ago.

Such a shame Mr. Armstrong isn't here to see them.
« Last Edit: 03/20/2013 03:07 pm by Space Pete »
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Offline jacqmans

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #85 on: 03/20/2013 03:25 pm »
RELEASE: 13-082

NASA ADMINISTRATOR CONGRATULATES APOLLO ENGINE RECOVERY TEAM

WASHINGTON -- The following is a statement from NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden on the successful recovery of Apollo Saturn V first
stage engines announced Wednesday by Jeff Bezos, the founder and
Chief Executive Officer of the aerospace company Blue Origin and
Amazon.com.

"Nearly one year ago, Jeff Bezos shared with us his plans to recover
F-1 engines that helped power Apollo astronauts to the moon in the
late 1960s and early 1970s. We share the excitement expressed by Jeff
and his team in announcing the recovery of two of the powerful Saturn
V first-stage engines from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

"This is a historic find and I congratulate the team for its
determination and perseverance in the recovery of these important
artifacts of our first efforts to send humans beyond Earth orbit.

"We look forward to the restoration of these engines by the Bezos team
and applaud Jeff's desire to make these historic artifacts available
for public display.

"Jeff and his colleagues at Blue Origin are helping to usher in a new
commercial era of space exploration and we are confident our
continued collaboration will soon result in private human access to
space, creating jobs and driving America's leadership in innovation
and exploration."

For more about the Saturn V's F-1 engine and NASA, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/ZdnMo2

and

http://www.nasa.gov

For more on the Bezos Expeditions, visit:

http://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html
Jacques :-)

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #86 on: 03/20/2013 04:07 pm »
Earlier in the thread I predicted a recovery "by summer at the earliest." (My reasoning was that they would skip 2012's hurricane season and they'd have to get their legal and technical ducks in a row before trying the recovery.)

Kevin-rf predicted "spring"

So he wins!

(well, technically, they were recovered in winter, but only a stone's throw from spring)

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #87 on: 03/20/2013 04:09 pm »
So here's my next prediction:

He says they have pieces for two. I suspect that was deliberate. If they only got one, there's a danger that somebody would insist that it go in the Smithsonian. So, my guess is that the Smithsonian gets one and the other one goes someplace else, probably near where he lives. But it will have to be in a museum, not in his living room.

Government will retain ownership, however.
« Last Edit: 03/20/2013 04:10 pm by Blackstar »

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #88 on: 03/20/2013 04:11 pm »
Kevin-rf predicted "spring"

So he wins!
So do I get one of the F-1's?
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #89 on: 03/20/2013 04:15 pm »
Kevin-rf predicted "spring"

So he wins!
So do I get one of the F-1's?

The prizes I get when I win are pretty lame, so the prizes people get for beating me are probably pretty lame too.

Sorry.

Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #90 on: 03/20/2013 04:35 pm »
Well, it is used ;)
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

Offline Jester

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #91 on: 03/20/2013 04:39 pm »
Great news, now comes the tricky part, finding out if they are from Apollo 11

"Many of the original serial numbers are missing or partially missing, which is going to make mission identification difficult. We might see more during restoration."

Online catdlr

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #92 on: 03/20/2013 06:19 pm »
Bezos Recovers Apollo Rocket Engines From Bottom of Atlantic | Video

Published on Mar 20, 2013
Bezos Expeditions, led by Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, located and recovered remains and debris from two F-1 engines that powered Project Apollo's Saturn V rockets. They located and photographed others artifacts as well.

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Offline collectSPACE

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #93 on: 03/20/2013 08:02 pm »
So, my guess is that the Smithsonian gets one and the other one goes someplace else, probably near where he lives. But it will have to be in a museum, not in his living room.

Good guess.

Where the recovered F-1 engines will go on exhibit is still to be decided. Last year, Bezos expressed a desire that if two or more of the engines were successfully raised, one would go on display at The Museum of Flight in Seattle, near where Amazon and Bezos' commercial spaceflight company, Blue Origins, are headquarted.

NASA, which retains ownership of the engines and all of its parts, said it would likely offer one to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Musuem in Washington, DC.


http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-032013a.html

Offline iamlucky13

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #94 on: 03/20/2013 08:43 pm »
This was posted last year:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/mar/HQ_12-102_Bolden_Bezos_Ap_Eng.html

Quote
NASA does retain ownership of any artifacts recovered and would likely offer one of the Saturn V F-1 engines to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington under long-standing arrangements with the institution as the holder of the national collection of aerospace artifacts.

“If the Smithsonian declines or if a second engine is recovered, we will work to ensure an engine or other artifacts are available for display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, as Jeff requested in his correspondence with my office.

Offline Prober

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Offline MattJL

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #96 on: 03/20/2013 10:10 pm »
Major kudos to Bezos!  Literally went "Holy ****" when I got the news that they had been recovered.  Thought that the search had been abandoned or greatly delayed (last I heard about it was a good several months ago, haven't been following it since).

Can't wait to see one of these in person.

Offline zerm

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #97 on: 03/21/2013 12:08 am »
It will be fun to see the reaction if these engines are found to come from Apollo 4 or 6, or SL-1 because everyone in the non-spaceflight media and a few in the spaceflight media is instantly assuming that they are all from Apollo 11... as if that was the only S-IC ever dropped in the Atlantic.

I'm sure they focused their efforts in the area where S-I-C 506 is assumed to have come down simply due to the historical context of any find, but that does not ensure that what they have is Apollo 11.

Offline collectSPACE

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #98 on: 03/21/2013 11:21 am »
...because everyone in the non-spaceflight media and a few in the spaceflight media is instantly assuming that they are all from Apollo 11...

The reason for the focus on Apollo 11 was because when Bezos first announced the find of the engines, he specifically said they were from Apollo 11. From March 2012:

"I'm excited to report that, using state-of-the-art deep sea sonar, the team has found the Apollo 11 engines lying 14,000 feet below the surface, and we're making plans to attempt to raise one or more of them from the ocean floor."

Yesterday's update was devoid of any mission-specific information, other than a note about the recovered parts' serial numbers.

"Many of the original serial numbers are missing or partially missing, which is going to make mission identification difficult. We might see more during restoration."

Offline OV135

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Re: Amazon founder finds Apollo 11 engines on ocean floor
« Reply #99 on: 03/21/2013 12:44 pm »
Awesome.

I wonder if there is a map made of the area showing all the pieces of the S-IC stage.   The stage as evident from the photos didn't land intact,but shattered on impact.


If you ask me, I hope another expedition is made to recover more of the S-IC booster and if done give the pieces to KSC to add to their Apollo/Saturn exhibit center. It would be pretty cool to see the S-IC at KSC side by side with the recovered debris of a flown vehicle. I honestly think KSC should get one of the recovered pieces to put with the Saturn V exhibit.
« Last Edit: 03/21/2013 12:53 pm by OV135 »

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