[FPSPACE] Re: JSC Saturn V TV documentary--Tonight!

[DwayneDay]

Watched the program.  A few comments follow.

The program spent about the first half hour on the JSC Saturn V.  After that they looked at other space artifacts that are either being restored or are being preserved.  They looked at some Apollo era spacesuits, which are slowly deteriorating.  The Smithsonian curator explained that in many cases they cannot stop the fabric deterioration.  The best they can do is slow it down and minimize it and hope that the technology to stop it is developed at some time in the future.

They also showed some objects in the Kansas Cosmosphere's collection.  The Cosmosphere is currently restoring a Bendix large moonbuggy.  A curator there said that NASA funded several contracts in the latter 1960s to develop larger moon rovers than the ones carried on Apollo.  The Bendix one sate outside at Marshall for 20+ years and is now being fully restored.

(Something that they did not mention--nor did I expect them to--is whether the Cosmosphere's relationship with the Air and Space Museum has suffered after the alleged thefts of NASM objects from the Cosmosphere's collection.)

The JSC Saturn V turns out to be in much worse shape than anyone suspected at the start of the preservation effort.  Large sections of it have rusted through or otherwise deteriorated.  It is a real mess and it is depressing that this rocket was allowed to get that bad.  Somebody should have worked on this preservation effort 10-15 years ago.

Overall the program was pretty good.  They had some great computer animation explaining the different parts, size, and operation of the Saturn V.  It was simple, but really clever.

The program repeats at midnight Saturday, and I assume that it will be repeated at least once in the next week, probably next Saturday morning.



DDAY