SA-211 Photos - The Ardmore Saturn

ed kyle wrote:
Just today
I visited a Saturn IB that was "saved" this way. Now
it is covered in bird droppings, moss, graffiti, and
corrosion. As I watched, a couple of children busied
themselves throwing rocks at it while their parents
watched and discussed their accuracy. Like all such
"saved" hardware, it will be gone before many more
years pass.

This was S-IB-211, which stands in a vertical Saturn 1B
display at the Alabama Welcome Center near Ardmore,
Alabama just south of the Tennessee state line on
Interstate 65.

I have posted my photos of this display at:
"http://www.geocities.com/launchreport/sa211.html"

It is topped by a dummy or static test
S-IVB stage of unknown origin (that was mounted upside
down for some reason and painted incorrectly), without
an Instrument Unit and topped by something that looks
like boilerplate Apollo hardware. The S-IVB-211 stage
that was originally built for SA-211 is at the
Huntsville museum, outside and turning mossy green
but at least not defaced. It has been displayed as a
Skylab mockup for years, so it doesn't have a J-2
engine.

S-IB-211 has been at Ardmore since 1979. It was at MSFC
before that. Over the years, the engine bells and base
of SA-211 have been defaced with graffiti and covered by
a substantial layer of bird droppings, moss, and
corrosion. The hold-down arms are covered in layers
of graffiti and paint. Even the dedication plaque at
the base of the stage has been defaced.

I don't know who actually "owns" the Ardmore Saturn,
but it is in the worst condition of any Saturn hardware
I have seen - and I have seem them all except for the
Michoud S-IC stage.

Saturn IB hardware is rarer than Saturn V hardware,
but no one seems interested in these rockets or their
Saturn I predecessors.

Interestingly enough, NASA seems now to be launching
an effort to build a Saturn IB replacement (the SRB
"Stick" will have capabilities not unlike Saturn IB).

Believe it or not, S-IB-211 was not the most harshly
treated Saturn. S-IB stages 212, 213, and 214 were
completed (I've seen photos of a finished S-IB-214
stage) but NASA never found a use for them (or ran
out of money, whatever) and actually *scrapped* them
during the 1970s. Their H-1 engines were reassigned
for use on Delta rockets.

- Ed Kyle

On 14 Sep 2005 18:16:17 -0700, "ed kyle" wrote:

I have posted my photos of this display at:
"http://www.geocities.com/launchreport/sa211.html"

Thanks,
Dale

The contrast with the Soviet N-1 remnants is interesting, by reusing
components for private structures they did short term damage. But those
parts now have medium term protection from vandalism.

Imagine that the Saturn parts had been auctioned to skyscraper
architects.

bombardmentforce wrote:
The contrast with the Soviet N-1 remnants is interesting, by reusing
components for private structures they did short term damage. But those
parts now have medium term protection from vandalism.

Imagine that the Saturn parts had been auctioned to skyscraper
architects.

Some Saturn parts were auctioned off to scrap dealers.
Two or three completed Saturn IB boosters were scrapped,
for example, and at least one S-IVB test stage. But
it is true that the best preserved hardware may be the
stuff that has not been "restored".

- Ed Kyle

auctioned off

As NASA winds down the shuttle hardware they could consider auctions
with anti-scrapping restrictions.

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 15:02:39 -0500, bombardmentforce wrote
(in article . com):

auctioned off

As NASA winds down the shuttle hardware they could consider auctions
with anti-scrapping restrictions.


And our own little General LeMay proves he knows as little of property
law as he does of engineering.

--
"Fame may be fleeting but obscurity is forever." ~Anonymous
"I believe as little as possible and know as much as I can."
~Todd Stuart Phillips
www.angryherb.net

property law

restrictive covenant: A routine idea, some of use lead sheltered lives,
but will learn as we age.


"3.4 Items offered to the University as gifts or
bequest...restrictive covenant or special conditions, such as that they
must be displayed in a particular way.
... covenants or conditions intended only to assure the permanent
protection of the
item concerned in the University's Collections,..."