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Historic Launch Pad LC-39A

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Aug, 2020

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Winter Award 2020

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Behind The Lens

Location

This picture was taken from outside the Saturn V center at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Outside the Saturn V center are bleachers for watching launches from both LC-39 A and B.

Time

This was taken right around noon. Sadly I was there during the government shutdown so this was the closest I was able to get to the pad. As I was pulling into KSC I received a notification from Twitter from something Elon Musk had posted about a Falcon 9 being erect on the pad. Sadly when I did get over to the area where this was taken, it was no longer standing.

Lighting

It was a little hard getting the shot due to the area I was being a bit further than anticipated and I did not have a tripod with me. The hot Florida sun was Intense but after several attempts I felt I had the perfect picture.

Equipment

I used a Canon SX50 Hotspot camera which had no special lenses due to it not being a DSLR. No other equipment was used. Picture is just as taken, no altering used.

Inspiration

I LOVE space exploration and I REALLY LOVE Spacex. They have made their journey and historical moments public and include us all to be there with them through the good and the bad. This particular picture is very special and was very important for me to get. The launch tower pictured, had just received the arm that is lowered at its side, which is the walkway for astronauts to get inside for launch. This specific launch complex ( LC-39A) is the pad that Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin launched from in July 1969 which took them to the Moon and took two of them to the lunar surface for the first time ever. The pad was used for other launches including shuttle launches over the years up until 2011 when sadly NASA had to shut down and retire the Space Shuttle Program. The huge bulky launch tower that was there was still there for years after, NASA told Elon Musk he could have/use the pad for his Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket launches but he had to take down the monstrous defunct Umbilical Tower and Space Shuttle connection arms. This picture is just a few short weeks after the astronaut walkway was added on and was extended to a rocket to show how it would look just days before I got there. Since I’ve taken this picture SpaceX has used this arm and taken astronauts to the International Space Station safely two times now. This is the first time American Astronauts have been launched on American rockets from American soil since 2011 when the shuttle was retired. Ever since we have relied on the Russians for rides to and from the ISS costing us millions per seat per ride! Elon Musk & SpaceX have made space something that we are able to be passionate about again. That tower and that arm signifies so much to me and many other space enthusiasts. Before long this tower will be replaced again for modifications so it will be able to launch SpaceX new rapidly growing Starship and Starship Super Heavy which may replace both Falcon 9s and Falcon Heavy. Starship will not only be for payloads and taking astronauts to low earth orbit BUT is the rocket SpaceX plans to Introduce to the public for faster rides around the world as well as being the rockets that will be used to take humans and supplies to start a colony on Mars. Yes, really! Mars! Elon Musk has a desire to get man kind to another planet to help ensure the survival of the human species. If we become interplanetary species we double our chances of survival if something or when something happens to our only home; Earth. Just in a few short years Elon and SpaceX have blown the minds of just about everyone and have done the once impossible. Their Starship prototypes have also done the same and continue to. Elon Musk is the biggest goal driven Individual of our time I believe. Tell him he can’t do something, he’ll prove everyone wrong and at rapid pace. The reason? Because he wants to help humans and nobody else was stepping up to the game. From underground tunnels ( The Boring Company) to on the ground (Tesla) to the skies (SpaceX) and to the future of humans and computers (Neuralink) Elon Musk has and continues to change and help progress the human race and all in one persons lifetime. That’s beyond Inspiring to me!

Editing

Nope just uploaded and went with it.

In my camera bag

Just a point and shoot camera ( Canon SX50 HotShot ) and tripod. Also use a remote clicker for more stable zoomed in photos. I am more into using a telescope which I have just started to now get more into with different lenses and soon hopefully will be able to start getting pictures and use stacking programs.

Feedback

Try to keep your photos the way you remember seeing them with your own eyes. Beautiful inhancements are great for showing others but if your photographing something that is important to you or that you have a great deal of passion for you should always be able to look at your images and see them just the way you did the day you were there. To me that’s the best part about having memorial pictures is reliving being there. I always try to have at least one picture left alone out of any I decide to process even if it’s just brightening. Kind of like personal pictures. Taking pictures from this particular area- bring a tripod!! If you like myself can’t get any closer to the pad it’s a lot farther than it looks and zooming in so tightly we all know causes heavy shaking just save yourself the hassle.

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SCE2AuxJenni

Historic Launch Pad LC-39A

Description

Behind The Lens

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