- HOUSTON (Reuters) - One of
the last of the giant Apollo moonshot rockets is in disrepair after more
than a quarter century on outdoor display at NASA's Johnson Space Center,
a Smithsonian curator said on Monday.
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- The 363-foot-long Saturn V rocket, which never got off
the ground because NASA canceled the Apollo program, is sprouting plants
and mold and its corroded structure is home to an assortment of creatures,
including a nesting owl.
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- It has been resting on its side in front of JSC since
1977, a massive symbol of NASA's golden age and increasingly a victim of
Houston's heat and humidity.
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- "It's basically made of aluminum and it's been outside
since 1977," said Allan Needell, the Apollo program curator for the
Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. "There's
water that's getting in all over the place."
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- The rocket was scheduled to launch the Apollo 18 flight,
but NASA halted moon missions after Apollo 17 in December 1972.
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- Three Saturn V's remained, but only the one at JSC was
made of stages actually intended for space flight. Needell said. The others,
built mostly for ground testing, are on display at Kennedy Space Center
in Florida and Marshall Space Center in Alabama.
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- The JSC rocket "is the most important and the one
in worst shape," he said.
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- All belong to the Smithsonian, which has about 5,000
Apollo artifacts, Needell said.
-
- None are more important than the Saturn V, the development
of which enabled the United States to win the Cold War space race with
the Soviet Union.
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- "We mobilized all aspects of society to fight the
Cold War," Needell said. "The moon program was really the culmination
of that."
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- The building of the Saturn V was "the turning point
of the space race," he said.
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- The Smithsonian has obtained a $1.25 million preservation
grant from the Saving America's Treasures program of the National Park
Service and National Trust for Historic Preservation, but needs private
donations to complete the $4 million project, Needell said. It is currently
about half a million dollars shy of its goal.
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- A restoration firm has just begun the work, which will
include construction of a temporary structure to protect the rocket, he
said. A permanent display eventually will be built if funds can be raised.
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