From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Fri Sep 05 2003 - 21:19:10 MDT
On Fri, 5 Sep 2003, Kevin Freels wrote:
> > I have heard that the Saturn 5 blueprints were destroyed -- does anyone
> > know if this claim is valid or an urban legend?
> >
>
> Urban legend., sort of. The actual blueprints were destroyed....after they
> were placed on microfilm in Hunstville, AL.
So, are the films stored at NASA or some other facility?
Anyone know the # of and costs for the Saturn V's that were manufactured
and what they might cost in today's dollars? (I suppose there would be
a significant startup cost converting the microfilm into CAD data --
but once done I would expect milling of parts would be considerably
cheaper today.) [I'm looking for what fraction of the GDP producing
Saturn V's would cost today?]
I'm just blown away that the U.S. let one of its most phenomenal
technological achivements slip from its grasp. The younger folks
on the list will not get this -- but those of us in our 40's watched
those launches and watched the Apollo lunar landings on TV too.
Mark the 16 of July 2009 as a day to go cry in your beer. We may
end up being lucky if we don't see the Chinese landing on the moon
by then. (Not that I have anything against the Chinese -- but I'd
be frustrated if they have a technological capability that we no
longer have -- it would not paint a pretty picture for democracy v.
communism).
Robert
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