The End Of The Beginning - Kennedy Space Center
N 28° 31.436 W 080° 41.002
17R E 530980 N 3155283
This plaque is located in the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.
Waymark Code: WM8JMQ
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 04/10/2010
Views: 10
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
What began as a competition of fear in 1958 became a quest for common ground 17 years later. On July 15, 1975, Russia launched their Soyuz spacecraft into orbit. Seven hours later, the Satrun IB launched an Apollo Command Service Module fitted with the first international space compenent - a docking ring. It would enable old enemies to link up in Space, and establish a new world goal, hand in hand. 52 hours after Soyuz launch, the two craft linked up to spend two days sharing Space as one.
In our time we have been the privileged witness of "One giant leap for Mankind." As proud a moment as it was, the giant leap wasn't just walking on our moon. It was also a giant leap of faith - a new understanding, inspired by our first sight of this fragile Earth from Space, that we have bigger fish to fry.
Rocket Data: Saturn IB
Height: 68 meters(223 feet)
Diameter: 6.5 meters (225.7 inches)
First stage propellants: Liquid oxygen (LOX) and Kerosene
Second stage propellants: Liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen
Lift-off thurst: 2,000,000 lbs
From: Wikipedia
Saturn IB
The Saturn IB was an uprated version of the Saturn I rocket, with a much more powerful second stage, the S-IVB. Unlike the earlier Saturn I, the IB had enough throw weight to launch either the Apollo Command/Service Module (partially fueled), or the Lunar Module into Earth orbit. This made it invaluable for testing the Apollo spacecraft while the larger Saturn V needed to send it to the moon was still being developed.