I am trying to figure out what this test stand is called and if there are any references to it in literature. I think it was at Waterways Experiment Station. The photo was provided by Ferenc Pavlics and is in a research paper but has little information about it. Any thoughts?

If you’re a NASA history buff you’ve probably heard of the Manned Venus Flyby Mission planned to launch on October 31st 1973 flyby Venus on March 3rd 1974 and returned to Earth on December 1st 1974. This mission would have been one of if not the most daring mission ever attempted by NASA. It would be sending 3 astronauts 25 million miles away from Earth and to flyby our closest neighbor in the Solar System, but this neighbor is much closer to the Sun than we are and has a very weak magnetic field. The planet is also one of the most hostile planets in the solar system with the hottest temperatures at 900 degrees. This sending the astronauts off on a 13 month mission that will cover 162 million miles in travel distance. It will put you far closer to the sun than any other humans. The radiation around Venus is higher than it is around earth. Also at the time of this mission there were a number of large solar storms if any of them were to strike the spacecraft I don’t think the crew would survive. This mission would have lasted far longer than any other in the history of space travel. Even today astronauts don’t spend that much time in space at one time. There’s only been one or two that have and the one who spent the longest time in space was for just over 14 months. They would have been living in spacecraft roughly the size of Skylab probably not as comfortable. So with all these challenges do you think this mission could have been successful?

I am aware that NASA’s decision to continue with the Skylab Program and diminshing budget resulted in the cancellation of the Apollo 18-20 missions, bringing the program to an unfortunate early end. But how would things have changed had the Apollo Program been allowed to continue on into 1973 and possibly 1974 with the originally planned missions? Would another Saturn V have been made to facilitate a later Skylab mission? Would the Space Shuttle have still been approved and if so, would it have been seriously delayed? Would the Apollo Applications Project been approved instead? What would have happened if Apollo was allowed to come to it’s natural conclusion as planned by NASA?

I found this image of the Apollo 11 moon landing TV broadcast which at time it was originally broadcast it was in much better quality and definition than what we have today. The tape that the original broadcast was filmed on was mislabeled as recorded over. There are no known copies of the original raw footage of the original broadcast. There are other still images from the original raw broadcast. The copies of the broadcast we have today are inferior copies of copies and even with plenty of enhancement still don’t live up the examples of the original raw broadcast.

Hey all, I've been looking for a PDF of the SA 506 full flight manual (over 200 pages) but I can't find it. Plenty of other 506 documentation, but the closest full flight manual I can find is 507. I really want the flight manual for the Apollo 11 Saturn V, but the 507 wasn't published til shortly after the launch. There are original physical copies for well over $2K, but my wallet doesn't allow me to be that much of a fanboy

From what I’ve gathered, it is one of 1,969 copies signed by Buzz Aldrin back in 1969! The autograph alone is amazing but to think it is one from 55 years ago is astounding to me

Any ascent stage would be interesting, actually. Not just Eagle.

I know NASA monitored the systems until it died as it drifted in Lunar orbit. I'm wondering if they tracked Eagle or any of the others to the surface, and if any tests were done with these similar to the Apollo 13 third stage.

In WW2 there were congressional investigations. A law was passed called the "Renegotiation Act". This law allowed the government to recoup costs it judged to be excessive. Maybe this law was used in the Gemini/Mercury/Apollo program. I've not found examples of criminal guilt from WW2 suppliers. Were there financial scandals of any kind?

Thank you.

Could the Saturn V have had 9 F-1 engines instead of its 5. For more lift and payload capacity-possibly

No one talks about how clever the Apollo missions and all moon missions's names are. There is 2 current ones that I know of. Apollo, and Artemis. Both are named after celestial greek gods. Both fit perfectly. I want 2 other moon missions named Helios and Scelene so bad.

I've looked into why the Saturn V executed an 18 degree roll to align with the required trajectory etc. But one thing I have trouble with is seeing this manoeuvre in footage of the Saturn Vs taking off on the Apollo missions. I know it was an 18 degree roll and was wondering of anyone can point me to any footage of the manoeuvre? It's been bugging me for a long time now that I can't seem to spot it 🤣

So the last mission was in 1972 apollo 17 and nothing after that? Is there any specific reason for it and when is the next mission to land on Tranquility base.

Anyone know of a documentary series that documents all the lunar landings? Most seem to focus on Apollo 11 and 13. I would love to learn more about all the other missions, things like: what each missions goals were, the astronauts who embarked on them and some of the engineering challenges that were faced for each mission.