A Blast from the Past


Posted by Mark Fuge on Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:56 am

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This image is of the flame tunnel of  Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

We were fortunate to be able to be on one of the last tours that included a visit to Launch Pad 39A, the site of the launching of all of shuttle missions and most of the Apollo missions (post Apollo 5 I believe). The tour was only given for one month, this past February, and the area had not been open to the public for over 30 years. So few have had the experience before us. It was quite an experience to step on the ground of the history of space, which soon will not be there, as NASA has since turned the launch pad over to private industry and it will be dismantled for construction of a new launch facility for their use. Pad 39A is the only pad from which the shuttle was ever launched, 39B was built for use by a rescue vehicle if ever needed, but was never used for that purpose. The stories told by the guides during the tour were memorable and well worth the journey. During our living on the east coast, we viewed many of the shuttle launches, including the last three. It is sad to think that it is over, but there is a new beginning and space exploration, though changing, will proceed in a new direction.


The effects of the processing of this image created the colored pattern on the back blast wall of the flame tunnel (which is an interesting side effect.) This is where the flame from the rocket was discharged when it ignited. The blast wall is movable, on the rails shown based on the rocket being launched. The two rectangular holes, in the bottom of the deck above, is where the flames came through from the engines.

The black “tar like” coloring on the concrete is from the Apollo rocket discharge. When they started launching the shuttles, due to the change in fuel mixture, the acidic nature of the shuttle fuel removed the “tar” residue from the Apollo launches.

Photoshop, PS Lens Correction (to correct the distortion of the wide angle lens), Topaz, Topaz Lens Effects, Topaz Simplify BuzSim.

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by Gary Briney on Sun Mar 30, 2014 6:22 pm
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I like the treatment -- thanks for the historical detail, I believe this is the first view that I've seen of the blast tunnel.
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by jerryb on Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:58 am
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Your processing brought out same nice textures on the walls.
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by Jackie Schuknecht on Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:07 am
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I like your treatment Mark, and that must be one huge tunnel! I especially like the colours and textures on the concrete walls.
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by Cynthia Crawford on Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:15 pm
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Very interesting story and nice detail work on the rendering. I think it captures the massiveness of the tunnel very well.
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