Rocket Ranch: The Nuts and Bolts of the Apollo Moon Program at Kennedy Space Center

by Jonathan H. Ward

Jonathan Ward takes the reader deep into the facilities at Kennedy Space Center to describe NASA’s first computer systems used for spacecraft and rocket checkout and explain how tests and launches proceeded. Descriptions of early operations include a harrowing account of the heroic efforts of pad workers during the Apollo 1 fire. A companion to the author’s book Countdown to a Moon Preparing Apollo for Its Historic Journey, this explores every facet of the facilities that served as the base for the Apollo/Saturn missions. Hundreds of illustrations complement the firsthand accounts of more than 70 Apollo program managers and engineers.

The era of the Apollo/Saturn missions was perhaps the most exciting period in American space exploration history. Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center were buzzing with activity. Thousands of workers came to town to build the facilities and launch the missions needed to put an American on the Moon before the end of the decade.

Work at KSC involved much more than just launching rockets. It was a place like none other on Earth. Technicians performed intricate operations, and hazards abounded everywhere, including lightning, fire, highly-toxic fuels, snakes, heat, explosives, LOX spills, and even plutonium. The reward for months of 7-day workweeks under intense pressure was witnessing a Saturn V at liftoff.

For anyone who ever wished they had worked at Kennedy Space Center during the Apollo era, this book is the next best thing. The only thing missing is the smell of rocket fuel in the morning.

Genres: Space, History, Science, Nonfiction, Ebooks

539 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 26, 2015

About the author

Jonathan H. Ward is an author of space histories with unique perspectives. Having grown up in the early space age and worked as a summer tour guide at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum as a teenager during the Apollo years (and driven a lunar rover there before he was old enough to drive a car), space has been Jonathan's lifelong passion. His professional career included time with Boeing on the Space Station Freedom program. But it is from Jonathan's graduate degree in Systems Management and his extensive work in organizational development and leadership coaching that he learned to appreciate the complexity of the human side of what it takes to put people into space. He is passionate about ensuring that the people behind the scenes - not just the leaders - get their time in the spotlight.

In addition to his writing, Jonathan provides public outreach as a volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador. He has spoken at Spacefest, the TriStar Regional Astronomy Conference, the NASA Alumni League Florida Chapter, the Center for Creative Leadership, and many other regional and local gatherings.

Jonathan lived in the Washington DC area from 1967 to 2011, and now calls Greensboro, North Carolina his home.

Jonathan spent ten years as a semi-professional classical singer in the Washington, DC. He has appeared on Grammy-winning albums with the National Symphony Orchestra and The Washington Chorus. He performed as a soloist in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and on tour in Italy in 2000. He was Chorus President of The Washington Chorus from 2003-2006.

Reviews

[Roger Rohweder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is difficult to fully appreciate the enormous sizes, the dangers, the complexities, and the time pressures of the moon mission. The author (and those he interviewed) has done an excellent job helping readers get there.

It is easy to understand how many of the 24,000 participants in the moon missions would love reading this book about that most memorable part of their lives. (Which you can see in Amazon reviews for this book).

And I was finding myself thinking that the book should be required reading for millennials. Many of them have only experienced a picture of NASA (compared to SpaceX, for instance) that does not appreciate the state of technology they were working with in the 60s, nor of how much was done in such a short time.

[Brian Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amongst my several shelves of books on the U. S. space program, Rocket Ranch: The Nuts and Bolts of the Apollo Moon Program at Kennedy Space Center by Jonathan H. Ward is one of the most original chronicles of the Apollo program. It’s geek heaven. Here’s sample: “The signal from the patch distributor was routed through signal conditioning equipment and then into the firing room’s RCA 110A computer. The firing room’s 110A communicated via hardline link to the 110A computer located in the base of the LUT (which was either in the VAB or at the launch pad). The LUT’s computer routed its output through signal conditioning equipment in the LUT and then on to a relay rack for the appropriate stage of the launch vehicle or associated ground equipment. The signal then went to the terminal distribution equipment and a crossover distributor to communicate with sensors on the launch vehicle.” (p. 148) If stuff like this makes you silently mouth, “wow,” then this is the book for you. It offers a high signal-to-noise ratio. I learned something on every page. Some facts were amazing: the failure mode of the RCA 110A computer, that the LUT was pressurized, the RF test building had no metal pieces longer than 6-inches, eggs & the 250-ton cranes, and the plutonium car washes, for instance. The acronym for the VAB officially went from “Vertical” to “Vehicle” early in 1965, about the time my dad started working in it, and I can attest that it was still commonly called the “Vertical Assembly Building” long after ’65. The book is superbly researched, well-written, well-edited, and generously illustrated. The detail Ward supplies, obviously his passion, makes the success of the Apollo program seem all the more miraculous – only it wasn’t a miracle. It was immensely creative engineering and dedication like that of the dozens of people Ward interviewed. At only 265 pages of text, Rocket Ranch is the kind of book that makes one sad upon reaching the end. But wait…there’s more! Ward provides seven appendices that invite further perusal. This is obviously not a book for everyone. But if you’re seriously interested in understanding the Apollo space program this is an indispensable work, and I can promise that you will come away amazed.

[Steve Sarrica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan H. Ward's Rocket Ranch: The Nuts and Bolts of the Apollo Moon Program at Kennedy Space Center is a great dive into the details of what it took to get Apollo to the moon from the perspective of the unsung heroes on the ground at KSC. The more I learn about Apollo, the more amazed I am at what was accomplished 50 years ago. The only thing missing from this book is more — more stories, more details, more! Unfortunately, there probably isn't a bunch more to get as so many of the Apollo-era engineers, technicians, support staff, and leadership have passed. Rocket Ranch is an absolute must for space buffs.