![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"I think that self-limitation is the major limiting factor for most people in the world."
|
![]() |
![]() In the novel, a very large building is constructed for the sole purpose of housing the Space Platform, a space station built on Earth and then rocketed into orbit by pushpots, independently manueverable engines.
The Shed seems to me to be a remarkable prediction of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). In 1961, NASA approached the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with a problem. They needed an interior space in which to put together the largest rocket of its time - the 363 foot tall Saturn V launch vehicle.
The Corps responded magnificently. Construction of the VAB began in 1962, with 4,200 steel piles driven to bedrock 160 feet below the surface. Four years (and 58,000 tons of steel) later, the $100 million dollar building was complete.
![]() (Vehicle Assembly Building) I've been to Cape Canaveral (now the John F. Kennedy Space Center), and I can tell you that it is quite a sight. Note that the stars on the flag painted on the building are six feet in diameter; the stripes are wide enough to drive a tourbus on. It encloses more than 128 million cubic feet of space - the largest building in the world when built (in terms of volume enclosed). Max Urbahn headed the VAB design team of architects and engineers; he stated the design challenge this way:
"The VAB is not so much a building to house a moon vehicle as a machine to build a moon craft. The Launch Control Center that monitors and tests every component that goes into an Apollo vehicle is not so much a building as an almost-living brain. " Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
Implantable Covid-Detecting Microchip Developed By DARPA
'Employees... were implanted with advanced microprocessors...'
SpaceX Requests Starlink For Starship
'... sweating, heat-blistered engineers at every interplanetary radiograph station on three planets.'
SF Writers Predicted John Deere Autonomous Tractors
'The huge plow... seemed to shake itself - and began to move back southward.'
Sony Pocket Air Conditioner Is Phil Dick's Idea!
'... he went to the hall closet to get his pith helmet and his mandatory cooling-unit.'
Guard Dog Robot Security Check
'We still use people at the main gates, but here it's an automated sentry.'
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |