As many of you have no doubt seen already, the Washington Monument has been illuminated with a special Saturn V projection to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. I’d prefer a vigorous, active presence in space to 50-years-later celebrations and nostalgia, but I have to admit this is a fitting tribute and a thing of beauty. Photo source: NASA.
4 replies on “#Apollo50 Washington Monument Tribute”
Back in the mid 70’s our sub pulled into port Canaveral for testing an experimental prop. The crew was given the VIP tour of Kennedy Space Center. Out front of the Assy. Bldg. they had a Saturn 5, mock up or real I don’t know, laying on it’s side. The entire Moon Mission Stack. Huge is a word that does not even come close to doing justice to the monster we saw and this thing could actually fly. When you see something like that it never leaves you.
It is truly a magnificent, awe-inspiring sight. I got to walk underneath that Saturn V, which is now housed indoors at the Apollo/Saturn V Center building, just last year, and was truly and joyously blown away by the scale of it — especially when standing under the first-stage engines looking up. (!) According to this NASA page, it consists of mix-and-match components, including a “ground-test” first stage unit and a second stage that was likely slated for Apollo 18. So glad I got to go see that and all the rest of KSC. Everything from the “rocket garden” to seeing SpaceX’s active presence by LC-39A was truly inspiring and energizing. I have renewed hope for where we’ll go next, quite possibly sooner than we dare imagine.
That must be impressive if it’s actual size. Great if you’ve never seen one in person, like almost everyone. Nice find Troy, thanks!
It does appear to be projected actual size, as I’ve seen reported. At 363’ tall, the Saturn V should span about ⅔ of the Washington Monument’s 554’. It must be a truly magnificent sight to see in person!