Context photos with panels identified

This section provides some photos of Firing Room 1 during the Apollo 8 Countdown Demonstration Test, and identifies some of the control panels seen in the photos. The “live” images are stills from movies taken during the test. The film clips are available through www.footagevault.com.

This engineer is manning the IU MEASURING & TRACKING console. The chart recorders in the vertical racks behind this panel are the start of Area C, so this is Area B Row E. He is at the far left of the row, so this panel’s position is Area B, Row E, console 1.

Example of the IU MEASURING & TRACKING panel, KSC Saturn V Visitors Center.

This NASA engineer is sitting in front of the Q ANGLE OF ATTACK panel. He is also in Row E (note the chart recorders the next row in front of him). Counting the number of standing racks, we get an approximate location in the row for this station. Then, checking other photos of the Firing Room that day and comparing the location of the black telephone handset and the checklist taped to the console, this position is pinpointed at Area B, Row E, console 1.

Q ANGLE OF ATTACK panel

Here we see a section of Area B, with panels in Rows A and B marked. In the foreground (at the bottom of the picture) is Area A, Row E.

S-IB NETWORKS panel, analogue of the S-IC NETWORKS panel (Ward Collection)

DC POWER SUPPLIES (KSC Saturn V Visitors Center)

S-IC EBW & ORDNANCE panel

S-IC CUTOFF SENSORS panel (Scott Unterberg collection)

EDS PREPARATION panel
(KSC Saturn V Visitors Center)

Here’s a tough one! President Richard Nixon visited Firing Room 2 immediately after the Apollo 12 launch. In the photo below, he is shaking hands with the engineers - but where in the Firing Room is he?

First, we notice that the engineers are wearing Rockwell patches on their lab coats. Rockwell built the S-II stage of the Saturn V rocket. In the bottom (foreground), we see consoles that were typical of Area A, Row E. We also note the Firing Room wall to the far right of the photo. So, Nixon is standing in the right-hand section of Area B, Row A. Other context photos show that the cluster of three monitors on the tops of the consoles behind the Rockwell engineers’ heads are at console positions 23, 24, and 25. Finally, the tiny corner of the display seen peeking out from behind the arm of the engineer at the far left of the receiving line is a part of the S-II PROPELLANT MONITOR display, which was in position 23. So, Nixon is shaking the hand of the Rockwell engineer at Area B, Row A, console 25.