ASTRONAUT TRANSFER VAN
It’s a journey of 238,855 miles to the Moon from the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s sun-bleached east coast. Nine miles more if you count the bit from the crew quarters along a lonely causeway to Launch Pad 39A itself, upon which – exactly 50 years ago this month – sat a gleaming Saturn V rocket, like a white spire against the pastel-blue sky.
That’s a hell of a commute, and one which – for the crew of Apollo 11 – started at 4am on 16 July, 1969. Roused by astronaut chief Deke Sleyton, they showered, shaved, slipped into their space suits and waddled out into the warm dawn for the drive to the pad. Their ride? A modified Clark Cortez motorhome made in Michigan by a forklift truck company.
The first purpose-built motorhome in America, its FWD layout (unusual for an RV) eliminated the need for a transmission tunnel, meaning more room inside for the crew, who – thanks to the rear door, another unusual feature – could easily hop in and out.
In fact, the ‘astrovan’ could carry four astronauts, one more than necessary for each of the Moon missions. And so, with plenty of elbow room, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins began the 20-minute trip to their waiting spaceship, which at 9.32am fired them into the heavens.
In 1984, the Cortez was replaced for the shuttle programme by a custom Airstream Excella RV, which eventually clocked up 26,500 miles going back and forth to the launch sites. Both are now on display at the KSC visitor centre.