John Kennedy is visiting Cape Canaveral. Rocco Petrone explains to him the potential of the Saturn V, which will be launched from the launch pad under construction. Kennedy emphasizes that he must inform the press, adding the names of the most skeptical journalists he needs to convince. The first unmanned Apollo launch is scheduled for the following January. “I’ll be back for that launch,” Kennedy promises. He won’t be back. He will be killed just six days later in Dallas. But Rocco Petrone would never forget that smile. Meticulous and never afraid of the task, Rocco Petrone will focus on the construction of the Moonport: it will take five years to complete Complex 39. Only the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) will be as large as the Pentagon and slightly taller than the Washington Monument. Pads 39A and 39B, identical, will each occupy 64 hectares, spaced 2 kilometers apart, so that even in the event of a serious accident to one, the other would emerge unscathed. Twelve Saturn Vs and 82 Space Shuttles will be launched from Pad 39A, while 39B will launch one Saturn V, four Saturn IBs, and 53 Space Shuttles. Even the choice of transport for the Saturn V to the launch pad was far from trivial. Initially, Rocco favored a waterway with a gigantic barge, which, however, would have had to be a monster never seen before to support the weight of the Saturn V. Then rail transport was considered, and finally, someone suggested to Rocco a gigantic crawler vehicle of the type used for massive earthworks for agricultural work on the great American prairies. The contract was awarded to Marion Power Shovel Company (with some components built by Rockwell Int’l), which would build the Crawler-Transporter, which would remain active until 2011, carrying all the Saturns and Space Shuttles. The crawler would weigh 2,721 tons and have two 2,750-hp diesel engines for propulsion and two 1,065-hp engines for auxiliary functions. Rocco Petrone would then become responsible for Control and Launches from Cape Canaveral. The Countdown Demonstration, for example, lasted a full 93 hours, with the rocket on the pad loaded with propellant and the lunar module ready. The entire sequence had to be performed exactly as in the real launch until 14 seconds before launch. Both the sequence and the task of stopping it in time to avoid an accidental launch brought extreme tension to the room.
