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MARTIN: |
Will you tell me where we are, Dr. Rust? |
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MEL: |
Call me Mel, please. We are at Cape Canaveral, of course. We have
used Cape Canaveral as a missile launch site since nineteen
forty-eight. |
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MARTIN: |
Why
this place? |
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MEL: |
Several reasons. The weather is warm in Florida. We have been able
to use the site year round. |
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MARTIN: |
It
does rain though. |
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MEL: |
Oh,
yes. We have had storms, but very little cold weather. Also we're on
the Atlantic Ocean. We launch the rockets over the ocean. |
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MARTIN: |
Is
that because of problems? |
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MEL: |
That's one reason. We will have accidents sometimes. Also there are
islands out there. We have tracking stations on the islands and
ships for about ten thousand miles toward the southeast. |
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MARTIN: |
Tell me about the tracking stations. |
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MEL: |
We've set up places where we watch the rocket launch. Then we have
places all over the world that watch the satellites after they are
in orbit. |
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MARTIN: |
Is
that rocket ready to launch? |
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MEL: |
It
will be ready in a few days. We're waiting for the Space Shuttle
landing first. |
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MARTIN: |
I
thought the Space Shuttle landed in California. |
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MEL: |
Usually, but the weather has been bad for several days. It will land
here this time. |
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MARTIN: |
When is it going to land? |
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MEL: |
It
will land in about two hours. Will you be here then? |
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MARTIN: |
Yes, I'd like to be. Where will it land? |
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MEL: |
Nearby. It's only a few minutes away. |
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MARTIN: |
Is
this the only launch area? |
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MEL: |
No,
it isn't. This is the oldest area. We use this for the smaller
rockets. It's where the first U.S. satellite was put in orbit.
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MARTIN: |
That was in the nineteen fifties. |
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MEL: |
Yes, nineteen fifty eight. The first American manned space flight
was in nineteen sixty-one. It was also from this area. |
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MARTIN: |
The
space program has developed very quickly, hasn't it? |
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MEL: |
Yes. By nineteen sixty-nine we launched men to the moon.
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MARTIN: |
Was
that from here? |
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MEL: |
Yes, but after that we started building bigger rockets. We moved to
another launch area for those launches. We'll see that later if you
like. |
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MARTIN: |
Of
course, I'd like that. |
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MEL: |
The
bigger rockets launched there are built there too. Can you see that
very tall building? |
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MARTIN: |
Yes. |
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MEL: |
First, the rocket will be built there. When the rocket is ready, it
will be moved to the launch site. It will be standing, ready for
launch. It will be pulled to the launch site. |
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MARTIN: |
What are these rockets used for? |
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MEL: |
We
still launch satellites with them. |
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MEL: |
Let's go to the Space Shuttle landing site. You want to watch the
landing, don't you? |
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MARTIN: |
Yes, I do. I have some questions about the Shuttle too. |
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MEL: |
Good. We can talk on the way. |
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