KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida -- Amazon's Jeff Bezos has announced that his expedition team has discovered Apollo 11's Saturn V rockets 14,000 feet below the Atlantic Ocean's surface that were launched from Kennedy Space Center just north of Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island, Florida.
Bezos writes:
"Millions of people were inspired by the Apollo Program. I was five
years old when I watched Apollo 11 unfold on television, and without any
doubt it was a big contributor to my passions for science, engineering,
and exploration. A year or so ago, I started to wonder, with the
right team of undersea pros, could we find and potentially recover the
F-1 engines that started mankind's mission to the moon?
I'm excited to report that, using state-of-the-art deep
sea sonar, the team has found the Apollo 11 engines lying 14,000 feet
below the surface, and we're making plans to attempt to raise one or
more of them from the ocean floor. We don't know yet what condition
these engines might be in - they hit the ocean at high velocity and have
been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they're
made of tough stuff, so we'll see.
Though they've been on the ocean floor for a long time, the
engines remain the property of NASA. If we are able to recover one of
these F-1 engines that started mankind on its first journey to another
heavenly body, I imagine that NASA would decide to make it available to
the Smithsonian for all to see. If we're able to raise more than one
engine, I've asked NASA if they would consider making it available to
the excellent Museum of Flight here in Seattle. (For clarity, I'll
point out that no public funding will be used to attempt to raise the
engines, as it's being undertaken privately.)
NASA is one of the few institutions I know that can inspire
five-year-olds. It sure inspired me, and with this endeavor, maybe we
can inspire a few more youth to invent and explore.
We'll keep you posted.
Sincerely,
Jeff Bezos"
Image Credit: NASA
For more information regarding Bezos Expeditions, visit: http://www.bezosexpeditions.com
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