THE WHEELS OF APOLLO

1. GETTING TO THE PAD

ASTRONAUT TRANSFER VAN

It’s a journey of 384,400 kilometres to the Moon from the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s sun-bleached east coast. Fourteen kilometres 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 last 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