NASA's Most Off Limits Room

What do you think they should do with the bunker now? - Shoutout to CuriosityStream for supporting this video, check them out here: sponsr.is/cs_primalspace

Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a room, a rubber room, a rubber room with rats, and rats make me crazy.

Imagine having a completely off limits water slide in your workplace. Truly heartbreaking.

The scale of the Apollo mission was so insane. They built a one of a kind bunker that by itself would be a major project, for just a small chance of saving a few people in the unlikely scenario of an explosion where they have enough time to slide down a chute, but not enough to just drive away.

Coolest thing about that room that I learned is you can actually burn something to create oxygen instead of usually how burning things produce smoke and bad stuff.

The rubber room was not closed or inaccessible for years. There is both electrical and other reasons it needed to be opened from time to time for access related to pad maintenance. It was considered a confined space area and was kept locked up and had to be checked for appropriate O2 levels before entry. Once opened, it was not unusual to invite newer employees, with Pad Safety's blessing, to go see the room but then after whatever work was complete, Pad Safety would close the area back up. Ex Pad Elec Engineer.

the engineering lengths they went to to protect the crew any way they could is impressive

My father tested this room and the breathing apparatus after it was built. It was shown and described in Life magazine. Sadly he passed away last week.

NASA could add the Rubber Room Bunker as a "Special Tour" for visitors to KSC. NASA could also transition this facility into a Simulation Facility to study the effects of isolation for long duration space missions to MARS and beyond!🙂

This is the first time I ever heard of this bunker. Kudos to you for bringing it to the world. Should definitely be part of a historic tour.

Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a room, the rubber room, the rubber room for rocket explosions, and rocket explosions make me crazy.

Imagine being locked in a rubber room like this, crazy. Crazy?!

that slide looked like a lot of fun minus the potential of crashing into the wall at the end

I can't imagine a scenario where the crew found out an explosion was imminent, yet still had time to get to that room and close the blast door. Seems like a fortune spent on a one-in-a-million failure mode.

This was used for the shuttle program, and all shuttle crew were trained how to use it, as well as the cable car escape system located on the backside of the same level as the Orbiter Access Arm. We never referred to it as the bunker, however. It was called the round room. There was no slide between the Mobile Launch Platform and the hatched opening on the deck for the Orbiter program. One would have to run to it, open the hatch and jump in, the last in shutting and latching the door behind. During conversion of the pads (LC39A & B) from Saturns to Orbiters, the whole escape system was accessible to anyone who could get on the pad and knew about it. It was a long walk/jog down that tunnel, but it was well lit with caged bulbs in the ceiling about every 50’. I was an engineer on LC39B (B pad) during its final phase of refit, working with Sauer, the prime; then the TTV phase, working with BSI, the prime; then went over to LSOC (after the turnover ceremony that was heavily influenced by wild pigs). Our first launch was Challenger. The top of the slide had a hinged and latched hatch then. It may have been decided as part of the Challenger investigation to later weld a plate over it and rely solely on the cable slides. The Challenger crew did practice opening the hatch and sliding down into the rubber room, with several practicing closing the hatch behind. They also practiced sliding the cars down the cables to get an idea of how they worked and how the drag chains slowed them down at the bottom, getting out of the cars, and running to the end of the tunnel, then running up inside the tunnel to the round room and strapping in. None of it seemed very practical, but it was one of many contingency plans. During a launch, nobody but the flight crew was within three miles of the pad. Launch control had to mitigate problems remotely, shutting fuel valves, disconnecting electrical circuts, moving arms and umbilical units, etc. The crew was on their own, and not every abort scenario involved an unforeseen explosion, so NASA did what it could to provide the crew with exit strategies. When compared to the Orbiter's barber pole escape plan, this one seems pretty reasonable.

Given how poorly rubber holds up over the years, this is more likely now known as the "Goo Room".

This. Would be a great addition to a tour of the launchpad. So much history that would be lost forever

I think the bunker would be a really cool part of the expanded tours they offer at KSC. If there's no SpaceX launch, the tours I think would be worth the extra price for the special experience

The minds behind this bunker were incredible, and it’s wild to see the lengths they went through to protect the crew under different circumstances

Nasa should turn it into a museum of space history