Rarely Seen Shuttle Pre-Flight Activities
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"QUANTUM SHOT" #148Shuttle "Discovery":
Pre-Flight Activities, Rarely Seen by the General Public
These photos deserve a wide viewing audience: the amount of thought and engineering that goes into every launch is immense; each successful take-off represents the Mankind's finest effort, and is a wonder to behold.
(Thanks to Tim for sending this in; images courtesy Christie L. Dyett - NASA Space Coast Launch Services.)
The images may take some time to load.
External tank arrives by barge from Louisiana:
External tank approaches Vertical Assembly Building (VAB):
Removing external tank:
Preparing to lift the tank to vertical:
Lifting the tank:
Solid rockets are attached:
Orbiter: External tank with Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB):
Engines are attached to the shuttle in the Orbiter Processing Facility:
Shuttle in sling ready for lift in VAB:
Shuttle has been moved to VAB and will be attached to external tank:
Shuttle is attached:
Payload Preparation in Space Station Processing Facility:
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM):
Payload carrier leaves Canister Rotation Facility:
Payload being moved to Launch Pad:
Lifting payload into position for insertion into "Discovery"
when it arrives at the pad:
Shuttle "Discovery" leaves VAB:
Trip to launch:
Length - 3 1/2 mi
Time - 6-8 hours
Arrow indicates the Launch Pad.
Crawler Control
"Discovery" arrives at Pad:
Payload is also inside the Launch Pad:
Ready for Launch:
We Have Lift Off !
Images courtesy Christie L. Dyett - NASA Space Coast Launch Services
Permanent Link...
Category: Technology,Space
Related Posts:
Shuttle Crawler: Moving Experience, part 2
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15 Comments:
Excellent series of pictures!
geniales todos los post.
Very cool.
But one question does the Shuttle actually lift off from the back of
the crawler?
Or does it launch from a separate pad that the crawler simply transports it to?
Awesome photos.
I notice 438457650_81934df1c5.jpg and 438457714_76716def77.jpg both appear to have been censored. Each has a black rectangle, marked "Cargo package for ISS" and "New module for ISS" respectively. The black is solid and the rectangles are not in perspective with the rest of the photos, so apparently were added after the photo.
I wonder what NASA needs to keep hidden, and why?
these are just label left-overs from original slide presentation :)
fantastic work
fantastic post
If one nation made it this far-imagine the possibilities of the world nations united?
Wow. These pics are excellent...
If you're a drudge fan: drudgetracker.com
Excellent exposition. I've always wandered how the craft was attached to the boosters and the pictures reveal all and show it to be rudimentary mechanics-hoist and attach. That must be one awesome crane to be able to heave that amount of dead weight all the way up there. The counter-weight must be huge. Engineering at its best.
Impressive series of pictures, thank you for this "insight" not so commonly seen around ;)
The shuttle lifts off from the MLP (Mobile Launch Platform), which is the rectangular part the crawler is carrying. The crawler moves the platform into place, puts it down on fixed support legs and then moves to a parking position. The tower is a fixed installation for the Shuttle launches, but in the Apollo days, it was carried to the launch pad as well.
My dad works on the external fuel tank, and he's gone down river on the barge before. In a weird side note, on the barge, it's one big party and there's an entire walk-in freezer devoted to ice cream and a chef onboard on duty 24/7 to cook whatever your heart desires. LOL
I hadn't realised the tank was so big
This is outstanding. I'venever imagined such gigantic efforts made to make it happen.
Hats off to theses people!!
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