Similar
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, with the orbiter Columbia strapped to its back, waits at the Shuttle Landing Facility for clear weather to take off for its final destination, Palmdale, Calif. The oldest of four orbiters in NASA's fleet, Columbia is being ferried to Palmdale to undergo extensive inspections and modifications in Boeing's Orbiter Assembly Facility. The nine-month orbiter maintenance down period (OMDP) is the second in Columbia's history. Orbiters are periodically removed from flight operations for an OMDP. Columbia's first was in 1994. Along with more than 100 modifications on the vehicle, Columbia will be the second orbiter to be outfitted with the multifunctional electronic display system, or "glass cockpit." Columbia is expected to return to KSC in July 2000 KSC-99pp1142
In late afternoon, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) rolls down the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility as it returns the orbiter Discovery to KSC. The ferry flight started in California where the orbiter landed more than a week ago at Edwards Air Force Base at the end of mission STS-92. Discovery wears a tail cone protecting its aft nozzles for the ferry flight. Discovery will be demated from the SCA via the mate/demate device at the SLF and transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1. There it will undergo preparations for its next launch, STS-102, scheduled for February 2001 KSC00padig079
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the 69th landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a drag chute slows space shuttle Discovery's landing on Runway 15 to end the STS-124 mission, a 14-day flight to the International Space Station. The main landing gear touched down at 11:15:19 a.m. EDT. The nose landing gear touched down at 11:15:30 a.m. and wheel stop was at 11:16:19 a.m. The mission completed 5.7 million miles. The STS-124 mission delivered the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's large Japanese Pressurized Module and its remote manipulator system to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Chris Lynch KSC-08pd1697
STS-121 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-122 - EOM
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, with its piggyback cargo the orbiter Atlantis, turns on the runway after landing at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility. The ground vehicle near the nose will tow it to the mate/demate device to have Atlantis removed from its perch. Atlantis landed in California Feb. 19 concluding mission STS-98. The ferry flight began in California March 1; unfavorable weather conditions kept it on the ground at Altus AFB, Okla., until it could return to Florida. The orbiter will next fly on mission STS-104, the 10th construction flight to the International Space Station, scheduled June 8 KSC01pp0495
Shuttle Discovery Landing (201204170022HQ)
STS-131 - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, the orbiter Columbia moves down the runway on the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft on a ferry flight to Palmdale, Calif. On the rear of the orbiter can be seen the tail cone, a fairing that is installed over the aft fuselage of the orbiter to decrease aerodynamic drag and buffet when the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is transporting the orbiter cross-country. It is 36 feet long, 25 feet wide, and 22 feet high. Columbia, the oldest of four orbiters in NASA's fleet, will undergo extensive inspections and modifications in Boeing's Orbiter Assembly Facility during a nine-month orbiter maintenance down period (OMDP), the second in its history. Orbiters are periodically removed from flight operations for an OMDP. Columbia's first was in 1994. Along with more than 100 modifications on the vehicle, Columbia will be the second orbiter to be outfitted with the multifunctional electronic display system, or "glass cockpit." Columbia is expected to return to KSC in July 2000 KSC-99padig008
Related
A space shuttle taking off from the launch pad. Space shuttle launch endeavour kennedy space center.
Spacelab Arrival Ceremony at Kennedy Space Center
A view of the space shuttle launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center
The space shuttle Discovery lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on its final mission.
Space Radar Laboratory photos taken at Kennedy Space Center
The space shuttle Discovery lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on its final mission.
A view of the launch pad for the space shuttle Columbia at the Kennedy Space Center
Shuttle Atlantis returning to Kennedy Space Center
Space Radar Laboratory photos taken at Kennedy Space Center
Endeavour is Delivered to the Kennedy Space Center
Summary
(May 2, 1991) NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft No. 911, with the space shuttle orbiter Endeavour securely mounted atop its fuselage, taxies to the runway to begin the ferry flight from Rockwell's Plant 42 at Palmdale, California, where the orbiter was built, to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. At Kennedy, the space vehicle was processed and launched on orbital mission STS-49, which landed at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (later redesignated Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California. NASA 911, the second modified 747 that went into service in November 1990, has special support struts atop the fuselage and internal strengthening to accommodate the added weight of the orbiters. ..Image # : EC91-221-8
NASA Photo Collection
The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.
- NASA Armstrong's Milestones
- Dryden Flight Research Center Collection - Media Storehouse
- Image of the Day - NASA
- Image of the Day - NASA
- STS EC91-221-8: Shuttle Endeavour Mated to 747 SCA Taxi to ...
- NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft No. 911, with the space ... - Reddit
- The art of transit: take the Expo Line to see the Space Shuttle ...
- Space History Photo: Endeavour is Delivered to the Kennedy Space ...
- FLIGHTLINE: 114 - SHUTTLE CARRIER AIRCRAFT - Oppositelock
- Humanoid History On X: A Future #space Shuttle Atop A 747, 48 ...