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Kennedy Employees Form Human Shuttle
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- For the first time in Space Shuttle history, a fully stacked Shuttle - Atlantis - is rolling into the Vehicle Assembly Building's (VAB) high bay 2 on the building's west side. The VAB and nearby rock-paved crawlerway have recently undergone major modifications to provide Shuttle fliglht hardware more storage space and protection - "Safe Haven" - from hurricanes or tropical storms. Atlantis, the twin solid rocket boosters and external tank begain moving out of VAB high bay 1 on the east side at 2:59 a.m. EDT. The 6-million pound crawler transporter carried the Mobile Launcher Platform and Space Shuttle around the north side of the VAB and into high bay 2. After the successful "Safe Haven" fit check, Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39B in preparation for the STS-106 launch on Sept. 8. KSC00pp1110
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Thousands of NASA Kennedy Space Center employees stand side-by-side to form a full-scale outline of a space shuttle orbiter outside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The unique photo opportunity was designed to honor the Space Shuttle Program's 30-year legacy and the people who contribute to safely processing, launching and landing the vehicle. To learn more about the space shuttle era, including videos, photos and feature stories, go to www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2011-2358
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Viewed from across the turn basin at Launch Complex 39 area, Space Shuttle Endeavour leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 3 (open door) atop a Mobile Launcher Platform and begins rolling to Launch Pad 39A via a crawler-transporter. The combined height of the Shuttle, MLP and transporter is 235.2 ft. (71.6 m). Once at the pad, routine launch pad validations will commence, verifying all vehicle and facility interfaces. Endeavour is expected to lift off on mission STS-100 on April 19, carrying the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello and the Canadian robotic arm, SSRMS, to the International Space Station KSC01pp0565
GOES-R Transport from Astrotech to VIF at Pad 41
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope makes the turn toward the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The tank arrived at the turn basin earlier in the day aboard the Pegasus barge. Inside the building, the tank will be raised to vertical, lifted and moved into a checkout cell. Stacking of the tank and solid rocket boosters is scheduled for Aug. 7. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller KSC-08pd1984
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A wild pig splashes through a canal near NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building while its companions stay nearby on the bank. The wild pigs have flourished in the environs around KSC, which shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, without many predators other than panthers and humans. Pigs were introduced to Florida in the 1500s and are now found statewide in wooded areas close to water. Pigs are omnivores, foraging on the ground and rooting just beneath the surface, which damages the groundcover. Wild pigs eat almost anything that has nutritional value, including tubers, roots, shoots, acorns, fruits, berries, earthworms, amphibians, reptiles and rodents. Appearance is similar to domestic hogs, but leaner, with a longer, narrower head and a coarser, denser coat. Females may have two litters per year. The piglets are weaned in a few weeks but remain with the mother for several months. KSC-05pd2262
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in the Launch Complex 39 area wears a new coat of paint, along with newly painted American flag and NASA logo. The improved look was finished in time to honor NASA's 40th anniversary on Oct. 1. In order to do the job, workers were suspended on platforms from the top of the 525-foot-high VAB. One of the world's largest buildings by volume, the VAB is the last stop for the Shuttle before rollout to the launch pad. Integration and stacking of the complete Space Shuttle vehicle (orbiter, two solid rocket boosters and the external tank) takes place in High Bays 1 or 3. To the right of the VAB is the Launch Control Center. Each of its four firing rooms are equipped with automated, computer-controlled Launch Processing System (LPS) for monitoring and controlling Shuttle assembly, checkout and launch operations, as well as work order control and scheduling. Banana Creek is visible behind and to the right of the VAB KSC-98pc1237
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From across the turn basin can be seen Space Shuttle <a href="../../subjects/atlantis.htm"> Atlantis</a> approaching the <a href="../../subjects/vab.htm"> Vehicle Assembly Building</a> (at left). Atlantis is rolling back to the VAB from <a href="../../subjects/lc39a.htm"> Launch Pad 39A</a>. In the VAB workers will conduct inspections, make continuity checks and conduct X-ray analysis on the 36 solid rocket booster cables located inside each booster’s external system tunnel. An extensive evaluation of NASA’s SRB cable inventory revealed conductor damage in four (of about 200) cables on the shelf. Shuttle managers decided to prove the integrity of the system tunnel cables already on Atlantis before launching. The launch has been rescheduled no earlier than Feb. 6 KSC01pp0138
Summary
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From across the turn basin can be seen Space Shuttle ../../subjects/atlantis.htm"> Atlantis</a> approaching the ../../subjects/vab.htm"> Vehicle Assembly Building</a> (at left). Atlantis is rolling back to the VAB from ../../subjects/lc39a.htm"> Launch Pad 39A</a>. In the VAB workers will conduct inspections, make continuity checks and conduct X-ray analysis on the 36 solid rocket booster cables located inside each booster’s external system tunnel. An extensive evaluation of NASA’s SRB cable inventory revealed conductor damage in four (of about 200) cables on the shelf. Shuttle managers decided to prove the integrity of the system tunnel cables already on Atlantis before launching. The launch has been rescheduled no earlier than Feb. 6
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.