Environmental Bloodhound
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Selfish Heathen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
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Pictures, man. Pictures! I can't be expected to read!
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Unloading the orbiters at their destinations will be a little trickier, though. There are no portable mate-demate devices, they only exist at KSC, Edwards and White Sands.
Unloading Discovery at Dulles, and then loading Enterprise, will be done with several portable cranes. Enterprise will then be flown to JFK, unloaded onto a barge via cranes, and then moved from the barge to the Intrepid using cranes. Endeavour will also be unloaded from the SCA using cranes when it arrives in California, and then transported on a large heavy-duty flatbed trailer over land to the California Science Center. Atlantis will simply be towed along the roads connecting the LC39 complex and the Visitor's Center after it's display building is ready in November. |
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Selfish Heathen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
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Thanks, PKI. That's exactly the answer I was looking for.
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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Thanks guys for the explanation! I saw one of the shuttles do a fly-by in DC when I lived up there some time ago. It was the coolest thing ever for me.
Louis L'Amour, βTo make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.β Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Rocket Surgeon
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Canadark
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Those extra vertical fins on the tailplane are interesting. Are they there to compensate for something the shuttle causes?
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Ninja Editor
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
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Rocket Surgeon
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Canadark
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That makes sense. Thanks!
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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For those interested in the details of using the Mate-Demate Device, and how the operation will be carried out without them, long nerd post incoming:
In the photo posted above, you can see that the aft External Tank connection hatches on the orbiter's belly are open. Those hatches, when open, are where the ET both physically attaches to the orbiter at the aft end, and also where the cryogenic fuel plumbing between the ET and orbiter connect. Now, why are they open with the orbiter in the MDD? Because they use the ET attachment points to connect it to the SCA. No point in engineering separate mounts into the vehicle when you already have perfectly good attach points. So the loading procedure at KSC for Discovery and Endeavour will be the same procedure they used at Edwards or White Sands to return an orbiter to KSC. It goes like this: 1. Tow orbiter under MDD. 2. Attach MDD lifting mechanism to the built-in attach points on the fuselage, which were also used for lifting, moving, and stacking the vehicle in the VAB. 3. Retract orbiter landing gear and close the hatches. 4. Open aft ET connection hatches. 5. Raise orbiter to top of MDD. 6. Tow SCA into the MDD under the orbiter and carefully check positioning. 7. Lower orbiter onto SCA and lock the struts to the ET attachment points. 8. Disengage MDD lifting mechanism from orbiter and raise it up out of the way. 9. Roll the combined SCA/Orbiter back out of the MDD so it can be turned around and prepared for takeoff. Standard unloading was the same, just in reverse. Now, for the final flights... Discovery and Endeavour will be loaded using that standard method, while Atlantis is remaining at KSC and will simply be towed to the Visitor's Complex. After arrival, here's how it will go: Discovery: Cranes attach to the orbiter and raise it off the SCA. SCA rolls back, and the cranes lower the orbiter close to the ground. The aft ET hatches are closed and the landing gear is deployed, and then the cranes set the orbiter down onto the tarmac to be towed into the Udvar-Hazy Center, which is conveniently right off the end of the runway. Enterprise Step 1: After Discovery is removed, the aerodynamic tail cone will be transferred from Discovery to Enterprise. Cranes will attach to Enterprise and raise it up a little, allowing the gear to be retracted and the aft ET doors opened. It will then be raised fully, the SCA will pull in underneath, and the cranes will then lower it onto the SCA to be locked down. The cranes will then disengage and move away, and the SCA will depart for New York. Enterprise Step 2: After arrival at JFK, cranes will remove Enterprise from the SCA in the same way Discovery was removed at Dulles. The tailcone will be removed and shipped back to KSC for use on Endeavour. It will then be towed to a barge dock and craned onto the barge for transport to Intrepid. Once there, it will once again be lifted by cranes, from the barge up to it's temporary parking spot on the Intrepid carrier deck, and then covered by a strong temporary tent-like structure while the permanent display enclosure is constructed. Endeavour: Loaded onto SCA at KSC using standard procedure. After arrival in California, it will be unloaded in the same way Discovery and Enterprise were, except that the landing gear will remain stowed. It will be set on the special trailer originally used to transport the orbiters from the manufacturing plant to Edwards AFB, and trucked to the California Science Center. Once there, it will be lifted off the trailer by cranes, the landing gear deployed, and then set down and towed into the building. |
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meh
Join Date: May 2004
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One final roll out of the VAB for Discovery. Arrives at Mate-Demate device at the SLF. Looking forward to seeing her off on Tuesday at the SLF. Though the least they could do is to give Discovery a Shuttle Wash.... The thing is filthy. giggity |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Discovery is now attached to the Mate-Demate Device with the nose gear lifted off the ground. |
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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Thanks for keeping us updated! I think this stuff is very cool still.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Mating operations have been scrubbed until tomorrow morning due to winds exceeding lifting limits.
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meh
Join Date: May 2004
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And we have liftoff.....
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Discovery now at full height inside the MDD with the SCA pulled underneath. Ready for mating.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Backing out of the MDD
Discovery's final crew from STS-133 Unanimous GO has been given for takeoff tomorrow at 7AM ET. Full article: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/120416preview/ |
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meh
Join Date: May 2004
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Time to set my alarm clock to 3 am...... Out the door to KSC at 4 am.....
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meh
Join Date: May 2004
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Here are my pictures of Discovery leaving.
Peak abo.... Taxing down the runway to departure end of the runway. Stopped for a photo shoot. Continuing on.... Takeoff roll( trees and the crowd blocked me from taking pictures of the moment of liftoff and climb) Fly by heading up to DC. Goodbye Discovery giggity |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Gallery from Tuesday's DC Flyover: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/120417ws/
And going on right now... Quote:
Live Feed: FERRYFLIGHT STATUS CENTER - live updates and streaming video |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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I first saw a shuttle back in the 1980s, atop the plane they used to transport it from the west coast back to the east coast. They had it parked at Harsfield International in Atlanta, and there was a viewing area you could park at - my Dad took me over, it was awesome
This makes me sad ... |
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meh
Join Date: May 2004
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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SLS would still use SSME RS-25 engines for the core stage, but having F-1 powered liquid boosters on the sides instead of the current five-segment ATK solids would be interesting.
Activity from last night and today: Discovery demated from SCA using crane contraption that makes me nervous Enterprise rolling out of Udvar-Hazy Center Discovery approaching Udvar-Hazy Center Enterprise and Discovery meet for the first time |
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meh
Join Date: May 2004
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And I have always wondered why NASA went with the RS-25 instead of human rating the RS-68's. Not only does the RS-68's produce more thrust, they would be cheaper even after human rating. Because the RS-25D's are overly complex due to being designed to be reused for the Shuttle's. So I always thought why go with overly complex engines that cost more for a one time use in the SLS? But, then I read after they use the remaining RS-25D's they have in storage they will be using the RS-25E's which would remove the complexity of the engine and make it more practical to be expendable. giggity |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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I think NASA may be taking these proposals seriously too, because they've recently begun installing an SLS-sized RP-1 Kerosene fueling system and tanks at Pad B, and after Pad A has the Shuttle hardware removed and the lightning towers installed like has already taken place at B, Pad A will also get an RP-1 fueling system. This will also enable LC39 to support manned Atlas V and Falcon Heavy operations if they decide to open up LC39 to the private sector in addition to SLS use.
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meh
Join Date: May 2004
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But, knowing they have the infrastructure built already will give the F-1 booster proposal some extra legs. giggity |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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Steve Jobs would have killed the designer of that Shuttle Flight Deck.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
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In other news, Enterprise made the "Trek" from Dulles to JFK this morning, making passes over Manhattan and the Intrepid prior to landing. Space shuttle Enterprise lands in the Big Apple |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
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More recently, the dark-cockpit concept has been extended to "quiet cockpit" too: normal configurations are silent, so any sounds mean something must be dealt with. The old-style cockpits had annunciators for all kinds of things, with different coloured lights meaning different things including "all okay". This made problems much harder to identify, which is one reason planes fell out of the sky a lot more often forty years ago! Thanks for your photos. |
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