Countdown! NASA Launch Vehicles and Facilities 2005

8/6/2019 Countdown! NASA Launch Vehicles and Facilities 2005

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Info

rmationSumm

ary

Countdown!

NASA Space

Shuttles and

Facilities

www.nasa.gov


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NASA Space Shuttles and Facilities

Countdown!

Cover photo: The light at the end of a stem of smoke is Space Shuttle Endeavour as it hurtles into

space on mission STS-111 to the International Space Station. Liftoff occurred at 5:22:49 p.m. EDT June

5, 2002. The STS-111 crew includes Commander Kenneth Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart, and Mission

Specialists Franklin Chang-Diaz and Philippe Perrin (CNES), as well as the Expedition Five crew

members Valeri Korzun, Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev. This mission marks the 14th Shuttle ight

to the International Space Station and the third Shuttle mission of 2002. Mission STS-111 is the 18th

ight of Endeavour and the 110th ight overall in NASAs Space Shuttle program.

Below: The 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building dominates the view in the Launch Complex 39 Area

at Kennedy Space Center. Farther in the background is Launch Pad 39B. The Banana River, Banana

Creek and Turn Basin ow through and around the grounds. On the horizon is the Atlantic Ocean.


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Table of ContentsPAGE

SPACE SHUTTLES................................................................................................................................... 1

PROPELLANTS ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Cryogenic ..................................................................................................................................... 2

Hypergol ic..................................................................................................................................... 2

Solid............................................................................................................................................. 2

FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS............................................................................................................... 4

Shuttle Landing Facility.................................................................................................................. 4

Orbiter Processing Facility............................................................................................................. 5

Thermal Protection System Facility................................................................................................ 6

Logistics Facility............................................................................................................................ 6

Launch Equipment Test Facility (LETF).......................................................................................... 6

Multi-Payload Processing Facil i ty..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2 (SAEF)............................................................. 7

Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF)...................................................................................... 7

Vertical Processing Facility (VPF).................................................................................................. 7

Solid Rocket Booster Processing Facilities................................................................................ 7 SRB Disassembly Facility.................................................................................................. 7

SRB Assembly and Refurbishment Facility.........................................................................8

Rotation Processing and Surge Facility.............................................................................. 8

Parachute Refurbishment Facility......................................................................................8

Vehicle Assembly Building............................................................................................................. 8

External Tank................................................................................................................................ 8

Main Engines............................................................................................................................... 12

Vehicle Assembly Building............................................................................................................ 12

Launch Control Center................................................................................................................. 13

Transportable Equipment and Facilities...................................................................................... 14

Mobile Launcher Platform................................................................................................ 14

Crawler-Transpor ter........................................................................................................ 15Crawlerway..................................................................................................................... 15

Payload Canister............................................................................................................. 16

Payload Canister Transporter.......................................................................................... 16

Launch Pads 39A and 39B........................................................................................................... 16

Fixed Service Structure................................................................................................... 17

Orbiter Access Arm................................................................................................. 17

External Tank Hydrogen Vent Line Access Arm..................................................... 17

External Tank Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm............................................................. 17

Hypergolic Umbilical System................................................................................... 18

Rotating Service Structure............................................................................................... 18

Payload Changeout Room.........................................................................................18

Orbiter Midbody Umbilical Unit............................................................................... 19

Weather Protection System............................................................................................. 19

Flame Trench and Deflector System................................................................................ 19

Emergency Egress System.............................................................................................. 20

Lightning Mast..................................................................................................................... 20

Sound Suppression Water System.................................................................................... 20

SRB Overpressure Suppression System...........................................................................21

Main Engine Hydrogen Burnoff System.............................................................................22

Propellant Storage Facilities............................................................................................ 22

Pad Terminal Connection Room........................................................................................ 23


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The rst ight of the commercially developed SPACEHAB laboratory module begins with the awless liftoff of the Space

Shuttle Endeavour from Launch Pad 39B on June 21, 1993.


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Space Shuttles

Te Vision or Space Exploration is being madea reality by the Space Shuttle Program. Te SpaceShuttle is NASAs reusable manned space vehicledesigned or the transport o people, spacecra and

equipment to and rom the International SpaceStation. Te Shuttle comprises three major ightelements:

1) Te orbiter, which is a reusable delta-wingedspaceplane, is about the size and shape o a DC-9

jet, with three reusable liquid-ueled main engines.It has a design lie o 100 missions.

Te original eet in the order they were rstown are Columbia, OV-102, (1981); Challenger,OV-099, (1983); Discovery, OV-103, (1984); At-lantis, OV-104, (1985); and Endeavour, OV-105,(1992). Challenger was destroyed Jan. 28, 1986,

during launch. Columbia was lost Feb 1, 2003,while returning to KSC rom research mission SS-107.

Te orbiters are named aer pioneering sea ves-sels that established new rontiers in research andexploration. Only the orbiters have names, and anorbiter alone is not a ull Space Shuttle.

2) Te external tank contains liquid hydrogenand liquid oxygen or the orbiters three main en-gines. It is the only major element not recovered andreused.

3) wo solid rocket boosters (SRBs) lled with

solid propellant burn in unison with the orbitersengines at lio. Tey are designed or reuse on atleast 20 missions, and are recovered at sea aer sepa-ration.

Te Space Shuttle has remained the onlyNASA-operated manned space vehicle into the 21stcentury.

In addition to its normal workload o scienticsatellites and space science missions, the Shuttleeet o three vehicles is the primary transport intoorbit or the segments o the International SpaceStation. Russia has used its own vehicles to launchsome Space Station components, and so may someo the other partners.

Te Station has been continuously mannedsince Nov. 2, 2000. Prior to that time, America hadmaintained a continuous presence in space on SpaceStation Mir by an agreement with Russia that al-lowed astronauts to rotate turns o duty.

Te rst Space Shuttle lied o rom Pad A onLaunch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, onApril 12, 1981.

Aer a two-day, test-ight mission that veried

the ability o the Orbiter Columbia to unction inspace, it landed at Edwards Air Force Base in Cali-ornia. Te vehicle was piloted by John Young andRobert Crippen. Te SS-1 mission marked therst time that a new space vehicle carried a crew onits initial ight.

An assembled Space Shuttle is approximately184 eet (56 meters) long, 76 eet (23 meters) highto the tip o the orbiters vertical tail, and 78 eet(24 meters) wide, measured across the orbiters

wingtips. Lio weight is usually about 4,500,000pounds (2,041,200 kilograms).

An orbiters three liquid ueled engines drawing propellants rom the external tank andthe two solid propellant rocket boosters burn simul-taneously or the rst two minutes. ogether, they

produce almost seven million pounds (31.1 millionnewtons) o thrust at lio.

Aer two minutes o ight, a Space Shuttlereaches an altitude o 32 miles (51 kilometers) andthe boosters have burned all their propellant. Teythen detach and parachute into the ocean. wo

waiting ships recover them, or reurbishment andreuse on later missions.

Te orbiter and external tank continue on to-ward Earth orbit. When the orbiters main enginescut o, the external tank is jettisoned, to re-enterthe atmosphere and break up over a remote oceanarea.

On most missions the orbiter continues tocoast, while still gaining altitude rom the initialthrust, until it reaches the other side o the Earthrom where the external tank was discarded.

Ten the on-board orbital maneuvering enginesre to place the vehicle in a near circular, low-Earthorbit. Most operational missions last rom seven toten days, though two weeks or more are not uncom-mon.

When the mission has been completed, the or-biter reenters the atmosphere and returns to Earth,gliding to an unpowered landing at the ShuttleLanding Facility, or Edwards AFB i bad weather orother circumstances preclude landing at KSC.


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Sir Isaac Newton stated in his Tird Law oMotion that every action is accompanied by anequal and opposite reaction. A rocket operates onthis principle. Te continuous ejection o a streamo hot gases in one direction causes a steady motion

o the rocket in the opposite direction.A jet aircra operates on the same principle,

using oxygen in the atmosphere to support combus-tion or its uel. Te rocket engine has to operateoutside the atmosphere, and so must carry its ownoxidizer.

Te gauge o efciency or rocket propellants isspecic impulse, stated in seconds. Te higher thenumber, the hotter the propellant.

Specic impulse is the period in seconds orwhich a 1-pound (0.45-kilogram) mass o propellant(total o uel and oxidizer) will produce a thrust o 1

pound (0.45- kilogram) o orce. Although specicimpulse is a characteristic o the propellant system,its exact value will vary to some extent with the op-erating conditions and design o the rocket engine.For this reason dierent numbers are oen quotedor a given propellant or combination o propel-lants.

Cryogenic

Cryogenic propellants are liquid oxygen (LOX),which serves as an oxidizer, and liquid hydrogen

(LH2), which is a uel. Te word cryogenic is aderivative o the Greek kyros, meaning ice cold.LOX remains in a liquid state at temperatures ominus 298 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 183 degreesCelsius). LH2 remains liquid at temperatures ominus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 253 degreesCelsius).

In gaseous orm, oxygen and hydrogen havesuch low densities that extremely large tanks wouldbe required to store them aboard a rocket. But cool-ing and compressing them into liquids vastly in-crease their density, making it possible to store themin large quantities in smaller tanks.

Te high efciency engines aboard the SpaceShuttle orbiter use liquid hydrogen and oxygenand have a specic impulse rating o 455 seconds.Te uel cells in an orbiter use these two liquidsto produce electrical power through a process bestdescribed as electrolysis in reverse. Liquid hydrogenand oxygen burn clean, leaving a by-product o wa-ter vapor.

Te rewards or mastering LH2 are substantial.Te ability to use hydrogen means that a given mis-sion can be accomplished with a smaller quantityo propellants (and a smaller vehicle), or alternately,that the mission can be accomplished with a larger

payload than is possible with the same mass oconventional propellants. In short, hydrogen yieldsmore power per gallon.

Hypergolic

Hypergolic propellants are uels and oxidizersthat ignite on contact with each other and need noignition source. Tis easy start and restart capabilitymakes them attractive or both manned and un-manned spacecra maneuvering systems. Another

plus is their storability they do not have the ex-

treme temperature requirements o cryogenics.Te uel is monomethyl hydrazine (MMH) and

the oxidizer is nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4). Hydra-zine is a clear, nitrogen/hydrogen compound with ashy smell. It is similar to ammonia. Nitrogen te-troxide is a reddish uid. It has a pungent, sweetishsmell. Both uids are highly toxic and are handledunder the most stringent saety conditions.

Te orbiter uses hypergols in its Orbital Ma-neuvering Subsystem (OMS) or orbital insertion,major orbital maneuvers and deorbit. Te ReactionControl System (RCS) uses hypergols or attitude

control.Te efciency o the MMH/N2O4 combina-

tion in the orbiter ranges rom 260 - 280 seconds inthe RCS, to 313 seconds in the OMS. Te higherefciency o the OMS system is attributed to higherexpansion ratios in the nozzles and higher pressuresin the combustion chambers.

Solid

Te solid-propellant motor is the oldest andsimplest o all orms o rocketry, dating back to the

ancient Chinese. It is a casing, usually steel, lledwith a mixture o solid orm chemicals (uel and ox-idizer) that burn at a rapid rate, expelling hot gasesrom a nozzle to achieve thrust.

Solids require no turbopumps or complex pro-pellant eed systems. A simple squib device at thetop o the motor directs a high-temperature amealong the surace o the propellant grain, igniting itinstantaneously.

Propellants


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Solid propellants are stable and easily storable.Unlike liquid-propellant engines, though, a solid-

propellant motor cannot be shut down. Once ignit-ed, it will burn until all the propellant is exhausted.

Solids have a variety o uses or space opera-tions. Small solids oen power the nal stage oa launch vehicle, or attach to payload elements toboost satellites and spacecra to higher orbits.

Medium solids such as the Payload Assist Mod-ule (PAM) and the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS)

provide the added boost to place satellites into geo-synchronous orbit or on planetary trajectories.

Te PAM-DII provides a boost or Space Shut-tle payloads.Te IUS goes on the Space Shuttle.

Te Space Shuttle uses the largest solid rocketmotors ever built and own. Each reusable boostercontains 1.1 million pounds (453,600 kilograms) o

propellant, in the orm o a hard, rubbery substancewith a consistency like that o the eraser on a pencil.

Te our center segments are the ones con-

taining propellant. Te uppermost one has a star-shaped, hollow channel in the center, extendingrom the top to about two-thirds o the way down,

where it gradually rounds out until the channel as-sumes the orm o a cylinder. Tis opening connectsto a similar cylindrical hole through the center othe second through ourth segments. When ignited,the propellant burns on all exposed suraces, romtop to bottom o all our segments.

Since the star-shaped channel provides more ex-posed surace than the simple cylinder in the lowerthree segments, the total thrust is greatest at lio,and gradually decreases as the points o the starburn away, until that channel also becomes cylindri-

cal in shape. Te propellant in the star-shaped seg-ment is also thicker than that in the other three.A solid propellant always contains its own

oxygen supply. Te oxidizer in the Shuttle solids isammonium perchlorate, which orms 69.93 percento the mixture. Te uel is a orm o powdered alu-minum (16 percent), with an iron oxidizer powder(0.07 percent) as a catalyst. Te binder that holdsthe mixture together is polybutadiene acrylic acidacrylonitrile (12.04 percent). In addition, the mix-ture contains an epoxy-curing agent (1.96 percent).Te binder and epoxy also burn as uel, adding

thrust.Te specic impulse o the Space Shuttle solidrocket booster propellant is 242 seconds at sea leveland 268.6 seconds in a vacuum.

Atlantis is in the Vehicle Assembly Building where it

has been stacked with the orange external tank and

solid rocket boosters.

A solid

rocket

booster is

seen on

the mobile

launcherplatform as

part of the

stack for

Discovery

and Shuttle

mission

STS-92.


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Kennedy Space Center is the primary NASAcenter or the test, checkout and launch o SpaceShuttle vehicles and their payloads, as well as theturnaround o orbiters between missions. It is the

primary landing site or the Shuttle.

Manned Space Shuttles launch rom KSCsLaunch Complex 39, located on Merritt Island, Fla.,

just north o Cape Canaveral. Te Launch Complex39 acilities originally supported the Apollo lunarlanding program. From 1967 to 1975, 12 Saturn

V/Apollo vehicles, one Saturn V/Skylab workshop,three Saturn 1B/Apollo vehicles or Skylab crews,and one Saturn 1B/Apollo or the joint U.S.-SovietApollo-Soyuz mission, ew into space rom LaunchComplex 39.

Tese acilities underwent modications to pro-cess and launch the Space Shuttle. Modiying exist-ing acilities was ar less expensive than building allnew structures.

Tere were two major new additions a spe-cial runway to land returning orbiters and an or-biter checkout hangar called the Orbiter ProcessingFacility. During the 1980s and 1990s, several newacilities were added or solid rocket booster pro-cessing, Shuttle logistics, orbiter modication andreurbishment, and repair and nal manuacture oTermal Protection System materials.

Shuttle Landing Facility

When an orbiter lands at the Kennedy SpaceCenter, it touches down on one o the worldslongest runways. Te concrete acility is located

northwest o the Vehicle Assembly Building on anorthwest/southeast alignment.Navigational aids on the ground and on board

the orbiter help to direct the Space Shuttle to asmooth landing. A Microwave Scanning BeamLanding System guides the nal approach andbrings the orbiter to the designated point on therunway.

Landings may be made rom the northwest tosoutheast (Runway 15) or rom the southeast tonorthwest (Runway 33).

Unlike conventional aircra, the orbiter lacks

propulsion during the landing phase. Its high-speedglide must bring it in or a landing perectly the rsttime there is no circle-and-try-again capability.Te landing speed o the orbiter ranges rom 213 to226 miles (343 to 364 kilometers) per hour. A largedrag chute helps slow the orbiter during rollout,greatly reducing wear on the wheel brakes.

Te SLF runway is about twice the length andwidth o those at most commercial airports. Terunway itsel is concrete, approximately 15,000 eet(4,572 meters) long. It has an asphalt overrun, 1,000eet (305 meters) long, at each end. Te overruns

Facilities and Operations

Space Shuttle Endeavour is towed toward the Mate-Demate Device following landing on runway 15 at KSCs Shuttle

Landing Facility atop a modied Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.


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have been strengthened so that they also could sup-port the weight o a Shuttle orbiter when landing.Te runway is 300 eet (91.4 meters) wide, with 50-oot (15-meter) shoulders, also asphalt, which havealso been strengthened to support an orbiter.

Te SLF runway is 16 inches (40.6 centimeters)thick at the center, and slopes downward 24 inches(61 centimeters) both ways to the asphalt on eachside. Te concrete was originally cut with grooves,each 0.25 inch (0.63 centimeter) wide and deep,and 1.25 inches ( 3.2 centimeters) apart, rom thecenter to the edges o the asphalt. Te grooves andslope were thought to provide a very eective way toshed water, helping to prevent hydroplaning in wet

weather. Te grooves also provided a skid-resistantsurace.

Te rst 3,500 eet (1,067 meters) at each endwere later ground down to remove the groovesbecause o high abrasion levels on the tires at touch-down. Also, improvements were made to the land-

ing zone light xtures. In 1994 the entire runwaysurace was abraded to a smoother texture to ur-ther reduce tire wear.

A 550- by 490-oot (168- by 149-meter) aircraparking apron, or ramp, is located at the southeast-ern end o the runway. On the northeast corner othe ramp is the mate/demate device which attachesthe orbiter to or lis it rom the Shuttle Carrier

Aircra during erry operations. Tere are movableplatorms or access to some orbiter components.

Te mate/demate device can li up to 230,000pounds (104,328 kilograms) and withstand windso up to 125 miles (201 kilometers) per hour.

A diesel-driven towing tractor brings the orbiterto its next stop aer landing, the Orbiter ProcessingFacility. Ground cooling and purge air transporters

are still hooked up to the orbiter and travel behindthe orbiter during the tow.

Orbiter Processing Facility

An orbiter is towed to the Orbiter ProcessingFacility within hours o its arrival, either aer land-ing at KSC or returning aboard a erry ight on theShuttle Carrier Aircra.

Te acility has three almost identical high bays,each o which is 197 eet (60 meters) long, 150 eet(46 meters) wide, 95 eet (29 meters) high, and en-compasses a 29,000-square-oot (2,694 square-me-ter) area. A low bay connects high bays 1 and 2. It is233 eet (71 meters) long, 97 eet (30 meters) wideand nearly 25 eet (eight meters) high.

High bay 3, built last, is located to the northand east o the rst two; it also has an adjacent lowbay. Annexes and portable buildings provide ad-ditional shop and ofce space. Each high bay comes

Processing for a mission begins when an orbiter is towed into one of three Orbiter Processing Facility bays at KSC.


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equipped with a 30-ton (27-metric-ton) bridge cranewith a hook height o approximately 66 eet (20meters). Platorms, a main access bridge and tworolling bridges with trucks provide access to various

parts o the orbiter. Te trucks have a telescopingarm with rotatable buckets to hold workers. Tehigh bays have an emergency exhaust system. Telow bay contains areas or electronic, mechanicaland electrical equipment, a communications room,ofces and supervisory control rooms. All bays havere protection systems.

In addition to routine postight servicingand checkout, many of the vehicle modicationsneeded for future ight requirements, or toenhance vehicle performance and correctdeciencies, are performed in the OrbiterProcessing Facility.

Spacecraft or payloads processed throughcheckout in a horizontal position, usually thelarger ones such as Space Station elements, are

installed in the orbiter in this facility. Spacecraft orpayloads handled in a vertical position normallyare installed at the launch pad.

Aer processing, the orbiter is usually towedinto the Vehicle Assembly Building transer aislethrough the large door at the north end o the highbay to acilitate mating with the SRB/E stack.

Thermal Protection System Facility

A Termal Protection System, composed o anetwork o tiles, gap llers and insulation blankets,

protects the exterior o each orbiter rom the sear-ing heat o launch and re-entry, and the cold soako space. Tese materials can sustain damage duringa ight, and must be inspected, repaired, or some-times replaced or the next mission.

Repair and nal manuacture o the TermalProtection System materials takes place in the two-story, 44,000-square-oot (4,088-square-meter)Termal Protection System Facility. It is locatedacross the street rom the Orbiter Processing Facil-ity Bays 1 and 2.

Logistics Facility

Te modern 324,640-square-oot (30,159-square-meter) Logistics Facility is located south othe Vehicle Assembly Building. It contains about

150,000 Space Shuttle hardware parts and about330 NASA and contractor workers.An unusual eature o the Logistics Facility is

the state-o-the-art parts retrieval system, which hasautomated handling equipment to nd and retrievespecic parts.

Launch Equipment Test Facility

(LETF)

Te testing site or launch-critical ground sup-port systems and equipment such as the orbiter

access arm, external tank gaseous oxygen ventarm, external tank vent line, tail service masts andumbilical systems, and SRB holddown posts. It isdesigned to simulate launch vehicle events such asmovement rom wind, orbiter ignition and lio,eects o solar heating and cryogenic shrinkage.

The Multi-Payload Processing

Facility (MPPF)

Te Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF)was constructed in 1995 and is located in the Indus-

trial Area. Te acility is 19,647 square eet (1,825square meters) in area and can accommodate oneor more payloads in processing at the same timedepending on their size. Te acility supports theCheckout Assembly Payload Processing Program.Te MPPF has a high bay and a low bay and isequipped with a 20-ton overhead crane. In addi-tion, the MPLM Access Certication Equipment(MACE) training unit is located inside the MPPF.Te MACE is an exact replica o the U.S.-made

Atlantis rolls to the Vehicle Assembly

Building.


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Unity module on the Station and is used to supporttraining activities or the Space Station ProcessingFacility.

Spacecraft Assembly and

Encapsulation Facility 2 (SAEF-2)

Assembly, testing, encapsulation and steriliza-

tion o spacecra, particularly or processing oheavy and large payloads, are perormed here in aclass-100,000 clean work area. Te 1,588 square-meter (17,098 square-oot) acility includes an air-lock, high bay, two low bays, test cell, control room,ofce areas and mechanical equipment rooms.

Space Station Processing Facility

(SSPF)

Tis is the central preight checkout and pro-cessing point or ight hardware elements o the In-

ternational Space Station. It is three stories tall with457,000 square eet (42,455 square meters) o space,including 63,000 square eet (5,853 square meters )dedicated to payload processing with a high bay andintermediate bay.

Te est, Control and Monitor System(CMS) controls prelaunch testing and checkoutor Space Station elements. Te SSPF also includescommunications and electrical control areas, labo-ratories, logistics staging areas, operational controlrooms, ofce areas and caeteria. A 5,000-square-oot ( 464 square-meter) airlock is adjacent to the

processing area, both o which are class-100,000clean work area environments.

Vertical Processing Facility (VPF)

Tis 26,940 square-oot ( 2 ,503 square-meter)acility processes and integrates vertical payloadsand upper stages. It contains Cargo Integrationest Equipment (CIE) or verication o orbiter/

payload interaces and is an environmentally con-trolled class-100,000 clean work area high bay andairlock. It has a high bay ceiling height o 105 eet

(32 meters) with usable oor space o 10,153 squareeet (943 square meters), two bridge cranes withcombined li capacity o 35 tons (31.7 metric tons)and a monorail crane o10 tons (.1 metric ton) thatservices the airlock. Its six xed platorms or space-cra handling are serviced by a 2-ton (1.8-metric-ton) hoist.

Solid Rocket Booster Processing

Facilities

Aer the Space Shuttle launches, the two solid

rocket boosters burn out and jettison about 2 min-utes into the ight. Huge parachutes lower theminto the Atlantic Ocean where special recovery ves-sels retrieve and tow them back to a dock at CapeCanaveral Air Force Station.

Solid Rocket Booster Disassembly Facility: Tearea in and around Hangar AF and the han-gar building itsel together make up the SolidRocket Booster Disassembly Facility. Specialhandling equipment located behind Hangar AFlis the solid rocket boosters rom the water.Tere, they undergo an initial washing. Eachbooster disassembles into our main segmentsand a skirt and orward skirt assemblies. Temain casing segments are cleaned, taken backto Launch Complex 39 at KSC, and placed onrailroad cars or shipment to the manuacturer

where they are reloaded with propellant.

The truck delivering part of the equipment to be

used on mission STS-109 moves into the Vertical

Processing Facility at KSC.


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Solid Rocket Booster Assembly and Refurbish-ment Facility: Reurbishment and subassemblyo inert solid rocket booster hardware, includ-ing the orward and a skirt assemblies, takes

place in this acility, located south o the VehicleAssembly Building. Tis complex has sevenbuildings manuacturing, engineering andadministration, service, hot re testing, struc-

tures storage, modular ofce and the chilleracility. Te three-level manuacturing build-ing includes an automated checkout system, an80-by-200-oot (24-by-61-meter) high bay, two15-ton (14-metricton) bridge cranes, and threeoverhead gantry robots; the latter are among the

worlds largest.

Rotation Processing and Surge Facility: Locatedjust north o the Vehicle Assembly Building,this acility receives new and reloaded solidrocket booster segments shipped by rai l romthe manuacturer. Te complex includes a pro-

cessing building and two surge buildings. In-spection, rotation and a booster buildup occurin the processing building. Completed a skirtassemblies rom the Assembly and Reurbish-ment Facility integrate here with the boostera segments. Te two nearby surge buildings(so named because they hold the surge o newbooster segments) store the solid rocket boostersegments until they are moved to the VehicleAssembly Building or integration with ight-ready components.

Parachute Refurbishment Facility: Originallybuilt to process parachutes used in the Geminimanned space program, this acility in the In-dustrial Area has been modied or the SpaceShuttle. Te two vessels that recover the solidrocket boosters also retrieve the parachutesrom the ocean, hauling them in on large reels.Tese reels are taken to this acility, where the

parachutes are washed, dried and stored in can-isters or eventual reuse.

Vehicle Assembly Building: Te solid rocketbooster segments are integrated here into com-

plete ight sets and mated with the externaltank beore being moved to the launch pad.

External Tank

Te external tank arrives by barge rom itsmanuacturing site in Louisiana. O-loaded at theComplex 39 turn basin, it travels horizontally to the

Vehicle Assembly Building. Tere, it is processedand stored in a vertical storage or checkout cell untilmated with the other Space Shuttle ight elements.

Te external tank is the largest and heaviest when loaded element o the Space Shuttle.Besides containing and delivering propellants to themain engines, it serves as the structural backboneo the Shuttle by absorbing the thrust loads duringlaunch.

After its arrival by barge, an external tank is

transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building.


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External TankLength: ................154.2 feet (47 meters)

Diameter: ............. 27.5 feet (8.4 meters)

Loaded Weight: ... 1,647,677 pounds (745,555 kilograms)

Empty Weight: ..... 58,500 pounds (26,470 kilograms)

LOX Tank: ............ Maximum 143,351 gallons (542,641 liters)

LH2 Tank: ............. Maximum 385,265 gallons (1,458,382 liters)

(All Figures Approximate)

Solid RocketBoosterLength: .................. 149.2 feet (45.5 meters)

Diameter: .............. 12.2 feet (3.7 meters)

Weight: .................. 1.38 million pounds (6.3 million kilograms)

Liftoff Thrust .......... Each 2.9 million pounds (12.9 million newtons)

(All Figures Approximate)


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It has three major components: the orwardliquid oxygen tank, an unpressurized intertank thatcontains most o the electrical components and

joins the two propellant-lled tanks, and the a liq-uid hydrogen tank.

Te entire external tank is approximately 154eet long (47 meters) and 28 eet (8.5 meters) in di-ameter. Te liquid oxygen and hydrogen eed intothe tank at the launch pad. Tese cryogenic propel-lants uel the orbiters three main engines duringlio and ascent.

Aer the Shuttle main engines shut down, theexternal tank separates rom the orbiter and ollowsa ballistic trajectory into the Indian Ocean. It is theonly major Space Shuttle component that is not re-covered and reused.

Main Engines

Newly arrived Space Shuttle main engines, de-livered by truck rom Stennis Space Center in Mis-

sissippi aer test ring, o-load in the Space ShuttleMain Engine Processing Facility (SSMEPF) in theOrbiter Processing Facility #3 Annex.

Te SSMEPF is a 33,500-square-oot acilitywith six vertical stands and 10-ton crane in the lowbay and a 15-ton crane, drying bay and GSE storagein the high bay.

Tis processing acility can support enginebuild and engine processing post-ight (disassemblyand reassembly, checkout and testing). Te enginesgo to the OPF or installation.

Te SSMEPF also supports engine removaloperation and preparation or shipment back toStennis or test ring, or to the manuacturer inCaliornia or reurbishment.

A cluster o three main engines provides theprimary propulsion or the orbiter and helps to steerthe Shuttle. Te liquid-hydrogen/liquid-oxygen

propellant engines ignite on the ground and workin parallel with the SRBs during the initial ascent.Aer booster separation, the engines continue tooperate or several minutes. Tey are the only reus-able engines.

Vehicle Assembly Building

At the heart o Launch Complex 39 is the hugeVehicle Assembly Building, one o the largest build-ings in the world and the last stop or the Shuttlebeore the launch pad. It covers a ground area oabout eight acres (3.24 hectares) and has a volumeo approximately 129,482,000 cubic eet (3,884,460cubic meters). Te Vehicle Assembly Building is 525eet (160 meters) tall, 716 eet (218 meters) long,

and 518 eet (158 meters) wide.Te structure can withstand winds o up to 125

miles (201 kilometers) per hour. Te oundationrests on more than 4,200 steel pipe pilings, each 16inches (40.6 centimeters) in diameter and drivendown to bedrock at a depth o 160 eet (49 meters).

Te high bay area is 525 eet tall (160 meters)and the low bay area is 210 eet (64 meters) tall. Anorth-south transer aisle connects and transects

the two bay areas.Shuttle main engine maintenance takes place in

the low bay, which also serves as a holding area orSRB orward assemblies and a skirts.

Facing east are High Bays 1 and 3 where inte-gration and stacking o the complete Space Shuttleoccurs in a vertical position on the Mobile Launch-er Platorm. Facing west are High Bays 2 and 4

where external tank checkout and storage takesplace. High Bay 2 also serves as a Sae Haven or a

A 175-ton bridge crane in the Vehicle Assembly

Building lifts Discovery to move it into High Bay 3

for mating with the External Tank and Solid Rocket

Boosters.


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Shuttle in the event o extreme weather conditions,such as a hurricane.

Te Vehicle Assembly Building has more than70 liing devices, including two 325-ton (295-met-ric-ton) cranes.

During Space Shuttle buildup operations insidethe Vehicle Assembly Building, SRB segments aretranserred rom nearby assembly and checkout a-cilities, hoisted onto a Mobile Launcher Platorm inHigh Bays 1 or 3, and mated to orm two completeboosters.

Aer checkout and inspection in High Bays 2or 4, the External ank transers to High Bays 1 or3 to be attached to the SRBs. Te orbiter, the nalelement, gets towed rom the Orbiter ProcessingFacility to the Vehicle Assembly Building transeraisle, raised to a vertical position by overhead cranes,lowered onto the Mobile Launcher Platorm, andmated to the External ank.

With the assembly and checkout operations

complete, the huge outer doors o the high bay opento permit the Crawler-ransporter to enter and

move under the Mobile Launcher Platorm holdingthe assembled Shuttle. Te high bay doors are 456eet (139 meters) high. Te lower section is 152 eet(46 meters) wide and 114 eet (35 meters) high, withour door panels that move horizontally.

Te upper door is 342 eet (104 meters) highand 76 eet (23 meters) wide, with seven door panelsthat move vertically.

Launch Control Center

I the Vehicle Assembly Building is the hearto Launch Complex 39, then the Launch ControlCenter (LCC) is its brain. Te Center is a our-storybuilding connected to the east side o the VehicleAssembly Building by an elevated, enclosed bridge.

Te Launch Control Center contains twoprimary and one backup control rooms. Each isequipped with the Launch Processing System anautomated computer-operated system whichmonitors and controls Shuttle assembly, checkout

and launch operations.

The Launch Control Center faces both launch pads.


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Largely because o the Launch Processing Sys-tem, the countdown or a Space Shuttle launch(excluding built-in holds) takes only about 43 hours,compared to more than 80 hours needed or the ear-lier Apollo/Saturn ights.

Also, use o the Launch Processing System re-quires only approximately 225-230 people in the r-ing room as compared to about 450 people neededor Apollo manned missions.

Mission responsibility transers to Mis-sion Control Center at Johnson Space Center,Houston,exas, when the solid rocket boosters ig-nite at lio.

Transportable Equipment and

Facilities

Te Mobile Launcher Platorm (MLP) is atwo-story steel structure that provides a transport-able launch base or the Space Shuttle. First used in

the Apollo/Saturn program, the MLP underwentmodications or the Shuttle.Te main body o each MLP is 25 eet (7.6 me-

ters) high, 160 eet (49 meters) long, and 135 eet(41 meters) wide. At their parking sites north o the

Vehicle Assembly Building, in the Vehicle AssemblyBuilding high bays and at the launch pads, the

Mobile Launcher Platorms rest on six pedestals 22eet (6.7 meters) high.

Unloaded, an MLP weighs about 8.23 millionpounds (3.73 million kilograms). With an unueledShuttle aboard, it weighs about 11 million pounds(5 million kilograms).

Te main body o the Platorm provides threeopenings two or the exhaust o the solid rocketboosters and one or the main engines exhaust.

Tere are two large devices called ail ServiceMasts, one on each side o the main engines exhausthole. Te masts provide several umbilical connec-tions to the orbiter, including a liquid-oxygen linethrough one and a liquid-hydrogen line throughanother. Tese cryogenic propellants eed into theexternal tank rom the pad tanks via these connec-tions. At launch, the umbilicals pull away rom theorbiter and retract into the Masts, where protectivehoods rotate closed to shield them rom the exhaustames.

Each ail Service Mast assembly is 15 eet (4.6meters) long and 9 eet (2.7 meters) wide, and rises31 eet (9.4 meters) above the MLP deck.

Other umbilicals carry helium and nitrogen, aswell as ground cooling, purge air, electrical powerand communications links.

Eight attach posts, our on the a skirt o each

A Mobile Launcher Platform makes a test run to the launch pad. Rising above the MLP are the tail service masts.


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SRB, support and hold the Space Shuttle on theMobile Launcher MLP. Tese posts t on coun-terpart posts located in the MLP two solid rocketbooster support wells. Te space vehicle disconnectsrom the MLP by explosive nuts that release the gi-ant studs linking the solid rocket attach posts withthe MLP support posts.

Each Mobile Launcher Platorm has two innerlevels containing electrical, test and propellant-load-ing equipment.

A Crawler-Transportermoves a ully assem-bled Space Shuttle, mounted on a Mobile LauncherPlatorm, rom the Vehicle Assembly Building tothe launch pad. Te huge tracked vehicles, original-ly used during the Apollo era, underwent modica-tions or the Shuttle.

Te two Crawlers are about 20 eet (6.1 me-ters) high, 131 eet (40 meters) long, and 114 eet(34.7 meters) wide about the size o a baseballdiamond. Each one weighs about 6 million pounds

(2.7 million kilograms) unloaded. A Crawler haseight tracks, each o which has 57 shoes or cleats.Each shoe weighs approximately one ton (907 kilo-grams).

With a Space Shuttle aboard, the Crawler canmove at a maximum speed o about 1 mile (1.6kilometers) an hour. Unloaded, it has a maximumdesign speed o 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) an hour, but

in practice usually moves at the loaded speed.Te Crawler has a leveling system designed to

keep the top o the Space Shuttle vertical whilenegotiating the 5 percent grade leading to the topo the launch pad. Also, a laser docking system pro-

vides almost pinpoint accuracy when the Crawlerand Mobile Launcher Platorm are positioned at thelaunch pad or in the Vehicle Assembly Building.

wo 2,750-horsepower diesel engines powereach Crawler. Te engines drive our 1,000-kilowattgenerators that provide electrical power to 16 trac-tion motors. Operators in cabs on either end steerthe giant vehicle.

Te Crawlerwayis a 130-oot-wide (39.6-me-ter) roadway almost as broad as an eight-lanereeway. Te Crawler-ransporters use this or theirmore than 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) trek to one o thelaunch pads rom the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Te Crawlerway consists o two 40-oot- (12-meter-) wide lanes, separated by a 50-oot- (15-me-

ter-) wide median strip. Te Crawlerway has ourlayers to support the huge weight. Te Crawler,Mobile Launcher Platorm and Space Shuttle withempty external tank weigh about 17 million pounds(7.7 million kilograms). Te top layer o the Crawl-erway is river gravel about 8 inches (20.3 centime-ters) thick on curves and 4 inches (10.2 centimeters)thick on straight-away sections. Te other layers in

The Crawler-Transporter (6 million pounds) can lift the Space Shuttle on its Mobile Launcher Platform (combined

weight about 11 million pounds) and move it to and from the launch pads. A Crawler has eight tracks, each of which

has 57 shoes or cleats, each weighing approximately one ton.


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descending order are 4 eet (1.2 meters) o graded,crushed stone; 2.5 eet (0.76 meter) o select ll; and1 oot (0.30 meter) o compact ll. It takes severalhours or the journey rom the Vehicle AssemblyBuilding to one o the launch pads, several milesaway.

Te Payload Canister holds payloads in transitrom various processing or assembly acilities to

the launch pad (or vertically installed payloads)or to the Orbiter Processing Facility (or hori-zontally installed payloads).

Each environmentally controlled Canister cancarry payloads up to 15 eet (4.6 meters) in di-ameter and 60 eet (18.3 meters) long, matchingthe capacity o the orbiter payload bay. Maxi-mum payload weight is approximately 65,000

pounds (29,484 kilograms).

Te Payload Canister Transporter is a 48-wheel, sel-propelled truck that can transport

the Canister and its hardware either in a verti-

cal or a horizontal position. It is 65 eet (19.8meters) long and 23 eet (7 meters) wide, witha atbed that can be lowered and raised romabout 5 eet (1.5 meters) to 7 eet (2.1 meters), irequired.

Independently steerable wheels permit theransporter to move orward, backward, side-

ways, and diagonally, or turn on its own axis

like a carousel. Diagonally opposed operatorcabs are located on each end o the truck.

A diesel engine powers the ransporter. Insidea spacecra acility, it runs on an electric motor.Fully loaded, its top speed is about 5 miles (8kilometers) per hour. But it can creep as slowlyas a 0.25 inch (0.635 centimeter) per second, orapproximately 0.014 mile (0.022 kilometer) perhour, or payloads that require precise handling.

Launch Pads 39A and 39B

Launch Pads A and B at Complex 39 wereoriginally designed or the Apollo program. Teyare octagonal in shape and virtually identical in size.Each covers about 0.25-square mile (0.65-squarekilometer) o land, contained within a high chainlink ence.

Space Shuttles launch rom the top o the con-crete hardstand, which measures 390 eet by 325eet (119 meters by 99 meters). Te Pad A stand hasan elevation o 48 eet (14.6 meters) above sea level;Pad B, 55 eet (16.8 meters). Tere are six perma-

nent and our extensible pedestals at each pad tosupport the MLP.Lighting is provided by ve clusters o Xenon

high intensity searchlights (total searchlights: 40)around the pad perimeter.

Each pad base required 68,000 cubic yards(52,000 cubic meters) o concrete. Te ramp leadingup to the pad surace is inclined at a 5 percent grade.

Te two pads were heavily modied rom theirApollo/Saturn V conguration to launch SpaceShuttles. Te upper portions o two o the threeSaturn V Launch umbilical towers were removed

rom the Mobile Launchers (which became MobileLauncher Platorms, aer this and other changes)and installed at each pad, to become Fixed ServiceStructures (FSS).

A Rotating Service Structure (RSS), whichreplaces the movable gantry in older designs, wasbuilt at each pad. And the movable Saturn V amedeector in each ame trench was replaced withtwo joined and anchored Shuttle ame deectors.

The Payload Canister Transporter can transport

payloads in the Canister either vertically or horizontally.

On the launch pad (above), the Canister is ready to

be lifted up into the Payload Changeout Room on the

Rotating Service Structure.


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Te Fixed Service Structure is located on thenorth side o each pads hardstand. It is an openramework structure about 40 eet (12.2 meters)square. Tere are 12 work levels at 20-oot (6.1-meter) intervals. Te height o the structure to thetop o the tower is 247 eet (75 meters), while thedistance to the top o the berglass lightning mast is347 eet (106 meters).

Te FSS has three service arms:1. Orbiter Access Arm. Tis arm swings out tothe crew access hatch on an orbiter, to provideentry or personnel. Te outer end o this armsupports a small room, commonly called thewhite room, which can hold up to six persons.

A special white room crew assists each astronautcrew in entering the Space Shuttle and securesthe hatch. Tis arm remains in the extended

position until 7 minutes and 24 seconds priorto launch, to provide an emergency exit or thecrew should one be needed. It is 65 eet (19.8meters) long, 5 eet (1.5 meters) wide, and 8 eet(2.4 meters) high.

Te Orbiter Access Arm is attached to the FSSat the 147-oot (44.8-meter) level. In an emer-gency, this arm can be mechanically or manual-ly repositioned in about 15 seconds. It is covered

with solid panels or re protection, as well as awater spray system. Te arm is also used or ac-cess to the mid-deck or late-in-the-count stow-age o science experiments.

2. External Tank Hydrogen Vent Line and Ac-cess Arm. Tis system consists o two parts, aretractable access arm and a xed support struc-ture. It provides a means to mate the externalumbilicals rom the FSS to the tank, and accessto the tank interior. Te access arm supportssmall helium and nitrogen lines and electricalcables, all o which are located on an 8-inch-(20centimeter-) diameter hydrogen vent line. Tearm, which rotates 120 degrees to the stowed

position in about three minutes, is retracted sev-eral hours beore launch, leaving the umbilicals

attached.At SRB ignition, the umbilicals are released andretracted 33 eet (10.1 meters) into a latched

position by a system o counterweights, where acurtain o sprayed water protects them rom theengine ames. Tis activity takes just two sec-onds. Te arm is 48 eet (14.6 meters) long, andattached at the 167-oot (51-meter) level.

3. External Tank Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm.Tis retractable arm supports a vent hood, com-monly called the beanie cap, that vacuums

away the very cold liquid oxygen vapors as theyboil o rom the top o the external tank. Italso supports associated systems such as heatedgaseous nitrogen lines, the liquid oxygen vaporducts, and electrical wiring.

Te beanie cap is 13 eet (4 meters) in diameter,and the arm that supports it is 80 eet (24.4meters) long, 5 eet (1.5 meters) wide, and 8 eet(2.4 meters) high. It attaches to the Fixed Ser-

vice Structure between the 207-oot (63-meter)and 227-oot (69-meter) levels.

When the beanie cap is swung into positionon top o the external tank prior to loading

propellants, two inatable accordion typeseals cover the liquid oxygen vent openings. Aheated gaseous nitrogen purge ows into theseal cavity, warming the very cold liquid oxygen

vapors enough to prevent them rom condens-ing into ice. I ice ormed it could dislodge anddamage the tank, or orbiter insulation tiles and

The gaseous oxygen vent hood (at top), known as

the beanie cap, is located on the end of the highest

swingarm attached to the Fixed Service Structure.


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blankets, at lio. Te beanie cap lis to clearthe external tank and the arm retracts starting 2minutes and 30 seconds beore engine ignition.

Hypergolic Umbilical System. Tis carries hy-pergolic uel and oxidizer, as well as helium andnitrogen service lines, rom the Fixed ServiceStructure to the Space Shuttle.

Te system also allows rapid connection o the

lines to and disconnection rom the vehicle. Sixumbilical handling units, manually operatedand controlled at the pad, attach to the Rotat-ing Service Structure. Tese units are locatedto the right and le sides o the a end o theorbiter. Tey serve the Orbital ManeuveringSystem and Reaction Control System, as well asthe payload bay and the nose area o the orbiter.

Te Rotating Service Structureprovides pro-tection or the orbiter and access to the cargo bayor installation and servicing o payloads at the pad.It pivots through one-third o a circle, to 120 de-grees, rom a retracted position well away rom theShuttle to where its payload changeout room doorsmeet and match the orbiter cargo bay doors.

Tis structure rotates around a vertical hingeattached to one corner o the Fixed Service Struc-ture. Te body o the Rotating Service Structurebegins at the 59-oot (18-meter) level and extends to189 eet (57.6 meters) above the pad oor, providingorbiter access platorms at ve levels. Te hinge anda structural ramework on the opposite end support

the structure. Tis ramework rests on two eight-wheel, motor-driven trucks, which ride on rai lsinstalled within the pad surace. Te rotating bodyis 102 eet (31 meters) long, 50 eet (15 meters) wideand 130 eet (40 meters) high.

Te primary purpose o the Rotating ServiceStructure is to receive vertically installed SpaceShuttle payloads while in the retracted position, ro-tate, and instal l them in the orbiter cargo bay.

Payload Changeout Room: Tisis the major ea-ture o the RSS. It is an enclosed, environmen-tally clean white room that supports payload

delivery and servicing at the pad and mates tothe orbiter cargo bay or vertical payload instal-lation. Te environmental seals in the structureinate against the sides o the Payload Canister.Clean, temperature- and humidity- controlledair purges the space between the closed doors othe RSS and the canister.

Te canister and the RSS doors then close, theenvironmental seal deates, and the canisterlowers to the transporter to be taken o the

pad. Te RSS rolls into position to enclose theorbiters payload bay, re-establishing the envi-ronmental seals and clean-air purge.

Te payload is removed rom the canister andlater installed inside the orbiter cargo bay us-ing the Payload Ground Handling Mechanism(PGHM). Five platorms are positioned at velevels to provide access to the payload when itis installed on the PGHM. Each platorm hasextendable planks that can be congured to ac-commodate a particular payload.

Orbiter Midbody Umbilical Unit: Tis providesaccess to and permits servicing o the miduse-lage area o the orbiter. It extends rom the Ro-tating Service Structure at levels ranging rom158 to 176 eet (48 to 53.6 meters) above the

pad surace, and is 22 eet (6.7 meters) long, 13eet (4 meters) wide and 20 eet (6 meters) high.A sliding extension platorm and a horizontally

Two payloads the Canadian robotic arm or Space

Station Remote Manipulator System, and the Multi-

Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello are moved into

the Payload Changeout Room for mission STS-100.


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moving, line-handling mechanism oer accessto the midbody umbilical door on the le sideo the orbiter. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydro-gen or the uel cells, and gases such as nitrogenand helium, eed through this unit.

AWeather Protection System at Pad A andPad B shields the orbiter rom windblown debris,heavy rains and hail that could damage the crasTermal Protection System tiles and insulationblankets. Te Rotating Service Structure, whichcloses around the orbiter while on the pad, shieldsa considerable portion o the vehicle. Te WeatherProtection System lls the gaps.

Metal doors that slide together between theorbiters belly and the external tank provide pro-tection or the lower portion o the orbiter. Tesedoors, which measure up to 53 eet (16 meters) longand 38 eet (11.6 meters) tall, weigh up to 46,000

pounds (20,866 kilograms). Tey connect to the

Rotating Service Structure and the Fixed ServiceStructure. Te doors move together rom oppositesides on wheeled anges that ride on steel beams.

An inatable seal that protects the top o theorbiter extends rom the Payload Changeout Room,orming a semicircle covering 90 degrees o arcbetween the vehicle and the external tank. A serieso 20 or more biold metal doors, about 80 by 4eet (24.4 by 1.2 meters) in size, old out rom thePayload Changeout Room on the Rotating ServiceStructure to cover the side areas between the exter-nal tank and the orbiter.

Te Flame Trench and Deector Systempro-tects the vehicle and pad structures rom the intenseheat o launch. It is located in the ground level ametrench that bisects the hardstand. A ame deector

presents an inverted V-shape to the ames pouringinto the trench through the openings in the MobileLauncher Platorm.

Both sides o the upside-down V curve out nearthe bottom until they are almost horizontal. Flamesollow these curves and deect horizontally downthe ame trench, rather than bouncing back to en-

velop the vehicle.

Te ame trench divides the hardstand length-wise rom ground level to the pad surace. It is 490eet (149 meters) long, 58 eet (18 meters) wide and40 eet (12 meters) high. At launch, ames shootout both ends o the trench into the air. Te deec-tor or the Space Shuttle is actually a two-in-onedevice, where one side o the inverted V receives theames rom the orbiters main engines, and the op-

posite side gets the ames rom the two solid rocketboosters. It is xed near the center o the trench and

extends completely across it.Te orbiter and booster deectors are built o

steel and covered with an ablative material about5 inches (12.7 centimeters) thick that akes o toshed heat. Tese deectors weigh over 1 million

pounds (453,600 kilograms) each.In addition to the xed deectors, two mov-

able ones are located at the top o the trench or

additional protection rom the solid rocket boosterames.

Te Emergency Egress Systemprovides anescape route or the astronauts in the orbiter andcloseout crew on the Fixed Service Structure untilthe nal 30 seconds o the countdown. Seven slide-

wires extend rom the Fixed Service Structure at theOrbiter Access Arm level, down to the ground. Aat-bottom basket made o steel wire and heat-resis-tant ber, surrounded by netting, suspends rom the

After rollback of the Rotating Service Structure, Space

Shuttle Atlantis can be seen atop the Mobile Launcher

Platform (MLP) on Launch Pad 39A. Below the MLP

is the ame trench, part of the ame deector systemthat insulates pad structures from the intense heat of

launch.


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top o each o the seven wires. Each basket can holdup to three persons. Te basket slides down a 1,200-oot (366-meter) wire to an emergency shelter bun-

ker located west o the Fixed Service Structure. Tedescent at about 55 mph takes approximately 35 sec-onds; a braking system using a net and drag chainstops the slowing basket at the bottom.

Also located in the landing zone is a bunker,with an M-113 armored personnel carrier stationednearby.

Te Lightning Mast extends above the FixedService Structure and provides a cone o protec-tion over the vehicle and pad structures. A steelcable starts rom a ground anchor 1,100 eet (335meters) south o the Fixed Service Structure, angles

up and over the lightning mast, and then extendsback down to a second ground anchor the same dis-tance to the north. Lightning strikes run to groundthrough this cable. Te mast unctions as an electri-cal insulator, holding the cable away rom the tower.Te mast, with its accompanying support structure,lis the cable 100 eet (30.5 meters) above the steelo the Fixed Service Structure.

A Sound Suppression Water System hasbeen installed on the pads to protect the orbiterand its payloads rom damage by acoustical energy

and rocket exhaust reected rom the ame trenchand Mobile Launcher Platorm during launch. TeShuttle orbiter, with its payloads in the cargo hold,is much closer to the surace o the Mobile Launch-er Platorm than the Apollo spacecra was at thetop o a Saturn V or Saturn 1B vehicle.

TeSound Suppression Systemincludes an ele-vated water tank with a capacity o 300,000 gallons(1,135,620 liters). Te tank is 290 eet (88 meters)high and is located adjacent to each pad.

Te water releases just prior to the ignition othe Shuttle engines, and ows through 7-oot-(2.1-

meter-) diameter pipes or about 20 seconds. Waterpours rom 16 nozzles atop the ame deectors androm outlets in the main engines exhaust hole in theMobile Launcher Platorm, starting at minus 6.6seconds.

By the time the solid rocket boosters ignite, atorrent o water will be owing onto the MobileLauncher Platorm rom six large quench nozzles, orrainbirds, mounted on its surace.

STS-106 Mission Specialists Richard A. Mastracchio (left) and Edward T. Lu take their seats in a slidewire basket,

part of emergency egress training at the launch pad.


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Te rainbirds are 12 eet (3.7 meters) high. Tetwo in the center are 42 inches (107 centimeters) indiameter; the other our have a 30-inch (76-centi-meter) diameter.

Te peak rate o ow rom all sources is900,000 gallons (3,406,860 liters) o water perminute at 9 seconds aer lio.

Acoustical levels reach their peak when theSpace Shuttle is about 300 eet (91 meters) abovethe MLP, and cease to be a problem at an altitude oabout 1,000 eet (305 meters).

Solid Rocket Booster Overpressure SuppressionSystem: Tis is part o the Sound Suppression

Water System. It alleviates the eect o a reect-ed pressure pulse that occurs at booster ignition.

Without the suppression system, this pressurewould exert signicant orces on the wings andcontrol suraces o the orbiter.

Tere are two primary components to thisacoustic energy suppression system. A water

spray system provides a cushion o water whichis directed into the ame hole directly beneatheach booster. A series o water bags stretchedacross the ame holes, providing a water mass

to dampen the reected pressure pulse, supple-ments this eort.

Used together, this water barrier blocks thepath o the reected pressure wave rom theboosters, greatly decreasing its intensity.

In the event o an aborted mission, a Post-Shut-down Engine Deluge System will cool the a end othe orbiter. It a lso controls the burning o residual

hydrogen gas aer the Shuttles main engines havebeen shut down with the vehicle on the pad. Tereare 22 nozzles around the exhaust hole or the mainengines within the Mobile Launcher Platorm. Fedby a 6-inch- diameter (15-centimeter-) supply line,

water ows at a rate up to 2,500 gallons (9,463.5liters) per minute.

Main Engine Hydrogen Burnof System:Hydrogen vapors that occur during the main enginestart sequence expel into the engine nozzles just be-ore ignition. Tis action results in a hydrogen-richatmosphere in the engine bells. o prevent damageto the engines, six hydrogen burno pre-ignitershave been installed in the ail Service Mast. Justbeore main engine ignition, the pre-ignitersactivate. Tey then ignite any ree hydrogen in the

The 290-foot water tank at right of the launch pad holds 300,000 gallons of water that ow through outlets and ame

deectors in the Mobile Launcher Platform just before launch to act as sound suppression. The conuence of the

water and intense heat and ames from the three main engines and solid rocket boosters creates the billowing steam

seen (owing left from the main engines and right from the boosters) during this launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis April

8, 2002, on mission STS-110.


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area below the engine bells. Tis avoids rough com-bustion at main engine start.

Te Propellant Storage Facilities are locatedat both pads. A 900,000-gallon (3,406,860-liter)tank at each pad stores the liquid oxygen, which isused as an oxidizer by the orbiters main engines.Tese ball-shaped vessels are actually huge vacuum

bottles. Tey maintain the supercold liquid oxygenat temperatures o minus 297 degrees F. (minus 183degrees C.). wo pumps that supply 1,200 gallons(4,540 liters) o oxidizer per minute each transerthe liquid oxygen rom the storage tank to the orbit-ers external tank.

Similar 850,000-gallon (3,217,590-liter) vacu-um bottles at the northeast corner o the pads storethe liquid hydrogen or the orbiters main engines.

Pumps are not required to move the liquid hydro-gen rom the storage tank to the orbiters externaltank during ueling operations.

First, a small amount o liquid hydrogen va-porizes. Tis action creates a gas pressure in thetop o the tank that moves the extremely light uelthrough the transer lines.

Ten vacuum-jacketed transer lines carry thesupercold propellants to the Mobile Launcher Plat-orm, where they eed through the orbiter into theexternal tank through the ail Service Masts.

Hypergolic propellants used by the orbiters Or-bital Maneuvering Engines and Attitude ControlTrusters are a lso stored at the pad in well-separat-ed areas. A acility located on the southeast cornero each pad holds the uel, monomethyl hydrazine.

A large round tank that is actually a hugh vacuum bottle stores the supercold liquid hydrogen at the launch pad.

A similar round vessel holds the liquid oxygen. The liquid propellants ow to the orbiters main engines.


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A acility on the southwest corner stores the oxi-dizer, nitrogen tetroxide.

Tese propellants eed by transer lines to theFixed Service Structure and continue to the Rotat-ing Service Structures Hypergolic Umbilical Sys-tem, with its three pairs o umbilicals attached tothe orbiter.

Pad Terminal Connection Room

Elements located in the Pad erminal Con-nection Room provide the vital links between theLaunch Processing System in the Launch ControlCenter, the ground support equipment and Shuttleight hardware at the pad. Tis room lies below the

pads elevated hardstand.

At the launch pad, each side of the orbiters engine nozzles is connected to a Tail Service Mast. The Mast provides

propellant-loading umbilicals and establishes connections to ground support equipment.


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NASA: Explore. Discover. Understand.

Countdown! NASA Launch Vehicles and Facilities 2005

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