NASA SPACE SHUTTLE TRACK DRIVERS
NASA Kennedy Space Center drivers share the road with Fords, Chevrolets and Toyotas. The solid rocket motor transporter is a flat-top Kamag designed to carry segments of solid rocket boosters to the Vehicle Assembly Building where they are stacked and bolted together to form a complete booster. The canister is placed vertically on the truck so its cargo can be transferred into a space shuttle ready for launch. Credit: NASAĪ Kamag carries the Payload Canister on the first part of its journey to the launch pad. Now it rolls the shuttle from the Orbiter Processing Facility hangars to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
It was a controversial decision but we have kept to that path.The Orbiter Transporter was ordered for the space shuttle operation at Vandenberg Air Force Base, but moved to NASA's Kennedy Space Center after the west coast shuttle launch complex was mothballed. "But after Columbia, the nation vowed to return the shuttle to flight and to the space station. "The words 'routine human spaceflight' do not belong in the same sentence," he said. Despite the mission's success, Nasa administrator Mike Griffin said the space agency would not become overconfident. More than seven tonnes of supplies and equipment were also delivered to the space station. Among the safety improvements successfully tested were enhanced video scrutiny of the launch, which enabled engineers to give Discovery's thermal protection shield a clean bill of health. The problem that ultimately caused Columbia to disintegrate happened again during Discovery's first return-to-flight mission last summer, grounding the fleet for a further year.īut the latest mission was a turning point. Endeavour will not be flight-ready until next year after a lengthy refit Atlantis is due for its first liftoff in four years on August 28, and ground crews will have to work quickly to turn Discovery around for a December launch.Īgency managers say they have still to fix the problem of insulation foam falling from the fuel tank at liftoff and damaging the shuttle. While that timetable pales compared with the pre-Columbia schedule of seven to nine flights a year, Nasa must achieve it with only three orbiters. Nasa has a rigid 2010 deadline for retiring its remaining orbiters, and must complete 16 missions in little more than four years to meet its goals. "The spatula was a bad moment because it was my favourite one," he said. He also joked about the moment the tool went spinning off into space.
NASA SPACE SHUTTLE TRACK WINDOWS
I was looking back down three skinny sections of sewer pipe connecting me to the space shuttle, and looking through tiny windows where warm, safe people were waving at me." During one of the spacewalks Dr Sellers dropped a spatula, which is now orbiting the earth at 17,500mph.ĭr Sellers described the sensation of bouncing on the end of the robotic arm with Mr Fossum: "It felt like two very fat guys on a telephone pole hanging on to a hat stand," he said. The flight included three spacewalks by Dr Sellers and the American astronaut Mike Fossum, who tested the load-bearing capabilities of the orbiter's robotic arm. As the crew, including the British astronaut Piers Sellers, underwent medical checks, Discovery was powered down and prepared for the journey to its processing hangar. "We are back to space station assembly, and flying space shuttle flights, but we can't ever let our guard drop."ĭiscovery touched down at 9.14am (2.14pm BST) after the storm clouds that threatened to delay its return remained outside the 30-mile danger zone. "We're ready to go fly shuttles on a regular basis," said Discovery's commander, Steve Lindsey, after guiding the orbiter to the first landing at Cape Canaveral since 2002.
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