The day before the first launch attempt of Endeavour on STS-134, I and a coworker went out to LC39A to document the placement of pressure, heat, and temperature sensors on the SRB side of the main flame deflector inside the flame trench. This video gives an idea of what conditions are one day before a shuttle launch. The dripping water that you hear is from the water deluge system which is filled and primed to douse the launch pad at liftoff for sound suppression and heat mitigation.
Producing 500,000 pounds of thrust from a package weighing only 7,500 pounds, the Space Shuttle Main Engines are one of the shining accomplishments of the shuttle program. The success did not come easily, though.
The Closeout Crew has the last hands-on job before the space shuttle flies — from strapping in the astronauts to securing the launch pad's White Room before liftoff.
If a recognizable person appears in this video, use for commercial purposes may infringe a right of privacy or publicity. It may not be used to state or imply the endorsement by NASA employees of a commercial product, process or service, or used in any other manner that might mislead. Accordingly, it is requested that if this video is used in advertising and other commercial promotion, layout and copy be submitted to NASA prior to release.
From Apollo 10 and the Saturn V rocket to Artemis 1 and the Space Launch System, Launch Pad 39B is revamped for the next generation to Explore the Moon and on to Mars. Check in at the Kennedy Space Center and get fired up for launch!
Expedition 27 Crew Prepares for Launch as their Soyuz Rocket Move to Launch Pad
The Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft and its booster and were moved to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a railcar April 2 for final preparations before launch April 5, Baiknour time, to the International Space Station. The Soyuz will carry Expedition 27 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan and Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko to the complex. The trio will spend six months on the station, joining station Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Cady Coleman and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli, who have been in orbit since December 2010. Samokutyaev, Garan and Borisenko are in final training for launch with their backups, Anatoly Ivanishin, Dan Burbank and Anton Shkaplerov. The footage includes interviews with Astronaut Nicole Stott, STS-133 Mission Specialist, and with Mike Lopez-Alegria, Deputy Director for ISS, NASA Flight Crew Operations.
It has been called the world's greatest piggyback ride: a space shuttle, atop a Boeing 747 jet aircraft. But this is no ordinary 747, this is the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft...the SCA. This specially modified jumbo jet was not only a taxi service for the shuttle, but also helped in the development of the shuttle itself. In 30 years of flying, the majestic image of a spacecraft joined to the SCA, became a symbol of American invention and ingenuity.
More Bits Historic Apollo Hardware Which Never Left The Ground.
The crawler transporters and mobile launch platforms deserved an episode of their own. Many people conflate the two, but the crawlers carry the launch platforms with the launch vehicles between the VAB and the launch site. The crawlers would leave the platform behind during the launch attempts and return afterwards.
The crawlers were used for Apollo, STS, Constellation and will be used for SLS
Have you ever wondered how large rockets like the Falcon 9 and Saturn V are transported to their launch sites? This video covers every step and method used to transport these rockets, all the way from the usual road methods to the alternative air and sea methods.
Thanks for watching this Primal Space video. If you enjoyed it, let me know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe so you can see more videos like this!
Support Primal Space by becoming a Patron! www.patreon.com/primalspace
Twitter: twitter.com/thePrimalSpace