Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS May 12, 1978

N A S A FACT
FACILITIES ( N A S A ) N78-75662

:T Unclas
00/16 17031

DURING LAUNCH AND LANDING, the Spaceflight Tracking

and Data Network Station (above), managed by NASA's
Goddard Center, will provide radio communications between the
ground and orbiter.

A BREATHTAKING VIEW of facilities marking the beginning and end points of a Space Shuttle mission—the Vehicle Assembly
Building (VAB) and adjoining Orbital Landing Facility runway.
THE I N T E G R A T E D ASSEMBLY AND CHECKOUT
WORKSTANDS, located in the high bay of the Operations and As the revolutionary Space

NASA Fact Sheet

Checkout (O&C) Building, will be used for assembly and Shuttle claws its way upward from
processing of the European Space Agency's Spacelab—a versatile NASA's Kennedy Space Center
laboratory to be flown in the orbiter's cargo bay. next year, a new era in space travel
will have begun. To meet the
National Aeronautics and challenging role as the primary
Space Administration launch and recovery site for the
John F Kennedy Space Center reusable spaceplane, two new and
Kennedy Space Center Florida 32899 unique facilities have been con-
structed, while many of KSC's
massive facilities—built for Apollo—
KSC Shuttle Facilities have already been reshaped in
preparation for the historic event.

SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER PARACHUTES, recovered by a Facility. Here the parachutes will be defouled, transported by
retrieval vessel, will be brought to the Parachute Refurbishment monorail through the world's largest automatic washer and dryer,
refurbished, and stored for reuse.

FOLLOWING SOME MINOR MODIFICATIONS,this75-ton

orbiter weight simulator will be used to check out training, testing
procedures, and equipment, prior to the arrival of the actual
orbiter later this year.

THE OftBITER will

and
E X T E N S I V E L Y MODIFIED for Shuttle, the Hypergol carrier а!'гс«вЗЬу' me' Mate/
MEMBERS OF THE LAUNCH team will be seated at these Demate Device?" a 105-foot tall
consoles, located in Firing Room 1 (and 2) in the Launch Control Maintenance and Checkout Facility—occupying a group of
buildings in the Industrial Area—will process and store hypergol- open-truss structure located on
Center (LCC). The LCC has been equipped with the highly
fueled modules that make up the orbiter's control, maneuvering BETWEEN MISSIONS, two orbiters can be processed simultaneously in the sophisticated hangar-like the northeast corner of the Orbiter
automated Launch Processing System—designed for Space
Shuttle checkout and launch. and propulsion systems. Orbiter Processing Facility. Landing Facility ramp area.
Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS May 12, 1978 May 12, 1978 SPACEPORT NEWS Page3

LIGHTNING MAST

WATER TANK
FIXED SERVICE STRUCTURE

ROTATING SERVICE STRUCTURE

CERTAIN CRITICAL GROUND SYSTEMS—the External Tank Vent Line, Orbiter Access Arm, LIQUID OXYGEN
Tail Service Masts and Solid Rocket Booster Support Holddown Posts—could cause failure to the
Space Shuttle if they do not function properly. These systems are tested on flight simulation equipment
in the Launch Equipment Test Facility. The facility simulates launch vehicle events, such as wind
movement, ignition and liftoff. The ability of the critical ground systems to react properly to these
events must be verified prior to being committed to a manned launch.
KSC's Total Team Effort Insures
Facilities Will Be Ready for Shuttle
Editor's Note: Dr. Robert Gray, Manager, Space Shuttle Projects
Office at KSC. is responsible for the operations planning, facilities
preparation, and ground equipment acquisition for the launch, landing
an refurbishment of the Space Shuttle.
Dr. Gray, could you give us a timeline of what significant events will
take place between now and the first launch of the Space Shuttle?
DR. GRAY: We will have many major activities occuring almost on a
weekly basis from now to first launch, all of which have been planned in
detail and scheduled for many months.
Some of the less noticeable milestones will be things like the first
operational tests of systems connected to the LPS (Launch Processing
System), lift and fit checks with the recently arrived Orbitor Simulator
in the OPF (Orbiter Processing Facility), VAB (Vehicle Assembly
Building) and MDD (Mate/ Demate Device) at the runway and dozens
more of this nature.
These will be followed by the major milestones of flight hardware
arrivals. When will that be? Well, that's hard to know now since we have
official on-dock dates which are not being met, so we expect this
hardware will probably arrive later than presently planned.
EMERGENCY EGRESS SYSTEM
(SLIDEWIRE) LANDING AREA
My personal assessment is that the SRB (Solid Rocket Booster) and
SRM (Solid Rocket Motor) elements will arrive this fall (by the way, we
have already received our first shipment of flight hardware, five SRB
nose cones a few weeks ago), with the Orbiter arriving about this
December.
The Orbiter main engines are somewhat late due to the development
problems they have encountered, and they will likely not arrive until
several months after the Orbiter— as will the big External Tank. It is still
too early to say with certainty when they will arrive although we hope to
see them about February 1979, or so.
What is the status of modification and construction of Space Shuttle
facilities? Is KSC on schedule in preparation for the first Space Shuttle
launch?
DR. GRAY: The KSC facilities, equipment, installations and systems
are about on schedule and will be ready as needed to support the flight
hardware deliveries. PAD A has undergone a major facelift, including the erection of a
You should realize that it is a massive integration task to build or new Fixed Service Structure (FSS), and the addition of a
modify facilities, separately design, build and acquire equipment and Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The upper portion of an
GSE (ground support equipment), and then to install, wire up and umbilical tower from a modified Apollo Mobile Launcher
interconnect these thousands of complex systems and have it all work Platform has been installed at Pad A to serve as the FSS. Shown
and be ready to support at the right time. in its retracted position, payload bay gaping wide, the FSS will
This job is done by involving all the directorates and contractors to provide access to the orbiter for changeout and service of
do their individual pieces and produce their products as dictated by the payloads at the pad.
overall schedule. The total KSC team has done a super job in this and
we have passed many important milestones, and expect to meet all the
remaining ones required to support the arrival of flight hardware and
the first launch. D

P;if
'
^'^•%*->_
1

'

THE HEART of the Sound Supression Water System is this
300,000 gallon, 290-foot tall water tank. The system, capable of
pumping 900,000 gallons of water per minute, will protect the
orbiter and its delicate payloads from acoustical damage during
launch.
H A N G A R AF will serve as the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB)
Disassembly Facility for Shuttle. Recovered SRB casings will be
brought here, disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, and shipped
back to the contractor, for final refurbishment and loading with
propellent.
THE PONDEROUS C R A W L E R TRANSPORTERS bearing
massive loads on a top deck the size of a baseball diamond will be
used to move Mobile Launcher Platforms with the assembled
Space Shuttle between the VAB and Complex 39's two launch
pads.
THE SPACE SHUTTLE'S transportable launch base, or Mobile
Launcher Platform, shows marked changes since Apollo. The
398-foot tower is gone, and the single exhaust hole has been
replaced by three openings—two for Solid Rocket Boosters and
one for the orbiter's main engines exhaust.
Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS May 12, 1978

N A S A FACT
FACILITIES ( N A S A ) N78-75662

:T Unclas
00/16 17031

DURING LAUNCH AND LANDING, the Spaceflight Tracking

and Data Network Station (above), managed by NASA's
Goddard Center, will provide radio communications between the
ground and orbiter.

A BREATHTAKING VIEW of facilities marking the beginning and end points of a Space Shuttle mission—the Vehicle Assembly
Building (VAB) and adjoining Orbital Landing Facility runway.
THE I N T E G R A T E D ASSEMBLY AND CHECKOUT
WORKSTANDS, located in the high bay of the Operations and As the revolutionary Space

NASA Fact Sheet

Checkout (O&C) Building, will be used for assembly and Shuttle claws its way upward from
processing of the European Space Agency's Spacelab—a versatile NASA's Kennedy Space Center
laboratory to be flown in the orbiter's cargo bay. next year, a new era in space travel
will have begun. To meet the
National Aeronautics and challenging role as the primary
Space Administration launch and recovery site for the
John F Kennedy Space Center reusable spaceplane, two new and
Kennedy Space Center Florida 32899 unique facilities have been con-
structed, while many of KSC's
massive facilities—built for Apollo—
KSC Shuttle Facilities have already been reshaped in
preparation for the historic event.

SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER PARACHUTES, recovered by a Facility. Here the parachutes will be defouled, transported by
retrieval vessel, will be brought to the Parachute Refurbishment monorail through the world's largest automatic washer and dryer,
refurbished, and stored for reuse.

FOLLOWING SOME MINOR MODIFICATIONS,this75-ton

orbiter weight simulator will be used to check out training, testing
procedures, and equipment, prior to the arrival of the actual
orbiter later this year.

THE OftBITER will

and
E X T E N S I V E L Y MODIFIED for Shuttle, the Hypergol carrier а!'гс«вЗЬу' me' Mate/
MEMBERS OF THE LAUNCH team will be seated at these Demate Device?" a 105-foot tall
consoles, located in Firing Room 1 (and 2) in the Launch Control Maintenance and Checkout Facility—occupying a group of
buildings in the Industrial Area—will process and store hypergol- open-truss structure located on
Center (LCC). The LCC has been equipped with the highly
fueled modules that make up the orbiter's control, maneuvering BETWEEN MISSIONS, two orbiters can be processed simultaneously in the sophisticated hangar-like the northeast corner of the Orbiter
automated Launch Processing System—designed for Space
Shuttle checkout and launch. and propulsion systems. Orbiter Processing Facility. Landing Facility ramp area.