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Posts tagged Lift and Mate

The final Space Shuttle Lift and Mate: Atlantis, STS-135

Jun28
2011 4 Comments Written by Mike
Atlantis STS-135 Moving over the transom

Atlantis STS-135 Moving over the transom

Earlier in the day Space Shuttle Atlantis was delivered into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) from the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). This is known as the Rollover we are now ready for the Lift and Mate.

The Lift and Mate involves fitting a lifting rig to the orbiter by four attachment points, moving the orbiter into a vertical position then lifting it into the VAB high bay where the External Tank (ET) and Solid Rocket Boosters are waiting for it. The orbiter is finally lowered into place where is is connected to the ET and SRBs by the 3 attachment points that were used to mount it on the transporter.

This whole process takes many hours as the engineers have to stop the movement and wait for the orbiter to stop swinging at a number of points in the lift.  During these periods engineers take photographs of the heat shield tiles for reference comparisons against in-flight images.

More details of the Lift and Mate together with a photo gallery follow: READ MORE »

Posted in Kennedy Space Center, Space Shuttle, STS-135 Atlantis - Tagged , , , , ,

STS-134 Endeavour lift and mate in the VAB

Apr11
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Mike
STS-134 Endeavour rising up in the VAB.

STS-134 Endeavour rising up in the VAB.

After the rollover from the OPF the Space Shuttle Endeavour orbiter has been brought into the central bay of the VAB. From here it is fitted with a special lifting jig to hoist it up to the the top of the VAB. Here it is carefully threaded through the infrastructure and then lowered into High Bay 1 where it is finally connected to the External Tank and the Solid Rocket Boosters prior to its rollout to the launch pad.

This whole process is called lift and mate. Despite sounding quite simple it is a long and precise operation taking several hours.

The scheduled lift was to be started at 3pm but when we were escorted into the VAB the engineers were still fitting the lifting jig to Endeavours four mount points. This was causing some problems as one of the mounting pins would not thread into the shuttle correctly.

Read on to discover the intricacies of getting Endeavour into the right position and to view the picture gallery:

READ MORE »

Posted in Kennedy Space Center, Space Shuttle, STS-134 Endeavour - Tagged , , , ,

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Next Launch GPS IIF-4 on a Alas V rocket from Cape Canaveral AFB, FL scheduled for 15 May 13 21:38:00 GMT

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STS-133 Discovery Last Flight NASA 30.jpg
STS-133 Discovery Last Flight NASA 30.jpg

KSC Launch Pad iPhone App

iPhone App: KSC Launch Pad now available!

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Are you visiting Kennedy Space Center? Do you want to see a rocket launch?

If so then KSC Launch Pad is the only app you will need. Using local knowledge it shows you the best places to watch from and identifies all the major points of interest in and arround Kennedy Space Center.

Available now from the Apple AppStore. Click here for more details...

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