Lunch Trip 4: Return to OPF and Inside the VAB

Today, Marty and I went to visit the OPF and the VAB. We went to see the Endeavour again because we wanted to get pictures of us in the pilot's seat...but we couldn't. They were just finishing the shuttle closeouts so we weren't allowed inside. We might try to get in the Discovery tomorrow...


I did take some more cool pics of the Endeavour:

Left is the Space Shuttle Main Engine room. On the right is looking forward over the wing of the Endeavour.








We were kinda bummed about not getting our cockpit pictures so we decided to mosey on over to the VAB. At the time of our visit, the VAB had the complete Atlantis stack and the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) for the Endeavour. In case I haven't explained before, two shuttle stacks will be prepared for our mission: Atlantis is our primary and Endeavour is our back-up.

Also in case if haven't explained before, the VAB is huge. It has a big main hallway and four staging areas. The shuttle barely takes up any of the building. See the double doors at the bottom? Only those and two of the rising doors open for the shuttle. Its so big because the Saturn 5 was assembled there. The Saturn 5 had only 4 feet of clearance between the tip and the top of the doorway.

Anyway, Marty and I started at the 16th floor and worked our way down, taking tons of pictures. Here are some sweet shots:

Looking down at the shuttle from the 16th floor

Left: Looking at the external tank. You can see the nose of the shuttle to the left just sticking out of the floor.

Right: Shot of where Endeavour will go. You can see the SRBs on either side of the empty place where the ET will go.

Looking up at the shuttle. You can see the mobile launch platform at the bottom

I also got some cool pictures in the middle floors, like this one I took next to the Atlantis wing:





On the left is a picture of one of the bolts that attach the SRB to the ET. The bolt is actually the little vertical piece of metal near the orange tank. There four per SRB, they are 2 1/2 inches in diameter and they can withstand 3 million pounds of force!

Doesn't that just make you want an ice cream cone?

Picture taken just under the ET, looking at the bottom of the shuttle (black thing).

Marty and I could walk on the mobile launch platform right under the shuttle's tail. Here's a picture looking up at the shuttle from right next to the tail.



While we were walking out, i snapped a picture looking up at the ceiling of the VAB. The yellow things at the top are the giant cranes that pick up the SRBs, ET and shuttle. It has to pick up the pieces and lift them up and into the open spot you can see in the wall. The open spot is up higher than my apartment building.


Next blog update will be very exciting! I'm going to get up and watch the Atlantis roll out to the pad! Check back real soon!

FSS Team Pics

We had a photo shoot inside the cleanroom the other day. The picture was taken by the mission camera guy while standing on a man-lift. We're all standing around the BAPS ring on the scaffolding just above the FSS.

From left to right: Greg, Al, Marty, Dave, me and Charlie

The ring is pivoted up in the picture, which is where it will be when the Hubble is being serviced. there are 3 latches around the ring that'll secure the telescope. Just behind us is the ORUC.

Here's another picture of some rocket scientists working hard:

Fay Update 2

Fay is sitting right over cocoa beach and moving at about 5 mph, which is really slow. One of the managers sent a KSC update email which said they've gotten 12.5 inches of rain so far!

I guess people down here are used to storms like this or are slow because no one in their right mind would EVER think to fly a kite in 50 mph winds. Here's a video that has been burning up the internet right now.

Fay Update

Here's the storm now:

See previous post for the before shot.



The storm is getting closer to cocoa beach and is expected to hit the water again sometime tomorrow. After getting in the water, it's supposed to become a full hurricane. THEN its track will swing back to florida again up by jacksonville. craaaaaaaaaaazy.

My First Tropical Storm

So tropical storm Fay is hitting Florida as I write this. Its pretty windy and rainy. Here's what it looks like between my storm doors:

There are tons of big waves and the wind is whipping all the palm trees.

Within the hour, a tornado-y looking thing might be hitting cocoa beach. Woo!


To give everyone an idea as to how fast the wind actually is going, here's a video i took:



I took this ducking behind my car and i'm looking back at my building. The rain is moving so fast that it stings when it hits!


here's a pic of what the the other side of my building looks like now:


New paths show the TS going right over cocoa beach...so i'll keep everyone updated (as long as i have power).

Exploring the OPF

Our resident tour guide Dr. Ed said he'd take us over to the OPF (orbiter processing facility) to go see the space shuttle. The OPF is where the shuttle is worked on before its next flight. At the time, Atlantis (our shuttle) was being worked on so we couldn't get in to see it, however our mission requires two orbiters to be prepared so we got to go look around Endeavour.


The OPF doesn't require you to wear bunny suits unless you are working in the payload bay area. And besides running around in the payload bay, you can pretty much go anywhere else. Here's some pics of the bay:



Both pics are looking from front to the back of the orbiter. The left one i'm standing to the left of the nose, right one is from right of the nose.




And speaking of the nose, here's a picture of Jeff, me and Greg:

For those who don't know, Greg is my boss and Jeff is a software guy working on the RNS camera system

The underside of the shuttle looks way more beat up that you can tell from TV. Here's a shot taken under the shuttle looking towards the front. You can see how the old tiles are kinda chalky colored. New ones are the dark black ones. Apparently you could lightly tap the older ones and they'd crack.


Another interesting factoid about the shuttle is on the side. The flag looks backwards when the shuttle is horizontal, but the public usually sees it mounted vertically on the external tank (orange thing), where it looks normal.



But, of course, the coolest feature of the shuttle are the engines. The shuttle has 3 main engines that each provide 1 million pounds of thrust for a total of 3 million pounds of thrust. The shuttle also has two OMS pods which are are used when the shuttle is in orbit. The OMS pods contain hypergols which are extremely reactive fluids that ignite on contact. The OMS will be used to reboost the hubble into its orbit as well as control the shuttle attitude.

Jeff, Greg and Dr. Ed (from left to right) in front of the rocket engines.

We were inches from the engine nozzles and were incredibly lucky to be there right as they were going to test Endeavour's hydraulic system which means we got to see all the wing flaps, rudder, and engines move! Here is a link to my youtube account where i posted all the videos i took. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cool.


One more cool fact: the shuttle is held on to the external tank (ET) by 3 bolts. The solid rocket boosters are held to the ET by, i think, 4 bolts...which means the 8 million pounds of thrust produced by the space shuttle stack is held together by 11 bolts. whoa.

oh and yet one more fact: Pete, the solid rocket boosters fuel is star shaped. that gives the most surface area to burn when it is first lighted. then the star shape burns to a circle, but there is more circumference so it remains about the same.

p.p.s. the fuel used in solid rocket boosters is crazy. nothing yet invented can stop the solid rocket fuel from burning. they did a test where they lit a cube of the fuel and immersed it in liquid nitrogen...and it kept burning. whoooooaaaaaaaa.

KSC Wild Life

There is tons of wild life running around KSC and the air force station. I had an earlier encounter with a stuck turtle which as well as some other animals. Here are some pics I snapped while tooling around

Armadillo running around

Some turkey vultures standing on a telephone pole. They are
all over the place. Probably not a good omen...

A type of stork or egret. Not sure...but he shouldn't play too close to the water.

One day while I was driving home, i saw this guy just cruising across the parking lot. Being sure to stay in my car and keeping a safe distance, I got to snap a few pics:

When i stopped my car, he immediately turned around and headed for the woods.

I guess when he got to the curb, he decided it was a suitable hiding spot...

Say cheese

Also on KSC turf are pigs. I've heard that the origin of these pigs is actually from a farm nearby. All the original pigs got loose a while ago and they've been been living on site ever since. I've also read (on wikipedia) that the pigs are believed to be descendants from those brought to Florida by the early Spanish explorers. On SM1 or something they caught one and had a pig roast.

Pig and mother

Pig in profile

Finally, a quick picture of a lizard:

KSC Visitor Complex Pics

Here's those pics of the KSC visitor complex.

Saturn 1B rocket. LC 34 was where they were launched from.

Redstone Rocket that was used for Project Mercury. Alan Shepard rode this
rocket to become the first American in space (suborbital).

Atlas rocket. John Glenn rode this one.

Peter, striking a cool pose in front of all the space junk

Shuttle replica

Engines of the Saturn V. These things are ridiculously huge! The tour bus
driver said he remembers watching a Saturn V launch. He said
when they lit these babies up it shone like the sun.

Life Update

Here's a quick update to keep you all up to speed.

Breda's brother Peter has been staying with us. He got in on Friday and left this morning. The three of us had a great time going out to eat, playing pool at the irish pub and surfing. Peter rented a surfboard so we could surf together. By monday, he was able to stand up and ride waves in.

We ate at tons of restaurants: Coconuts, Yen Yen, Slow-n-Low and the Space Cafe (under a Saturn V rocket!). At coconuts we all did shots of Surf on Acid, which were gigantic and delicious.

Did the KSC visitor center tour. Saturn V rocket was totally awesome and in way better condition than the one in Houston. I'll be putting up pics of that trip soon.

Beach time was really fun. Peter saw a hilarious thing while taking a walk: a kid fell off his skim board and while he was rolling around on the sand a sting ray jumped up on his board and started flapping and looking all pissed off. After properly scaring the skim boarder, it returned to the ocean.

Saw some great hot chicks with douchebags at Coconuts. The douche was there (complete with mandana) with his hott and her friend....and their mom.

Yeah so i got lots of good pics of KSC that i'll put up in the next couple days. Breda also took lots of pics so check her blog too.


See ya!

Lunch Trip 3 - LC 16 and 14 more pics

here are some more pics:

Collecting Basin where all the launch water is collected

Wall, under the Service ramp

Old emergency shower

Creepy room with a bunch of junk laying around