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Author
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Topic: OV-101: Enterprise interior, construction photos
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MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 05-30-2011 05:28 PM
   
I have been trying to find photos of the interior of space shuttle Enterprise from both its operational days to its days after the ALT flights. I am interested in the flight deck and middeck of the orbiter.I have also been looking for photos of space shuttle Enterprise during its construction. Anyone have any links or photos they would like to share? Thank you in advance. |
APG85
Member Posts: 306
From:
Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 05-30-2011 05:41 PM
Probably not what you are looking for but Spaceflight Now has some neat shots of Enterprise in the Shuttle hangar at Vandenberg. The links down the side on the page have some good photos of Enterprise undergoing fit checks at SLC-6... |
OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 05-30-2011 05:48 PM
I never knew they had a fake arm and Ku in Enterprise's cargo bay. I guess they are still in there now since that would have been the last time the doors were open. |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 05-30-2011 10:48 PM
Those pictures are actually really neat and interesting! I had never seen photos like that; I love the mockup arm and Ku band antenna. |
Spaceguy5
Member Posts: 427
From: Pampa, TX, US
Registered: May 2011
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posted 05-30-2011 11:15 PM
I'm interested in seeing what the interior looks like too (Especially the middeck.)Here's a few pictures I found: 1 | 2 |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-31-2011 06:34 AM
Those photos clearly show something Enterprise doesn't have: an airlock.I think it was the book "Enterprise" which shows OV-101's cockpit arrangement, albeit too small to make out any real details. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 05-31-2011 06:40 AM
quote:
Originally posted by MrSpace86:
Anyone have any links or photos they would like to share?
If you e-mail me I think I have something for you. |
joe bruce
Member Posts: 129
From: Spokane, WA U.S.A.
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 06-03-2011 01:05 PM
This is not an 'oops' for Enterprise. She was undergoing weight and balance checks. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 06-03-2011 03:16 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Hart Sastrowardoyo:
Those photos clearly show something Enterprise doesn't have: an airlock.
One of the reasons why STA-99 became OV-99 Challenger is because of the amount of work needed to convert Enterprise to a flight orbiter.The biggest hurdle as I understand it involved taking out Enterprise's ALT crew cabin and putting a fully operational one in. Due to how the structure was built around the crew cabin, they would have needed to cut into it, peel it back like an orange and pull the cabin out. Think of it as like sawing a car in half to pull its interior out as opposed to reupholstering it. With STA-99, the task was easier since it was never fully built up with all the wiring and hose hookups. STA-99 had a crew cabin simulator installed, but that was it. Enterprise never had a full crew cabin installed and to my knowledge it looked a bit unfinished on the mid-deck area (where likely banks of data gathering equipment were placed for the flight tests). Even on the flight deck the top windows were blocked off as there was no aft station mounted (maybe flat panel mockups, but that would be all), just the two pilot ejection seats, the instrument panels and the flight controls. There might be a hole opened up in that aft crew cabin bulkhead for the airlock door, but it can't be seen under the mylar covering. The flight deck window openings are there, but they have metal covers instead of glass. |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 06-03-2011 11:21 PM
I love this thread. Thanks so much everyone! |
Spaceguy5
Member Posts: 427
From: Pampa, TX, US
Registered: May 2011
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posted 06-04-2011 01:30 AM
I wish I would have thought to ask Fred Haise about this when I had the chance. |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 06-04-2011 01:12 PM
Talked to Freddo about this today. He said the mid-deck had computer and instrument racks similar to the other orbiters, but there was no airlock or hatch. The payload bay was "about half filled" with ammonia tanks and sublimators. Since the payload bay doors couldn't be opened for radiating out the heat, and the Enterprise was powered up and flying for about 1-1/2 hours before it was dropped, they had to sublimate the heat inside the payload bay. Various tests also had ballast to move the CG forward or aft to simulate various landing configurations.Freddo said that the Enterprise drop tests were "a LOT of fun, much more than Apollo 13." |
garyd2831
Member Posts: 640
From: Syracuse, New York, USA
Registered: Oct 2009
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posted 06-04-2011 06:07 PM
How many of you prefer Enterprise's original paint scheme when it flew on the ALT flights which just include the US Flag on the left wing and the USA text on the right wing, and no additional markings to the vertical stabilizer, forward RCS and cockpit windows that you saw on the Vandenburg static test photos? I prefer its original scheme much like Columbia with its USA text spread out a little more than Enterprise and Challenger which started the trend that remaining orbiters followed. What was the reason for changing Enterprise's paint scheme? |
OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 06-04-2011 09:44 PM
So the orbiter could be identified in orbit and on the pad. I believe they repainted Enterprise before it went to the World's Fair. They didn't change Columbia till they took the "dice" tiles off of the sides and didn't put the name on the wing until its last OMDP. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 06-04-2011 09:56 PM
quote:
Originally posted by OV-105:
I believe they repainted Enterprise before it went to the World's Fair.
Close; Enterprise was repainted for the Paris Air Show a year earlier in 1983 (as was the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, which went from its original American Airlines silver livery to white for the trans-Atlantic trip).When the Smithsonian took ownership of Enterprise, it considered converting it back to the original paint scheme but for various reasons decided against it (including the fact that Enterprise's air spike, which was returned to the U2 program at the end of the Approach and Landing Tests, could not be found to be reunited with the orbiter). |
garyd2831
Member Posts: 640
From: Syracuse, New York, USA
Registered: Oct 2009
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posted 06-04-2011 10:22 PM
Personally, I would like to see Enterprise returned to its original debut factory paint scheme and markings. There would be no mistaking her from any pad photos because of her distinctive nose (black tile) section. I actually would love to see all the orbiters returned to their original markings.I was never a fan of the "meatball" logo on the shuttle and felt that the "worm" logo was more appropriate. To me the worm logo represented a new dawn in our space transit systems. While its use can be seen on the ASTP flight, the worm logo seemed to me a shuttle thing and fit the vehicle well. I'm a person who likes to keep things original. If this was a classic muscle car like a 1969 Hemi Dodge Charger R/T per say, you would want to restore it to its original factory condition when it came to looks/esthetics. You wouldn't keep the hip late 1970s multi-color paint scheme and extra wide Cragar rims that exceed out past the wheel wells that seem to made it onto the vehicle. Just some thoughts. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 07-14-2013 08:03 PM
Has anyone ever found photos of the rear of the flight deck or mid deck? Was there an aft console on the flight deck? The only flight deck photo I can find faces forward. |
X-Plane Fan
Member Posts: 150
From: CA, USA
Registered: Jul 2007
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posted 07-16-2013 04:04 PM
Some from 2012, courtesy of Dennis Jenkins. Hope that helps. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 07-16-2013 07:47 PM
Great photos of the flight deck, question though were there any flight controls (stick and rudder controls) added or were they removed after the ALT tests? |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 07-16-2013 08:11 PM
What are those huge black structures behind each seat? Were those present during ALT? |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 07-16-2013 08:25 PM
Ejection rails?I like the circular opening for where the airlock would have been... and what's with the bus stop sign being used as a door mat just inside the hatch? |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 07-16-2013 09:09 PM
I don't know about ejection rails. I don't think Columbia had those on her first four flights. |
X-Plane Fan
Member Posts: 150
From: CA, USA
Registered: Jul 2007
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posted 07-16-2013 09:52 PM
The cockpit had a relatively conventional layout for ALT as seen here. The black rails were added after the ejection seats were removed. Here's a shot of a seat installed during ALT. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 07-17-2013 04:00 PM
Thanks. Those are a big help. It looks like it was just the bare minimum during ALT. As it turned out, you can see much inside the cockpit of the model I am building anyway. But the earlier pictures of the cargo bay came in very useful. |
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
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posted 07-17-2013 05:41 PM
Thanks again, those photos really helped! By the way, those seats seem to be more padded than on "today's" shuttles. I suppose they were more of an ejection seat. |
goldbera
Member Posts: 25
From: Melbourne, FL
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 07-19-2013 02:31 PM
That's not padding. The "backrest" is the parachute and the seat "cushion" is likely the seatpan/survival kit. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 07-24-2013 10:59 AM
Great views of Enterprise 'back in the day'. Would be interesting to see how much has been changed/repainted compared to its present condition, now on display at the Intrepid museum in New York. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 07-25-2013 11:03 AM
Here's a video, shot recently and released today, of Enterprise's payload bay: |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 08-08-2013 12:30 PM
Wow, thanks Robert!! |
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