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Author
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Topic: Mobile Launch Platform-3 (MLP-3) demolition
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50462
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-08-2023 10:41 AM
   
collectSPACE NASA platform used to launch Apollo 11, STS-135 set for demolitionThe historic steel platform from which the first astronauts departed Earth to fly around and land on the moon now, itself, only has a limited time left on the planet. Mobile Launch Platform-3 (MLP-3), or Mobile Launcher-1 (ML-1) as it was known when NASA used it for the Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 lunar missions more than 50 years ago, is set to be demolished, having recently been moved out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to a nearby yard at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1961
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 05-09-2023 09:17 AM
Too bad there wasn't a way to get it to the Udvar-Hazy. Too much history there... |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1811
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 05-09-2023 10:45 AM
Not really. It isn't much to see or save.It can't even stay on site since it is too big. |
p51
Member Posts: 1768
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 05-09-2023 12:06 PM
The truly sad thing is that they'd likely send it to a scrapper who can't sell pieces of the remains for what it is. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3599
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-09-2023 04:56 PM
I saw Platform 3, with the launch gantry (minus crane) still mounted on Launchpad 39A in July, 1975. It seems pretty historic to me, and I'm not even American. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50462
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-09-2023 05:17 PM
quote:
Originally posted by p51:
...who can't sell pieces of the remains for what it is.
Advon Construction now owns MLP-3. It is their decision whether to set aside pieces for historic preservation and/or sale. The same company demolished MLP-2 and sold components (the tail masts) to Motoart to produce PlaneTags for sale. I spoke with Advon's site manager and no decisions have been made as of yet. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 2117
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 05-09-2023 08:56 PM
Thanks Robert. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3780
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-09-2023 11:29 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
I saw Platform 3, with the launch gantry (minus crane) still mounted on Launchpad 39A in July, 1975.
Was it on Pad A when ASTP launched from Pad B on July 15? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50462
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-10-2023 08:41 AM
I think the numbering system here may be causing confusion. MLP-3 was used in the launch of ASTP from Pad 39B, but at that time was numbered Mobile Launcher-1 (ML-1). If Geoffrey is not mixing up pads, then he may have seen ML-3, which later became MLP-1, the only Apollo/shuttle-era mobile launch platform now still being used by NASA. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3780
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-10-2023 11:55 AM
I think he may have gotten the year 1975 wrong. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3599
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-10-2023 09:02 PM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
I think he may have gotten the year 1975 wrong.
This made me smile! In July, 1975, I was at KSC to see the Apollo-Soyuz launch — an experience that would be difficult to forget! About 27 hours before the launch I was on a KSC bus tour which stopped close to Pad 39A, where I took several photos. The attached picture clearly shows the Mobile Launch Platform bearing the number "3" at each end. It's news to me that the numbering of MLP-1 and MLP-3 was switched but this picture was certainly taken at Pad 39A on Monday 14th July, 1975. The bus route also allowed us to see Pad 39B which was, of course, occupied at the time by a Saturn 1B rocket being prepared for launch.  |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50462
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-10-2023 09:27 PM
Yes indeed, Geoffrey, what your photo shows is Mobile Launcher-3 on Pad 39A. When ML-3 was converted for use by the space shuttle, it became Mobile Launch Platform-1, or MLP-1.On the same day you took this photo, you saw ML-1 — which later became MLP-3 — on Pad 39B. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3780
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-10-2023 09:51 PM
Thanks for sorting out the confusion.I have never seen any imagery that shows both ASTP on Pad B and ML-3 on Pad A in the same shot. I have seen some great aerial photos of ML-1 parked on Pad B in 1978. You can also see ML-2 parked outside the VAB. The ML-3 tower had been dismantled by then. Here are the photos, if you have not seen them already. |
SpaceDust
Member Posts: 126
From: Louisville, KY
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-11-2023 09:37 AM
With all the confusion about this launcher and that, which MLP did the Launch Umbilical Tower that made up the Fixed Service Structure on Pad 39A during shuttle and is now used by SpaceX come from? How about 39B as well when it had one? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50462
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-11-2023 09:58 AM
The two fixed service structures were built from the launch umbilical towers on ML-2 (which became MLP-2) and ML-3 (MLP-1). Sections of the LUT from ML-2 were used for the FSS on Pad 39A; sections from ML-3 were used for Pad 39B. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3780
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-11-2023 10:58 AM
I think it is the other way around, Robert. ML-3 was dismantled first. Sections of the ML-3 LUT were used for the FSS on Pad 39A; sections of the ML-2 LUT were used for Pad 39B. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3599
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-11-2023 01:18 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
On the same day you took this photo, you saw ML-1 — which later became MLP-3 — on Pad 39B.
I never actually saw the MLP on Pad 39B properly. Whether the Saturn 1B was enclosed in the Mobile Service Structure or standing ready for launch, there always seemed to be foliage between me and the MLP. Fortunately, with the rocket sitting on top of the "milk stool," my view of the launch itself was unimpaired by foliage. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50462
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-11-2023 05:30 PM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
I think it is the other way around, Robert.
You're correct; I was mistaken. This photo shows ML-2 (MLP-2) atop Pad 39A after the FSS was erected using sections of the ML-3 (MLP-1) LUT. |
SpaceDust
Member Posts: 126
From: Louisville, KY
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-11-2023 07:43 PM
Thanks for answering my LUT question. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3780
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-13-2023 12:44 AM
ML-1 also carried these two vehicles out to the pad and back: the AS-500F test vehicle in 1966, and the AS-209 Rescue Vehicle (for Skylab 4) in 1973-74.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3780
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 05-23-2023 08:39 AM
STS-1 rolled out of the VAB on December 29, 1980. It was on MLP-1, which was formerly ML-3. You could still see a black "3" under the white "1" on Side 3 of the launch platform. |
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