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Author Topic:   NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 08:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
One week ago today, just about this time, I was arriving at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, where I was meeting Lockheed Martin external tank logistics manager Scott Phillips.

Scott, perhaps better known to collectSPACE readers as "Shuttleman," is also an accomplished artist, but more on that later...

Scott, who I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past decade, knew I was coming to Huntsville for the 2010 Space Camp Hall of Fame inductions and offered to arrange a tour of the center.

His offer meant extending my trip by a day but it was well worth the opportunity. Since Sept. 11, 2001, Marshall has been closed to public bus tours -- bus tours like the one I took when I was a teenager attending Space Academy II.

Scott knew about that tour, having read about it in one of my previous posts here on collectSPACE. I had mentioned seeing the Shuttle-C full-scale engineering mock-up through a open pair of large hangar doors as the tour bus drove by...

Little did I know that it was in that same hangar that Scott now has his office. So, after a brief overview in the Heritage Center and from the top floor of Marshall's Headquarters building, Scott took me back to those doors (which I took a brief delight opening, as pictured above).

While I remembered the hangar for Shuttle-C, others may remember it from the above photo and ones like it, that show Werner von Braun providing a tour to President John F. Kennedy. Using the 'J' on the wall as a reference, Scott pointed out the same seam on the floor that Kennedy's foot is crossing in the photo as we took that same walk.

The hangar, which previously hosted Saturn stages, space shuttle external tank components and, as mentioned, Shuttle-C, now is being prepared to support development of the next heavy-lift launch vehicle.

Supporting that effort in Building 4755, are (I believe) the world's largest friction stir welding facilities, the Robotic Weld Tool (RWT) and Vertical Weld Tool (VWT) -- the latter pictured here.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 09:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Having viewed the very large, next up on our tour was a facility where they focus on creating the very small... at least if you consider a seven-foot Saturn V small.

The Marshall Space Flight Center model shop is a fantastic place and the very talented modelers there were very gracious with their time. As pictured, they were most kind to uncrate a vintage Saturn V so I could plot ways to get it home in my carry-on luggage (alas, no such luck).

It was there we met another collectSPACE member, Aaron Stanfield, who is currently working to cast and assemble 30 1:15 scale space shuttle main engines (SSMEs). They were still early in their development, but boy, based on what I saw, the end result is going to be just stunning...

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 09:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Leaving the model shop, Scott and I hit the road, driving out to the historic test stands, such as this, the "Historic Redstone Test Stand."

The 75-foot high stand was erected in 1953 by the Army and transferred to NASA seven years later. Between April 1953 and June 1961, 364 tests were performed on this stand in support of putting the first Americans into space.

From there, it was onwards -- and as I was soon to learn, upwards -- to the S-IC Static Test Stand...

Completed in 1964, the S-IC Static Test Stand was designed to develop and test the 138 foot long and 33 foot diameter Saturn V S-IC first stage. Required to hold down the brute force of a 7,500,000 pound thrust produced by five F-1 engines, the S-IC stand was constructed with the strength of hundreds of tons of steel and 12,000,000 pounds of cement, planted down to bedrock 40 feet below ground level.

The base structure consists of four towers with 40 foot thick walls extending upward 144 feet above ground level. The structure was topped by a crane with a 135 foot boom. With the boom in the upright position, the stand was given an overall height of 405 feet, placing it among the highest structures in Alabama at the time.

It certainly looked tall standing at its base (and this was about the time that Scott asked if I had a fear of heights...).

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 09:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The view from the 10th floor offers a look at where the five F-1 engines (and later in its history, SSME) nozzles emerged...

We could also peer down into the flame bucket...

And get a good view of the F-1 engine test stand...

...as well as further off in the distance, the Dynamic Test Stand (more about that facility soon).

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 09:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Taking the elevator to the 22nd floor, climbing three flights of stairs (two inside and one outside) brought us to the top of the test stand.

I must say, the sense of history standing atop the facility is hard to describe. It's the same experience I have had standing atop launch pads at Kennedy Space Center. There's just something to be said about taking in an entire space center from that vantage point.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 09:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Back on the ground, we continued our tour of the test stands, visiting the Static Test Tower, where the S-I and later the S-IB for the Saturn IB were test fired.

At the tower's base was a familiar sight, the MPTA-98 (main propulsion test article), which I had seen as part of Shuttle-C but was used to test the shuttle main engines.

Just beyond that is the SA-T (or S-I-T) test stage was used for static firings in the Saturn I Block I and II configurations.

I include this shot only to comment that after this trip I can no longer consider F-1 or J-2 engines as rare. Really, it seems like wherever you look at Marshall, there are engines peppering the landscape...

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 10:05 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Next on our tour of test stands was the Dynamic Test Stand, also known as Dynamic Structural Test Facility, where the Saturn V underwent mechanical and vibrational tests.

As a child of the space shuttle era though, I couldn't look at this 360 foot facility without imagining Enterprise being lifted inside...

The stand was being modified to support similar testing for the second stage of the Ares V and once defined, will be used to test NASA's next heavylift launch vehicle.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 10:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
When people think of Mission Control, they tend to think of Houston, but Marshall has a control center of its own.

The Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) was the ground control center for Spacelab missions. In fact, until just recently, the consoles used for Spacelab sat in place. They have now been moved to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center for display and the POCC is now being configured to support the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite, or FASTSAT, program.

Just next door (in the same building) is the Payload Operation Center, the ground control center for science experiments and other payloads aboard the International Space Station.

The POC is staffed with its own equivalent of a flight director, the Payload Operation Director (POD) and capcom, the paycom. If you've ever listened to the daily planning conferences between the ISS crew and the ground, when they refer to Marshall, this is the center they are addressing.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 10:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
All good things must come to an end, and after spending several hours with Scott touring Marshall -- including sharing lunch together and scoping out the space patch selection at the exchange store -- it was time for me to depart for the airport. Before we bid farewell to each other though, Scott had a surprise waiting.

But first, a bit of prologue...

When I started this series of posts, I mentioned that Scott was an accomplished artist. To date, he has masterfully crafted 135 space shuttles models from fine and rare wood. Many he has had autographed by shuttle crews and some he has presented on behalf of NASA as gifts.

One of his models, pictured with him above, stands inside the Heritage Center on the ground floor of Marshall's Headquarters building. It serves as a time capsule to be opened when the first humans walk on Mars. Inside, among other items, is memorabilia donated by Eileen Collins and other members of the STS-114 "Return to Flight" crew.

I have long admired Scott's models. He uses the grain of the wood to capture the vehicle in motion and designs the elements to emphasize the shuttle systems that Marshall manages -- the propulsion elements -- and does so quite handsomely.

I felt honored to be presented with one of his models, complete with collectSPACE nameplate. It was the perfect memento not just for our tour together, but for the shuttle program that Scott helped make a success (for those unaware, Scott was the 'last man out' of external tank-1 [ET-1] that launched on STS-1).

Scott, thank you for arranging such a wonderful tour and for sharing your passion for the space program with a fellow enthusiast.

MarylandSpace
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Posts: 1337
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Registered: Aug 2002

posted 08-30-2010 10:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MarylandSpace   Click Here to Email MarylandSpace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Excellent photo tour for us Robert.

I can remember taking the bus tour in 1989 and the guide pointing out all the ground hogs at the facility.

garymilgrom
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Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 08-30-2010 10:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for garymilgrom   Click Here to Email garymilgrom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Shuttleman rocks! I assume you had some hush puppies during your visit?!

Jurg Bolli
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Posts: 977
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-30-2010 12:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jurg Bolli   Click Here to Email Jurg Bolli     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am so jealous, this must have been a fantastic experience!

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-30-2010 02:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It was indeed a fantastic experience... Scott really exceeded my expectations when it came to what we saw and did.

Gary, no hush puppies this trip but I was treated to a wonderful home cooked meal courtesy Jon Meek and his family and a finger-lickin' good BBQ lunch at Dreamland with David Hitt...

Shuttleman
Member

Posts: 117
From: Huntsville, Al. USA
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 08-31-2010 01:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Shuttleman   Click Here to Email Shuttleman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I want the collectSPACE community to know what a fantastic person Robert Pearlman is!! It was a pleasure and honor for me to show him my 32-years of passion. Now I hope he can get his Shuttle model autographed by his favorite astronauts!!!!

Gilbert
Member

Posts: 1328
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 08-31-2010 08:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Gilbert   Click Here to Email Gilbert     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I agree with Gary, Shuttleman Rocks! His enthusiasm for the shuttle program is second to none and his models are fantastic.

Mr Meek
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Posts: 353
From: Chattanooga, TN
Registered: Dec 2007

posted 09-01-2010 02:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mr Meek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for the photos and report, Robert. I remember several of the sites from the bus tour, but they never let us go roaming around on top of the test stands.

Gary - No hush puppies at the Meek house, but he and David did get some good ol' fashioned Southern home cooking, courtesy of my mom.

Scott - Despite it saying so under your forum name, it never entered my brain that you were in Huntsville. Hopefully next time I'm in town, we can grab a coffee or something. Always nice to chat with a fellow cS member.

Shuttleman
Member

Posts: 117
From: Huntsville, Al. USA
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 09-01-2010 04:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Shuttleman   Click Here to Email Shuttleman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jon, next time you come to Huntsville let me know a couple days ahead and you can see Huntsville from the same vantage point Robert did... I can't promise you a model but hey, you never know...

Shuttleman
Member

Posts: 117
From: Huntsville, Al. USA
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 09-01-2010 04:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Shuttleman   Click Here to Email Shuttleman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Gilbert, thanks for the complement!! Hope to see you in Huntsville again sometime in the future.

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