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Author
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Topic: Photo of the week 340 (May 7, 2011)
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heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 05-07-2011 02:13 AM
   
 With the end of the Space Shuttle program approaching, I selected a series of photos showing two orbiters in one shot. I will post these in the coming weeks. Included are some photos that I used earlier, but because they are part of the series I hope viewers will forgive me for that. This first one was taken in mid-1977 and shows on the left Space Shuttle Orbiter Structural Test Article (later Orbiter 099 Challenger) in final assembly at the Rockwell plant, while on the right Orbiter 102 Columbia is taking shape. Ed Hengeveld |
golddog
Member Posts: 210
From: australia
Registered: Feb 2008
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posted 05-07-2011 02:22 AM
Was Challenger finished before Columbia? If so, why was she not used for the first flight? |
KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 05-07-2011 04:18 AM
Great photos and a great idea Ed. Challenger, first built as a Structural Test Article, was originally intended as a test bed to be subjected to all sorts of load bearing, vibration and other measurable exams to verify the manufacture of the ships. It was only after Columbia was finished that she was given a name and "upgraded" to a flight-worthy orbiter. |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2476
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 05-07-2011 05:46 AM
Talk about a Giant Leap, to go from the Apollo spacecraft to an Orbiter. The folks that worked on both must have been in amazement of the size of vehicle that was going into LEO. |
hlbjr
Member Posts: 475
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-07-2011 06:12 AM
Where is this building located, Downey? Were all of the orbiters built in the same place (I think I recall Endeavour built in Palmdale but I could be wrong)? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3387
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 05-07-2011 09:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by hlbjr:
Where is this building located, Downey? Were all of the orbiters built in the same place (I think I recall Endeavour built in Palmdale but I could be wrong)?
All the orbiters were built in Palmdale. |
Spacepsycho
Member Posts: 818
From: Huntington Beach, Calif.
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted 05-07-2011 10:26 AM
I've had a chance to speak to a few people who helped build both the Apollo and the shuttle orbiters. Most looked at building the orbiters as the natural progression in spacecraft and were happy to be working on it. They knew it was a large project but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. The interior pressure hull where the shuttle crew worked was built at NAA in Downey, as were many other components like the docking tunnel, but the orbiters were assembled in Palmdale. |
OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 05-07-2011 11:01 AM
quote:
Originally posted by hlbjr:
Where is this building located, Downey? Were all of the orbiters built in the same place (I think I recall Endeavour built in Palmdale but I could be wrong)?
It is called Air Force Plant 42 where the Shuttles were built. The B-2 and B-1 bombers have also been built there. Since all ofthe Aero space mergers in the 90's hangers there have become open and Dryden now has an Air Operations there now. Endeavour's final assembly was done in the same bay that Challenger's was done. |
hlbjr
Member Posts: 475
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 05-07-2011 01:47 PM
Thanks for all of the information guys. I knew Endeavour was built in Palmdale but I wasn't sure if all of them were. I think I read somewhere that all of the tooling for Shuttle manufacture has been scrapped, or at leasst a major portion of it. True? |
OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 05-07-2011 03:11 PM
I do not think Boeing is using that building anymore. Would be a great place for CSC annex for Endeavour. |
E2M Lem Man
Member Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 05-08-2011 01:33 PM
Palmdale, CA Plant 42 was used for final orbiter assembly and was closed down in 1999 - as well as our facility here in Downey. It was given back to the Air Force. There was a full scale shuttle orbiter mockup built in Downey and is still here and is planned to go on display at Columbia Center next year or so. Another orbiter was partially built - an "Iron Bird" for wiring checks. Downey built the cockpit and tail sections for all and shipped to Palmdale. J.M. Busby
Aerospace Legacy Foundation
Downey, CA |
wickball
Member Posts: 107
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 05-08-2011 03:17 PM
Mr. Busby, In a previous thread, I noted I was looking for a factory assembly manual for the Apollo module, a manual the assembly tech's would have used to assemble the module. Can you be of any help here, a PDF that someone would like to share? |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-08-2011 09:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by E2M Lem Man:
Another orbiter was partially built - an "Iron Bird" for wiring checks. Downey built the cockpit and tail sections for all and shipped to Palmdale.
Which begs the question: Could this "iron bird" have been upgraded to a full orbiter or would it have been too much cost? (I ask because I recall a 1974 Rockwell document which lists the use of five orbiters, three at KSC, two at VAFB. Two of the orbiters were either a front fuselage or aft fuselage used for testing and later upgraded to a full orbiter. I no longer have this booklet, but I recall that the two would have been OV-103 and OV-105.) |
astro-nut
Member Posts: 946
From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 06-11-2011 01:33 PM
Another great photo from the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program. With Challenger being listed as a space shuttle orbiter structural test article would Challenger have been used like Enterprise and done Approach and Landing tests? |
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