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Author Topic:   Space Center Houston: 39B OAA/white room
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-18-2011 10:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
collectSPACE Photo Gallery
Historic space shuttle launch pad parts arrive in Houston

An iconic metal walkway and entrance room used for two decades by more than 50 astronaut crews to enter space shuttles on the launch pad arrived at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston Tuesday (Oct. 18), where they are to go on public display.

The 65-foot (20-meter) long orbiter access arm and its integrated "white room," an environmentally-controlled chamber, arrived from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida by truck...

p51
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From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 10-18-2011 10:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for p51   Click Here to Email p51     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great, glad to hear it'll be on display, I was wondering about it. That will be as nice as the Apollo gantry at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is to walk across...

BMckay
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From: MA, USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 10-19-2011 08:09 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for BMckay   Click Here to Email BMckay     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Just wondering what astronaut and technician was the last to walk across it?

MrSpace86
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From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003

posted 10-19-2011 11:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MrSpace86   Click Here to Email MrSpace86     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Won't they receive a beanie cap as well to display with the white room?

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-19-2011 11:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Pad 39B's gaseous oxygen vent arm with its beanie cap is slated to go on display with Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

IconDesign29
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Posts: 48
From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 10-19-2011 01:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for IconDesign29     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The display for the Pad 39B gantry/white room is planned to be a very nice one, from what I've heard.

As part of Space Center Houston's new 8,000 sq ft addition to the visitor center where Explorer will be displayed, the gantry and white room will be displayed next to the Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT) they are getting.

The CCT will be in it's vertical config and the gantry and white room will be exhibited leading right up to the hatch of the CCT.

If exhibited with a large backdrop of the view you would see from atop the pad, it should be an incredible display!

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

posted 10-19-2011 01:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by IconDesign29:
As part of Space Center Houston's new 8,000 sq ft addition to the visitor center where Explorer will be displayed...
A minor correction: while Explorer will be at Space Center Houston, it is not planned to be in the space shuttle gallery. Rather, it will be displayed outside, similar to how it exhibited now at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

The plans for the orbiter access arm, white room and crew compartment trainer are very preliminary. While I agree the proposed configuration is a great idea, at this point, everything is subject to change.

IconDesign29
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From: Houston, Texas
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 10-19-2011 01:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for IconDesign29     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for the clarification, Robert. My mistake... I had assumed Explorer was going to be indoors.

And yes, I agree that the plans for the gantry are still very preliminary, but it definitely sounds like a nice potential display if they go that route.

I'm very anxious to see how it all comes together. I took a look at it this morning and it's a fascinating artifact!

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

posted 10-19-2011 04:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Visitors to Johnson Space Center's open house this Saturday (during the annual Ballunar Liftoff Festival) will be able to walk the length of the orbiter access arm, enter the white room and then exit through the opening where the shuttle's crew hatch was berthed.

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

posted 10-27-2011 05:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here are some photographs from this past weekend's Johnson Space Center Open House showing the orbiter access arm on display and some of the details inside the white room (including the fisheye camera lens that made the room appear much larger when shown on TV).

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-27-2011 05:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

Ronpur
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Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012

posted 02-25-2019 10:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ronpur   Click Here to Email Ronpur     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Were the orbiter access arms recycled from the Apollo crew access arms? I recently read that they were, but never heard this before.

Jim Behling
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Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 02-26-2019 08:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes.

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