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Author
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Topic: KSC Up-Close Tour: Vehicle Assembly Building
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SpaceKSCBlog
Member Posts: 119
From: Merritt Island, FL
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 04-07-2012 07:02 AM
   
quote:
Originally posted by Ben:
And it might be worth noting that this is likely the final week to ever see a space shuttle inside the VAB...
The last day Discovery will be in High Bay 4 for viewing is April 13. On April 14, weather permitting, it heads out to the SLF for mating to the 747. Weather permitting, of course.The KSC Visitor Complex is offering a special limited tour ticket April 14-17 to see Discovery at the SLF. |
englau
Member Posts: 110
From: tampa, florida, usa
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 04-09-2012 10:18 PM
I just visited this back in March with my family and we all really enjoyed it! My dad keeps repeating that the Up Close tour is one of those rare moments that only happen once in a lifetime! We were very fortunate that day when the tour guide surprised us. He had us round the corner to be greeted by the Discovery orbiter. I think its being prepared to be shipped off in the next few days, if I'm not mistaken. But even so, it is definitely a worthwhile trip to take! I highly recommend paying it a visit! |
SpaceKSCBlog
Member Posts: 119
From: Merritt Island, FL
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 04-27-2012 07:05 AM
This showed up yesterday in the VAB transfer aisle. I don't know if it's the pad abort prototype that was here earlier at the KSCVC Rocket Garden or if it's another test version. It has signatures all over it like the other one but doesn't look the same to me.Anyone have any opinions?  The AstroVan is on display in High Bay 4:  |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-27-2012 10:23 AM
quote:
Originally posted by SpaceKSCBlog:
Anyone have any opinions?
It does not look like the Pad Abort boilerplate that has been on display recently at the Steven Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia (a photograph of which is posted on page 1 of this thread). |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-27-2012 03:26 PM
There were two Pad Abort-1 boilerplates: the one that flew (which was previously displayed in the Vehicle Assembly Building and then moved temporarily to the Udvar-Hazy Center for Discovery's arrival) and this one, which was built at Langley Research Center, used as a fit-check vehicle at White Sands, and then trucked to Kennedy Space Center by way of a public tour (when it was signed by visitors). |
SpaceKSCBlog
Member Posts: 119
From: Merritt Island, FL
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 04-27-2012 04:13 PM
So Robert, you're saying this is the one that was on display a few weeks back in the KSCVC Rocket Garden: I know some of it has been covered up with tape and plastic sheets, but to me the graffiti was different graffiti. Or maybe it was just a different angle. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 06-27-2012 10:48 AM
Space shuttle Atlantis will be rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on June 29, where it will remain until being rolled over to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in November. |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 06-27-2012 03:20 PM
Atlantis is going to the VAB until August 16, when it will go back to the OPF and Endeavour will take its place in the VAB. |
NC Apollo Fan
Member Posts: 261
From: Belmont, NC USA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 08-09-2012 10:58 AM
I have the option to visit the KSC on August 22. Based on the above comments it seems that I would be able to see Endeavour if I took the tour - is that correct? Has there been any recent confirmation on when Endeavour will arrive in the VAB? Also, if I show up at the main gate would they be able to confirm a sighting on the Up Close tour? While I know that there are no guarantees I'd still like to have a good sense of my chances of seeing it before I commit. Thanks! |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-09-2012 11:02 AM
Endeavour remains scheduled to swap places with Atlantis in the Vehicle Assembly Building on Aug. 16, so yes, on Aug. 22 — barring some unforeseen circumstance — Endeavour will be viewable on the tour. |
Victorinox
Member Posts: 13
From: Miami, Florida, USA
Registered: Jul 2012
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posted 08-13-2012 01:43 PM
Is Atlantis returning to the VAB before being towed to the Visitor's Complex on November? |
SpaceKSCBlog
Member Posts: 119
From: Merritt Island, FL
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 08-15-2012 08:29 AM
I've seen the schedule. Atlantis and Endeavour swap tomorrow morning August 16. Endeavour remains in HB-4 until it leaves for California in mid-September. Atlantis will probably not return to the VAB but you never know. Right now, it's scheduled to move over to the KSCVC museum in November.The scuttlebutt is that construction in HB-3 and HB-1 is about to begin, so they don't want tours going through, and certainly not have to worry about exposing an orbiter to foreign object debris in the air -- even if they are decommissioned. |
SpaceKSCBlog
Member Posts: 119
From: Merritt Island, FL
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 08-20-2012 07:29 AM
Endeavour is parked much closer to the High Bay 4 fence than was Atlantis. The below photo is from the August 19 Up Close tour. |
Bob Montanaro
New Member Posts: 4
From:
Registered: May 2012
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posted 08-25-2012 12:14 AM
Here are more photos of Endeavour taken on the 18 August 2012 KSC Up-Close VAB Tour. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-07-2013 07:03 PM
The limited KSC Up-Close: The Vehicle Assembly Building Tour has been extended through 2013. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-17-2014 04:22 PM
collectSPACE Rocket renovations ending public tours of NASA's Vehicle Assembly BuildingA hugely popular, hugely historic and just plain huge NASA tour spot is closing to the public as the space agency picks up the pace preparing the facility for the future of U.S. space exploration. Tours taking the public into the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are set to end on Feb. 11, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex announced recently. Public access to the voluminous facility is being halted as work resumes to renovate the VAB for the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA's next-generation heavy-lift rocket. The towering launch vehicle will provide NASA with a new capability for human exploration beyond Earth orbit.  |
p51
Member Posts: 1642
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 01-17-2014 06:58 PM
Figures. They started this tour three months after I was there last, and now ending it about eight months before I get there again...I guess I'll have to be content with knowing I have been inside the VAB, when I was 4 years old and the Apollo/Soyuz mockup was still handing in there... |
topmiler
Member Posts: 148
From: eastleigh, hampshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2012
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posted 01-19-2014 02:03 PM
Wow, I never thought I'd hear of anyone more unlucky than myself. I know how you feel p51. |
pupnik
Member Posts: 114
From: Maryland
Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 01-19-2014 03:45 PM
Genuinely disappointed. I'm going to KSC for the first time in March and the VAB was pretty much on the top of my list. |
robert_l
Member Posts: 168
From: Dundee,Scotland
Registered: Jul 2008
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posted 01-22-2014 12:11 PM
This was the reason for my visit last year. I took the chance as I had no idea how long we would get. It was amazing finally being inside the VAB and the size huge. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-23-2014 11:28 AM
Update: NASA has extended availability to the VAB until Feb. 23. Up-Close VAB and Mega tours continue until then. |
pupnik
Member Posts: 114
From: Maryland
Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 01-23-2014 05:32 PM
Come on NASA, bump it back one more week and I'm back in business. It's a schedule slip I wouldn't mind. |
dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 01-23-2014 07:17 PM
Do they intend to keep the Columbia in the VAB for the foreseeable future or are there plans for a more permanent home. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-23-2014 07:20 PM
NASA considers the archive on the 16th floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building Columbia's final resting place. It is not a temporary storage area, but a permanent installment. |
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