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Author
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Topic: Space Center Houston: Shuttle and 747 Carrier
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 26761
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-02-2013 05:58 PM
   
collectSPACE Houston museum to top historic NASA jet with mock space shuttleThey say that everything is bigger in Texas and that certainly goes for Space Center Houston's newly-announced space shuttle exhibit. Space Center Houston, which serves as the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center, revealed plans on Thursday (May 2) to display its full-size space shuttle mockup atop the historic jumbo jetliner that ferried the real orbiters after their return from space and delivered them to their museum homes. NASA transferred ownership of its original Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 jet, to Space Center Houston on Thursday, setting in motion the visitor center's plans to pair the replica shuttle it received last June with the airplane that landed in Houston five months later.  |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1368
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 05-02-2013 06:08 PM
I love the concept. It would be awesome if an addition to the Saturn V building could be constructed and house both of them side by side!Any word on if they will add the tail cone? In the concept photos they have the engines exposed. |
JSC01
Member Posts: 52
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 05-02-2013 07:00 PM
Fantastic! I think this is an ingenious plan. This should complete the nation's shuttle experiences: launch - Endeavour/California, in-flight - Atlantis/Florida, wheels down - Discovery/Smithsonian. Now we can add ferry-flight transit to the viewing experiences. It will be fun year watching to see how the transport and logistics for building the final vehicle stack unfolds... Kudos to Space Center Houston! |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 149
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 05-03-2013 10:38 AM
She does need that second tailcone! Looks like a nation wide shuttle tour someday. I better start saving my money. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 429
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 05-03-2013 10:55 AM
Hey! Don't forget Enterprise at the Intrepid museum in NY  It should still be re-opening in its 'main-wheel touchdown, nose gear still up' landing configuration soon. |
p51
Member Posts: 687
From: Olympia, WA, USA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 05-03-2013 02:54 PM
I love this!So happy to see a SCA get preserved like this, I assumed they'd both get gutted for the SOFIA project even after 905 went to Houston. Should be interesting to see it towed from Ellington... |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2188
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 05-05-2013 08:18 PM
Good grief. This is dang cool, but logistically it is going to be a major challenge to pull off. For starters, how do they plan on getting the SCA from Ellington to JSC? Only way I could see it would be to remove the wings, but trucking that fuselage over land is going to be a larger feat than it was to move Endeavour over land in Los Angeles.I also anticipate there would need to be some additional reinforcement in the main attachment struts to properly anchor the orbiter mockup to the 747 so the pair can survive a potential direct strike from a hurricane intact (the mockup should be fine, but not sure about a 747 given what the humid gulf moisture air could do to its structure after a few years). Granted the mockup likely weighs less than a flight orbiter, but at the same time I don't think the structural reinforcements were designed with having the 747 having something on top out in the elements for a few years either. Still, if this can be pulled off, it will make for an incredible display. And combined with the California Science Center's planned display of Endeavour in launch stack configuration... it would indeed make for quite a tour of all shuttles. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 26761
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-05-2013 08:46 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
For starters, how do they plan on getting the SCA from Ellington to JSC?
Quoting from the article linked above: To get the aircraft to the visitor center, its wings and tail will be removed, and its fuselage will be sectioned in three.The jumbo jet is expected to be in place at Space Center Houston by this November. The work to hoist the 130,000-pound (60,000-kilogram) shuttle mockup atop the airplane will follow during the first quarter of 2014. Before the model orbiter leaves the ground however, it will need to undergo some repairs and modifications, including the installation of attachment hardware to mount it on the back of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Work to remove NASA 905's engines, which are being returned to Boeing, begins this month. The engines will be replaced for display with mockups.The work to repair and prepare the space shuttle mockup to be moved is also underway. Panels underneath the model orbiter, including where the attach points would be, have been removed, as this photo taken today shows.  |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 149
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 05-06-2013 08:17 AM
When are they going to announce the new name of the mock up shuttle? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 26761
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-06-2013 08:22 AM
There were some early plans to name the mockup just after it arrived in Houston, but they were put on hold (perhaps because of this plan coming together). I suspect they'll resume the process of naming the replica as the new display proceeds. |
JSC01
Member Posts: 52
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 05-06-2013 11:39 AM
I could be wrong, but I thought those rectangular holes under Explorer were there since the barge trip. I was wondering when/if they would be repaired... Does the starboard wing stay attached in the display? I can't really tell in the graphics, and it looks to be a very tight fit. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 26761
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-06-2013 11:47 AM
quote:
Originally posted by JSC01:
I thought those rectangular holes under Explorer were there since the barge trip.
You're right, as seen in this photo from the road trip from the dock to Space Center Houston. I've been told though, that work inside has begun. quote:
Does the starboard wing stay attached in the display?
I haven't heard anything to suggest the wing will be left off, but I'll inquire.Update: Per Space Center Houston, when the exhibit opens in 2015, both wings (and all other components) will be intact on NASA 905. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 26761
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-06-2013 12:07 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Ronpur:
She does need that second tailcone!
According to the exhibit planners, the tailcone is currently being considered. |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 577
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 05-06-2013 03:18 PM
Do they plan on modifying or removing the entrance box on the starboard side of the orbiter? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 26761
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-06-2013 03:33 PM
From what I understand no, as it will be in use. And just as it was at Kennedy, the integrated "white room" will be mostly hidden from view by the access gantry. |
JSC01
Member Posts: 52
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Nov 2011
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posted 05-07-2013 10:31 AM
Apparently there is a museum 747 display in Germany, where they also had to remove wings, tail, etc. for transport. Pretty impressive, it's displayed quite a bit elevated. Looks like public has access. There is a very nice video on this page (in German!) that documents the 747 transport and hoisting into position with cranes. I expect we'll soon see something similar happening at SCH. |
ea757grrl
Member Posts: 547
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 05-07-2013 09:32 PM
Anyone who's been to the Reagan Library has seen a similar job of reassembly, though on a 707 instead of a 747. That's how SAM 27000 was brought to the Library site; though the fuselage wasn't cut into sections, the wings and tailplanes were removed for transport, and the airplane was reassembled in the Air Force One Pavilion. The pictures of the disassembled SAM 27000 with its wings shorn made me a little sad, but now you can't tell it ever happened, and the exhibit looks gorgeous.I'm hoping NASA 905 will benefit from similarly skilled hands and, once reassembled, you'll never be able to tell it was ever taken apart. I look forward to seeing for myself someday soon. |
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