Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana joined United Space Alliance, or USA, technicians Gary Hamilton and Joe Walsh in sealing Endeavour’s hatch. One of those major steps took place in Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility, or OPF, on Aug. “We’ve met all the (schedule) milestones and completed the work needed for the ferry flight,” Stilson said. The work to de-service or decommission the orbiter has included removing containers that once held toxic propellants such as hydrazine and oxidizers and ensuring all dangerous commodities have been completely drained. “Since its last flight, we have been de-servicing the vehicle instead of re-servicing it.” “Endeavour’s preparations have gone extremely well,” said Stephanie Stilson, NASA’s flow director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement. It will represent the shuttle program’s legacy for years into the future. All rights reserved.The orbiter now is being readied for a mid-September ferry flight to California for display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. 30.įollow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman robertpearlman. The California Science Center will open the new Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion on Oct. on a 12-mile (19-kilometer) journey to its new home. 12, the shuttle will begin a two day road trip to the California Science Center, moving through the streets of Inglewood and L.A. Once on the ground in Los Angeles and without a corresponding Mate-Demate Device at LAX, Endeavour will be hoisted off the SCA using two large cranes and positioned onto a modified NASA overland transporter. The journey, and its pre-departure preparations, are subject to both weather and operational constraints and could be delayed or changed, NASA officials advised. In addition to performing low passes while flying over several NASA facilities, the carrier aircraft and its orbiter passenger will make planned stops in Houston and El Paso in Texas, and at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California before finally landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Sept. The space shuttle era's final ferry flight will take Endeavour on a cross-country tour. The air- and space-craft combo will exit the MDD on Sunday morning in preparation for their final departure on Monday. On Saturday, technicians will work to "hard mate" the connection, securing bolts that will hold the two vehicles together in flight. The two craft were "soft-mated" by mid-afternoon. Endeavour was then lowered onto the back of the jetliner, such that three ports on its underbelly aligned with the attachment points protruding from the 747's upper fuselage. Over the course of several hours, the 155,000-pound (70,000-kilogram) shuttle was attached to a metal sling and hoisted 90 feet into the air so that the carrier aircraft, known by its tail number as NASA 905, could be towed in underneath it. "There were definitely some tears this morning during the rollover from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the Mate-Demate Device, especially from those who have worked on Endeavour for a long period of time." "We are a little bit sad that this will be the last time that we're doing this," Stilson told reporters covering the mating operations. Arriving at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in the pre-dawn hours, Endeavour was moved into a gantry-like steel structure known as the Mate-Demate Device (MDD) to be paired with the 747 SCA. 14) towed the shuttle from where it was temporarily parked inside its former launch assembly building to the runway where it last returned from space. To prepare Endeavour for its ferry flight to the West Coast, NASA technicians on Friday (Sept.
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