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 Space
Shuttle Launch from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. Manned Space
flight for the benefit of all on the good planet Earth!
 Space
Shuttle Discovery Rolling out to the Launch Pad at Kennedy Space Center.
The Transporter Crawler is the world's heaviest moving land vehicle. The
two KSC Transporters were originally built to carry the giant Saturn 5 moon
rockets to the Launch Pad. Also shown are the twin Solid Rocket Boosters, External
Tank for liquid Hydrogen and liquid Oxygen, and a Mobile Launch Platform.
 Another
picture of the STS-96 Discovery space ship on its way to the launch pad.
This was the 94th flight for the Space Shuttle Program. This was
also the first supply mission to the International Space Station. Kent V. Rominger
(4) was the Commander, Rick D. Husband (1) was Pilot, Ellen Ochoa
(3), Tamara E. Jernigan (5), Daniel T. Barry (2), Julie Payette (1) (Canada),
and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev (1) (Russia) were the Mission Specialist.
In parentheses is how many times the astronauts have flown in space before this
mission.
 Space
Shuttle Discovery Astronauts depart the Operation & Checkout building for
their mission. On this highly successful mission, the Hubble Space
telescope was repaired and brought back into service. The significance of
this nation's mission dictates the highest of security.
 Space
Shuttle Launch Pad. This picture gives a good perspective of how large the
Crawler Transporter really is! The crawler way in this picture is not two
lanes, but actually only one lane for the left and one lane for the right tracks
of the Transporter! The top surface of the Mobile Launch Platform that
rides on the transporter is 1/4 acre in area.
 Mobile
Launch Platform (MLP). Originally built for the Saturn 5 moon rocket, KSC has 3 Mobile Launch Platforms.
They have been extensively
modified for the Space Shuttle Program. This allows Space Transportation
System build up to take place inside the Vehicle Assembly
Building (VAB) and then transfer the completed Space Ship to the launch pad.
One of two, Space Shuttle Crawler Transporters. These magnificent vehicles
have been in use transporting Saturn 5 moon rockets and Space Shuttles to the
launch pad since the late 1960s. They are powered by twin V16 cylinder
diesel engines and have numerous other generators for leveling and power.
The transporter must keep the space ship level while going up the hill to the
launch pad.
 Space
Shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad. The Gaseous Oxygen Vent Hood is over the
top of the External Tank but is not seated. The "White Room" is
extended for crew entry into Atlantis. The Rotating Service Structure is
rotated out of the way to the launch position.
 A
Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) segment is brought into the Vehicle
Assembly Building for Space Shuttle mission build up. The SRBs are
retrieved after each launch, dissembled, and sent back to Utah for
refurbishment and reloading with solid propellant. The segments are
shipped in special rail cars. They are then assembled as matched pairs for
flight.
 Space
Shuttle mission STS-96 Solid Rocket Booster returns to Port Canaveral.
SRBs burn for approximately 2 minutes and are then later retrieved about 180
miles out in the Atlantic Ocean (they spend more energy going up than out during
their 2 minute burn!). Boosters return to port around one day after launch.
 Space
Shuttle on launch pad for a night launch with the xenon launch lights on.
Delivering a payload to a particular orbit - or to catch a payload, such as the
Hubble Space telescope, or the International Space Station dictates the time of
launch. If you were going on a 7 hour car trip, and needed to be at
your destination at noon, you would have to leave at 5:00 a.m. Similar to
planning a space "launch window".
 Plaque
at Launch Complex 34 where Astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee lost their
lives in the Apollo 1 fire. The plaque reads "They gave their lives
in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final
frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for
which they lived'.
 The
launch pedestal is all that remains at Launch Complex 34 today. Many difficult
lessons were learned here that helped mankind land on the moon and made the
products we use today safer. Complex 34 is my most sacred place at the
space center.
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Plaque
at Launch Complex 34 where Astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee lost their
lives in the Apollo 1 fire. The plaque reads "They gave their lives
in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final
frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for
which they lived'.
