4/13/2024 0 Comments Tham quan space shuttle endeavour![]() ![]() Gradually, the tank was rotated into the vertical and then a single large crane raised ET-94 high enough to clear the partially-erected walls of the new air and space center. Waiting until conditions were acceptable, two cranes began to hoist the 65,000-pound (29,500-kilogram) tank from its horizontal position at around 3:00 a.m. A winter storm brought strong gusts to parts of Southern California on Thursday morning and although they gradually diminished into the afternoon, the team was on alert. To reduce the chance that wind gusts could start the 154-foot-long (47-meter) orange tank swaying, the team executing the "Go for Stack" effort scheduled the lift to the overnight hours between Thursday and Friday.Įven with that precaution, though, the winds were still a concern as the planned start drew near. Unable to wait until the new building is complete to move the shuttle in - the vehicle is just too large - the science center has been proceeding with a multi-part stacking process that is not unlike what was done within NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida, but conducted outside, where the components are subject to the elements. "With this penultimate step, heartfelt appreciation goes out to our remarkable team whose dedication has made every stage of this complex and unprecedented operation a reality." "With the mating of ET-94 to the Solid Rocket Boosters, we have successfully completed a giant undertaking and the largest part of the space shuttle stack," Jeffrey Rudolph, president and chief executive officer of the California Science Center, said in a statement. The resulting 20-story-tall display will be the centerpiece of the California Science Center's Samuel Oschin Air and Space Museum when it it opens in the next few years. In what was originally planned as an overnight move but extended into a two-day process due to wind concerns and added caution, External Tank-94 (ET-94) was taken aloft by two large cranes and lowered in front of and then between two solid rocket boosters such that together with the soon-to-follow orbiter Endeavour, the stack will form the world's only fully-authentic, upright space shuttle. The crew of Atlantis calls themselves "The Final Four." Their mission may not sound glamorous, but the supplies they bring up will keep the space station operating at full capacity.- NASA's last-remaining, built-for-flight space shuttle external tank finally took to the sky, albeit for only two brief hops above Los Angeles. Atlantis is now on the launch pad getting outfitted for the final space shuttle mission, STS 135, which is scheduled to launch in July, on a critical supply mission to keep the International Space Station. ![]() It was a bittersweet night at the Kennedy Space Center, one space shuttle landing, another rolling out to the launch pad. The crew installed the AMS - a $2 billion dollar cosmic ray detector, which is now gathering billions of samples daily from space in the quest to prove - or disprove - the Big Bang Theory of how our universe was formed. This mission set several records - the second spacewalk of the mission by astronauts Drew Feustel and Mike Fincke ran over eight hours, and Mike Fincke set a new record for time in space for a U.S. Endeavour undocked, then flew around the International Space Station on Sunday for a flawless re-entry across the Pacific ocean, Central America, and into Florida, gliding onto Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center - it s arrival heralded by its signature double sonic boom. ![]()
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