Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 (1:144)

[roma847]

Hi Mike,

it's good that you warned me in time.

I missed my booked Europa Clipper Launch because of it, but what the heck, I got a full refund of $250.

Luckily I saw the SpaceX video launch.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

on today's election day in the USA, I want to get back in touch with you, my friends.

I've had five weeks with great experiences in which I've seen a lot and met many new friends.

Unfortunately I also had to say Goodbye to two of my friends forever.

John O'Connor †



John is buried in Titusville, and I paid my last respects to him at his grave.



His name is not yet engraved on the urn gravestone, but I'm in touch with one of his colleagues, Jim Siegel, who will take care of all further matters in his spirit.





His unique Shuttle Panoramic images on his website will remain in our memories forever.

Judy Gale Roberts †



After I learned of her death from her husband Stephen, I've contacted him and arranged to meet him in their studio in Seymour, Tennessee, in the mountains, where he was showing me all of her awesome artworks,











as well as photos from their life from the good old days.



Strange but somehow familiar, I had the feeling the whole time that Judy was still omnipresent in her studio.

As remembrance Stephen gave me this wonderful Intarsia duck, which I was very happy about and which will get a place of honor in my studio.



May John and Judy rest in peace, forever remembered ...

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

these were dramatic and sad fates that overshadowed my USA trip this year and accompanied me constantly.

Nevertheless, I have to carry on and I'm trying to get back into my two project reports STS-6 and Psyche Space craft and summarize my travel experiences in a suitable form, which is not easy for me.

So first of all I have placed the memories and framed the posters and autographed photos from the encounters with the three astronauts in the Astronaut Encounter and have built a bridge for myself by creating my own Wall Of Fame this way.



In this sense, here is a little flashback to my Return to KSC Tour 2024 this year and the interesting encounters with members of former Shuttle crews in the Astronaut Encounter.

Charles D. Walker - STS-41D, 51D, 61B



KSC VC: 10/23/24 - 10/26/24





Mike A. Baker - STS-43, 52, 68, 81



KSC VC: 10/27/24 - 10/31/24



Anna L. Fisher - STS-51A



KSC VC: 11/01/24 - 11/04/2024



And during each encounter, there was a big surprise when you saw the astronauts live on stage compared with the photos from their missions that time.

So much for a first little flashback to my Return to KSC Tour 2024 this year.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

my Wall of Fame in the Filder Space Center (FSC) will be continued step by step.

Charlie Walker and Anna Fisher and me, beneath an awesome 3D Shuttle Lift-off photo.



And in memory of Judy Gale Roberts, the nation's most widely known and revered Intarsia artist, her impressive Intarsia Duck, which her husband Stephen gave me during my visit in Seymour, is hanging now in my studio,



next to her picture during the unveiling of her one-of-a-kind Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Intarsia in their studio in Seymour in 2019.





Forever remembered ... It's hard for me to let go.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

one could write own articles about these encounters at the Astronaut Encounter, as they provide interesting insights into the lives and careers of every astronauts.

With that in mind, a little episode from Anna Fisher's presentation about her amazing life story and career, which I hadn't heard about until now.

After hearing a radio broadcast at age 12 about Alan Shepard, the first American to fly into space, she dreamed of becoming an astronaut. In 1978 she was selected into NASA's first female class and accepted for the astronaut training program.


Back row, left to right: Kathryn Sullivan, Shannon W. Lucid, Anna L. Fisher, Judith Resnik, seated left to right: Sally K. Ride and M. Rhea Seddon
Source: wikimedia.org

After Sally K. Ride (STS-7, STS-41-G), Judith A. Resnik (STS-41-D, STS-51-L, January 28, 1986) and Kathryn Sullivan (STS-41-G), Anna Fisher was the fourth American and the very first mother ever to fly into space.

When she found out after Challenger's STS-7 mission that she had been selected for one of the next Shuttle missions, she was eight months pregnant, but what didn't stop her from taking on this unusual challenge, and so she gave her coach the okay.

Two weeks later, her daughter Kristin was born, and just three days later she attended a pilot briefing.


Source: https://newsroom.porsche.com

On November 8th, 1984 she lift off on her STS-51-A mission as the mother of her then 14-month-old daughter on board the Discovery, making her childhood dream came true. 


Source: wikimedia.org

During she was signing her photo with a personal dedication for me after her presentation, she told me that her mother and grandmother are from Germany. In the meantime I also know that she has been an enthusiastic Porsche driver since her youth and that our birthdays are on the same day.


Source: https://newsroom.porsche.com

One week after we met was the 40th Anniversary of her Shuttle mission, which she looks back on in this short film by Porsche.


Source: https://newsroom.porsche.com

So much for that little side trip and meeting Anna Fisher on the last day of my US trip this year, what I remember fondly.

[roma847]

Hello my friends,

I wish all of you a peaceful

[EG]

Hello my friends,

I wish all of you a peaceful

The same to you brother..

[roma847]

Thanks Elmer, my loyal friend,

I should actually be asleep long ago this late/or early after midnight, but I would like to thank you for this nice Christmas greeting.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

I hope you have coped well with the turn of the year and wish everyone a Happy New Year.

I had to go back a long way, to find my last post in September before my Return to KSC Tour 2024 to recap the situation at that time and move on.

At that time, I had a mishap while handling the Hold-down forks (Hold-down Clevis), when one of the two plates on the Fork I broke off, which I actually wanted to repair.



In the meantime, after careful consideration, I have decided otherwise and will glue the Payload Container (PLC) onto the PLC Transporter in the Vertical Transportation Mode with Tie-down Lug Plates inserted into the transport plates, since it will only be visible in this transport position on my Diorama anyway, which will save me a lot of work and therefore time.







This means that I can start attaching all the details that have already been completed to the container beforehand and immediately.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

Door Actuator and Pneumatic Drives,





inclusive Outrigger, Ladders,



and Handrails, etc.



Only then the container will be finally glued onto the transporter in Vertical Transportation Mode.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

after the Can crew returned to the Launch pad after a longer time out, things can continue.

In the meantime, I have laboriously re-glued the broken Clevis holder plate (place I).







For further assembly, I locked the PLC Transporter again on a sheet of metal between magnets. Since I often work with this clamping technique, I would like to expressly point out that it is essential to choose anti-magnetic tweezers (e.g. Master Tools), otherwise disaster is inevitable. especially when handling the smallest parts in the millimeter range, where you cannot avoid using suitable tweezers.



Although I often use the lower tweezers because they are simple and easy to handle, unfortunately they are magnetic, which has already led to some unforeseen mishaps.

Therefore, I initially left out the two front magnets and carefully pushed the Clevis holder halfway into the larger front Transportation plate (place I) using my standard tweezers. Only halfway because the tweezers can easily slip and cause damage.

Then I've carefully pushed the fork until the inner stop of the transportation plate with a Styrene rod, then have put the small Tie-down Lug Plate into the fork and inserted a thin insect needle (Ø 0,3 mm) through both to secure it against possible slipping out.

In the same way, the fork, which already was pushed into the transportation plate at place IV for some time, received its hold-down plate, which was also secured with an insect pin.



The same procedure then followed on the other side at places II and III.

The complicated part was always inserting the lug plate into the fragile fork and then inserting the needle through,



for which suitable fixation was essential.



This again followed the tricky task of inserting the fork with the inserted plate and needle into the transportation plate,



initially always halfway,



and then all the way into until the stop. 



Since further handling with these inserted needles is cumbersome, I then carefully removed one of the needles and threaded the remaining needle further through the other plate, requiring extreme caution and a steady hand.



Then I carefully set the Payload Canister onto the transporter, which was quite tricky so as not to hit onto the tips of the inserted Hold-down plates.







So much for today.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

now that the Clevis forks with the Tie-down Lug Plates have been secured to the transporter,



So I can now move on to the Payload Canister to add a number of other details.

The more complicated assemblies such as the Door actuator linkage and Pneumatic drives will be initially ignored for safety reasons,





and will be the crowning glory.

One such detail that I haven't covered yet are the PLC Doors hinges. These were not visible in the photos of the Payload Canister during the late Shuttle missions because they were then covered by Canvas covers, as one can see in this image.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

These canvas covers to protect the door sealing surfaces from rain were not yet used during the Early Missions, which is why I had to research what it looked like back then in older sources from the time of STS-6.

Some time ago I had already come across a Website (Page 9) of my friend James MacLaren Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39-B Construction Photos and found there old photos in which the PLC was transported upright standing to Pad 39-B.


Source: James MacLaren

When zoomed in, one can clearly see seven hinges, and it looks as if only one hinge half is attached to the Payload Bay Door and the other half is attached inside to the upper edge of the PLC wall.

This photo of the STS-6 Payload Canister shows the hinges with the PLC Doors open, which would be consistent with this.


Source: Challenger STS-6 – A Walk into History (forum.nasaspaceflight.com, Ares67)

It looks similar in this old photo from the Orbiter Payload Canister Report (HEAR NO. FL-8-11-I),


Source: HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, LAUNCH COMPLEX 39, ORBITER PAYLOAD CANISTERS (HEAR NO. FL-8-11-I)

which becomes clearer at higher magnification.



This photo of my friend Richard Chamberlain, who was a member of a Can Crew from 1987, would also confirm my previous view.



Now it is time to determine the dimensions of these hinges and look for suitable material for scratch-building.

[roma847]

Thanks Elmer for liking,

do you know any experts here who know about the PLC hinges during the Early missions?

I'm not sure if my interpretation is correct.

I also have this photo from STS-9, where it looks like both hinge plates are screwed on the outside, one half on the PLC door and the other on the PLC wall,


Source: Columbia STS-9 (forum.nasaspaceflight.com, Ares67)

especially if you look at this Zoom.



Since there were two Payload canisters at the time, which were constructed by different manufacturers, there could be some differences.

Belko Steel of Orlando, Florida, built Canister 1, while Specialty Maintenance and Construction, Inc. of Lakeland, Florida, built Canister 2.

It is also unclear which PLC was used on which mission?

Both missions were launched in 1983, STS-6 in April and STS-9 in November.

What do you think about?

[EG]

Yeah, there are clearly two styles of hinges... In your previous post the images look like a type of piano hinge with the inner half mounted to the bay edge jamb flat with the leaf portion attached to the door at 90 degrees...

The other looks like it's a simple plain hinge where the pads are mounted to the exterior on both sides right next to each other...

I would think it would be easier to build the pads with a piece of flat stock and a tube which could be cut to length, I would build the piano hinge the same way but the interlocking hinge sleeves would be a challenge to get equal length...

One way to do it would be to lay two pieces of flat stock on the bench, take a tube and cut it too the sleeve lengths then line them up between the pieces of flat stock with a pin and glue them alternating from side to side...

But the do look like piano hinges, only one is mounted both sides flat to the outsides of the container and door and the other is mounted to the jamb and outside of the door...

I hope that makes sense...

Elmer

[roma847]

Thanks Elmer for your interesting thoughts and proposals.

That would also be in line with my ideas, although I think that in principle both variants are a kind of piano hinge that are just mounted differently.

In the end for scratch building the hinges, the dimensions in my 1:160 scale are crucial, and maybe you'll be shocked when you see how tiny these things are, no matter which variant you want to build.

These are the scaled dimensions in 1:160,



which can be seen a little better here.



And now we can talk about how to that can scratch?

There is not much left for a hinge, Styrene strips (0,15 mm x 1,5 mm x 7 mm) and round rods on top (Ø 0,3 mm x 7 mm) for the rolls.

And if you also would still try to indicate the 11 rolls, then you had to draw wafer-thin lines spaced 0,6 mm apart.

Do you want to try such a hinge?

I'll try to show it tomorrow with a 1:1 drawing of the side view of the PLC.

[EG]

Impossible to do in scale as a real hinge brother... The hinge plates would need to be .006" thick, the barrel of the hinge at .012"...

That's never going to happen unless you want to construct them in a single layer of typing paper... I don't think that is going to work either... (as much as I understand your paper modeling wizardry)

So we would need to simulate them after we figure out how to get the doors to operate?

OR,

No opereation, just simulate them....

I think .015" sheet and .030 rod would do nicely, but, they would be a bit out of scale...

.010" sheet and .020 rod would be better...

Rod at hinge length and sheets down either side at same length with the width being the overall hinge width (.200")
for the hinge that mounts to the sill, only do a half hinge leaving the bottom strip off...

.020" rod .900" long
.010" strip .900" long by .090" wide down each side of the rod...

For the sill style of hinge leave one of the strips off...

I think that would give you a passable hinge, in either style, the only issue is how to replicate the marks on the barrel...

And on that one I'm at a loss brother... (3D print?)

Interesting problem my friend...

[roma847]

Thanks Elmer for your constructive contribution,

the first in a long time here in the forum that someone tries to help me with word and deed.

To get straight to the point, the solution should be as true to scale as possible, even if it seems difficult in practice, I don't want to say impossible. You know my principle, brother, nothing is impossible.

However, I would like to make one restriction at this point: the Payload Bay doors on my PLC are closed and should not be able to be opened. And all who wants that, should build the Container in 1:72 scale.

So I've chosen a solution which I first tried in MS Word which became already a tricky challenge.

For this I've drawn a sketch of a first variant of the hinge in my Word document in several steps using the determined dimensions, where one half of the hinge is mounted on the outside of the PLC door and the other half on the wall sill, which cannot be seen from the outside.



Then I've tried to draw the Hinge sleeves into the lower strip, which was a total crazy job.

To do this, I drew 11 rectangles (0,6 mm wide) and copied them individually over the upper strip, as is to see in the left image.

Then I drew a rectangle with white fill but no outline and copied it over the 11 stripes, as is to see in the right image, which should show my simulated Hinge.

 

Afterwards I have copied these hinges into my PLC image, which doesn't look bad, does it?



But then there was this image of the STS-9 canister which shows the hinges looking slightly different, as if there was also a strip on the PLC side panel.



And meanwhile I think I should consider this arrangement, which seems to be closer to the real thing, so I drew this second hinge variant using the same method.



And I actually like this variant better, so now I can think about whether respectively how I can best apply these tiny hinges to the PLC.

[EG]

I certainly admire your skills...

There is one thing I know, I couldn't do this...  NOT IN A MILLION YEARS....

I'm just not that skilled a modeler...

Awesome!!!

[roma847]

Thanks Elmer,

yep, that's the result of my passion for Real Space Modeling, coupled with my scientific researcher gene, which is why I always want to get to the bottom of things until I'm convinced of the result.

Therefore I have started a thread Payload Canister Hinges - STS-6 here in NSF-Q&A, to which an old acquaintance, DaveS, has replied, which led to an interesting dialogue, you can follow there.

And then I've also asked my friend Richard Chamberlain in Titusville, who was a member of a NASA Can crew and is very familiar with this special matter.

And he totally agreed with my last drawn guess,



and has sent me this great image of the canister in the early 80's from his albums, which makes me smile, as if I had known it.



In it one can clearly see that these small separate hinge parts were mounted on the side panel, which were connected to the hinge sheet on the Payload Bay door with a hinge pin.

In the mid 90's these hinges were covered over the entire length of the canister with a strip of Hurculite to protect the door seals against moisture.

Now I just have to modify my drawn hinges this photo accordingly, which doesn't make scratch building any easier, quite the opposite.



But I think it should be doable.

[EG]

Brother, my engineering eye sees that the parts hanging and attached to the outside of the sill is connected to the plate on top of the sill on the inside... Forming an "L" bracket with a hinge barrel on the outside corner...

This would make for a hinge that won't move in any direction and be very solid... The section on the outside of the door is a standard flat hinge plate half...

So you have one plate of the piano hinge mounted to the sill the other plate mounted to the door... The plate attached to the sill has smaller reinforcing plates which attach to the outside of the cannister below the sill and hinge pivot point with two rivets...

Given all the images, and the early images show the same thing as the later images on the inner sill half of the hinge, the only explanation that makes sense is the inner plate is an "L" shaped one and the legs of the "L" lap over the cannister side...

More pics always help... {chuckle} and that hinge can be made out of paper I think so you would be in scale as well..

Interesting engineering....

EG

Thanks Elmer,

.....

And then I've also asked my friend Richard Chamberlain in Titusville, who was a member of a NASA Can crew and is very familiar with this special matter.

And he totally agreed with my last drawn guess,



and has sent me this great image of the canister in the early 80's from his albums, which makes me smile, as if I had known it.



In it one can clearly see that these small separate hinge parts were mounted on the side panel, which were connected to the hinge sheet on the Payload Bay door with a hinge pin.

....

[roma847]

Hello friends,

unfortunately my friend has no photo in his collection where one can see the complete hinge at the closed canister door.

Therefore I expanded his image as I imagine it, which looks like that.


 
Therein the five black numbered hinge sleeves, hanging on the long hinge sheet above them, should correspond to the five black sleeves to see in the following image.


Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com
 
And my friend thinks that I did it right.

So I'm moving forward step by step.