NASASpaceFlight.com Forum
General Discussion => Historical Spaceflight => Topic started by: psloss on 02/12/2006 08:17 pm
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OK, finally got 'round to getting a scanner. Here are three from the set...
Cheers,
Philip Sloss
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Great images and rare to see her so young. 1979? Was she at KSC then or still at Palmdale?
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This was the Rockwell open house in Palmdale just before she was moved over to Edwards for ferry to KSC.
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Philip,
WOW! Fantastic pics. Comparing those with the ones I posted at Eglin, Columbia lost a LOT of tiles on that trip across country! Ironic that she did the same thing on her final mission... :(
Does someone know why so many fell off? Inexperience with them? What changed in the technique/process to make them stay on better?
Thanks again for sharing them!
Jason
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wasent it that the bond they were using wasint working or some thing like that
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Yeah, my Dad got some good shots...couple more. I'll scan a few more that show the other side of the nose when I have time.
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Beautiful in her own way. Look how gleaming her OMS and read RCS is!
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SRBseparama - 12/2/2006 7:44 PM
Beautiful in her own way. Look how gleaming her OMS and read RCS is!
Those were fake OMS pods, which were just for transport. It recieved the flight ones at KSC
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Thought they looked too shiny - no tiles on them.
Yep, I saw them and thought "oooo, shiny!" too :D
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Well the aft looks like its got its SSME shield on, ready for transport on the SCA - that might account for some of it.
Greats pics.
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Beautiful!
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Also note the lack of thermal blankets on the front, nose/windows area.
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It's great to see history like this. What surprises me is this was 27 years ago, before I was born! :o Doesn't seem to be that long ago when looking at a Shuttle orbiter.
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Yes, that is a stunning thing to note.
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Did they have the addesive problem with the TPS before or after she was shipped to KSC? I remember there was a good year or so delay to STS-1 because of it.
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before thats why she when with so many off and why they fell off.
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Heather - 14/2/2006 12:51 AM
It's great to see history like this. What surprises me is this was 27 years ago, before I was born! :o Doesn't seem to be that long ago when looking at a Shuttle orbiter.
Eek! You just reminded me of that too. Thats quite freaky.
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STS Tony - 13/2/2006 10:55 AM
Did they have the addesive problem with the TPS before or after she was shipped to KSC? I remember there was a good year or so delay to STS-1 because of it.
Both I believe.
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I'm thinking it might be after she got to KSC, after all, why would they fly her on the back of a SCA when she's got tiles falling off ;) Wouldn't want to be under her flight path when ferried.
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Jamie Young - 13/2/2006 6:26 PM
I'm thinking it might be after she got to KSC, after all, why would they fly her on the back of a SCA when she's got tiles falling off ;) Wouldn't want to be under her flight path when ferried.
It was during the ferry flight that tiles fell off. The trip across the US took a lot longer than most other flights. It was delayed several times and made several overnight stops in El Paso, San Antonio, and the Florida Panhandle before landing at KSC.
See this thread to see what it looked like the day before she arrived at KSC:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1420&posts=36
You are right about not wanting to be underneath those tiles. I always wondered where all those tiles went???
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Tiles are not that heavy or dense.
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Here's a last few; couple more of the same and a couple from the other side of the nose...
Philip Sloss
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Looking at her front, anyone would think she had come to the end of her life!
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In that last picture, where the "NASA" logo (of the time) is, is that all covered waiting to be tiled? Its far too smooth to be tiles.
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No tiles were to be put there, it was covered with FRSI
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I've got a question: I wonder if the workers at Palmdale were as fascinated with the shuttles as we, the public, were when they (Palmdale) were working on them or doing maintenance??? Or was it just "another day at work" for them?