Demating an Orbiter off a 747

[FNS]

Now that the ATLANTIS is safely in Florida once again, and that I closed the book on my arrival thread, here is a new one showing her being demated from her ferry on wings.

As all of you ferry aficionados know, you drive your car aboard and off a ferry by direction of the crew and shore personnel. It takes quite a bit more to offload an orbiter from a 747.

All the photos are linked directly from NASA. Larger images and photo credits are at:

mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=4


THE STACK IS IN THE MATE-DEMATE DEVICE.


LIFTING DEVICE IS BEING ATTACHED TO ATLANTIS.


ATLANTIS IS LIFTED OFF THE 747.


747 IS READY FOR PUSH BACK.


ANOTHER GLORIOUS ANGLE!


747 IS BEING PUSHED BACK.


ALL CLEAR.


PRELIMINARY LOWERING. LANDING GEAR TO BE REDEPLOYED.


ON THE GROUND, DEMATED, AND READY FOR PUSHBACK.


PUSHBACK IS COMPLETE.


ATLANTIS IS BEING TOWED. VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING IS IN VIEW (SHE'LL BE IN THERE MATING WITH THE EXTERNAL TANK AND BOOSTER ROCKETS AFTER SHE'S READY AGAIN FOR HER NEXT FLIGHT). PICTURES DON'T DO JUSTICE ON THE IMMENSE SIZE OF STRUCTURES.


ATLANTIS IS ARRIVING AT THE ORBITER PROCESSING FACILITY.


IN THE HOLE SHE GOES.


THE DEMATING PROCESSES ARE ALL COMPLETE. THE 747'S FERRYING TRIP IS DONE. 747 IS GETTING FLIGHT CLEARANCE FOR HER RETURN TO STORAGE. ANOTHER JOB WELL DONE FOR THIS AMAZING AIRCRAFT! HAVE A GREAT FLIGHT, 747!!!

THE END! ;D

[Ferryman]

Wow, that's pretty neat. I had always wondered what they did with the shuttles after they had returned to Earth. One question though....Do they lift the shuttle off of the 747 with the same tower they use as a launch pad?

[FNS]

Firstly, the above only applies for landings at Edwards. This device and procedure is not used when shuttles land at KSC (weather permitting). They are towed directly from the 15000 X 300 foot runway to the OPF.

They do things a bit differently for launches.

After a shuttle is ready for flight, she is rolled over to the VAB on a "cart" (her landing gear is stowed for flight). She is then lifted and moved to where the boosters and tank are. She is then lowered to the stack and mated. The stack is then rolled out to the launch pad on a giant crawler. Tee minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, main engine start, four, three, two, one, boosters ignition, and we have liftoff!


ENDEAVOUR ON CART.


ENDEAVOUR NEARS VAB.


CART GONE. ENDEAVOUR IS LIFTED.


ENDEAVOUR IS REALLY UP THERE HIGH! TO BE MOVED OVER TO THE AWAITING STACK.


ENDEAVOUR IS LOWERED TO THE STACK AND MATED.

Much more work is to be done before she is moved out to the pad.

All the photos are linked directly from NASA. Larger images and photo credits are at:

mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=4

[Ferry Rider 42]

I think Chris was wondering if the structure used to remove the shuttle from the 747 was in fact Launch Pad 39A or Pad 39B. Those two pads being the ones from where the shuttle launchs from.

And no, the launch pads and the structure used to seperate the shuttle from the 747 are completely seperate things. It was very interesting to see pictures of this process. I have always meant to investigate it further, but never got around to it. Thanks!

[chokai]

The husband of a friend was on the wing leading edge inspection team for the last few years before leaving NASA recently. I wonder if they have to fly them all out there if they land the shuttle on the other side of the country to do thier inspection before loading it. I'll have to ask. She told me that nothing will ever help you truely appreciate the amount of effort that goes into it unless you are "there" for lack of a better term.

On a side note I do find this picture amusing from the Wikipedia article on the shuttle carrier aircraft: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Shuttle_mounting_point.JPG

Which I felt was almost as good as the magic-8 ball that sat on the top of the CATO station during the last launch:

spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-15/html/jsc2007e030150.html

That and all the great stuff on the rovers is proof that when it comes to the US Federal government at least our friends at NASA have a sense of humor.