Keeping Atlantis at home:

From the late 1970s to today, the Kennedy Space Center has thrived and lived for the processing and care of the Space Shuttle orbiter fleet. From Enterprise and Columbia, to Challenger and Discovery, to Atlantis and Endeavour, the workforce and the orbiters themselves lived and breathed in Florida.

After 30 years and 3.5 months of flight operations, it was, in many ways, mandatory that one of the most iconic vehicles in all history remained at home, at the Kennedy Space Center, FL.

The vehicle chosen for that honor was the Atlantis.

Undertaking the second-simplest retirement move of the Shuttle fleet, Atlantis backed out of the Vehicle Assembly Building shortly before dawn on November 2 to being her 9.8 mile, 11 hour journey to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Riding atop her Orbiter Transportation System (OTS), a 76-wheeled vehicle, Atlantis’s route took her past her Orbiter Processing Facilities, where she underwent careful and meticulous processing for every single one of her 33 voyages.

After passing her OPFs, Atlantis’s driver turned the OTS south on the Kennedy Parkway. Atlantis was then be driven down the Kennedy Parkway to the interchange with the NASA Parkway.

Here, instead of turning west and lumbering a few hundred feet to the visitor’s center, Atlantis turned east and navigated (the wrong way, in terms of traffic flow) up the entrance ramp to NASA Parkway East road.

This placed Atlantis in the headquarters area of the Kennedy Space Center and took her past the Operations and Checkout Building (where all of her astronauts lived in the days before they climbed into her for their missions) and the formerly-named Space Station Processing Facility – where all of the payload elements for the ISS were processed for launched.

A short stop and ceremony for NASA employees followed once Atlantis reaches this point in the journey.

Afterward, she was driven around the headquarters area, off to the south, before turning west and driving over to the still-under-construction Exploration Park, located south of the visitor’s center. Here, members of the public who purchased tickets to see Atlantis were bused to her for an approximately 3hour-long walk-around and photography opportunity.

With that complete, Atlantis’s drivers set their sights on completing the 9.8 mile journey by turning Atlantis north onto Space Commerce Way and driving her north toward the NASA Parkway.

Once there, Atlantis turned east onto the parkway and driven the final few hundred feet to her permanent display location at the visitor’s center.

After delivery, Atlantis’s landing gear will be lowered, and the OTS will ease her down onto her wheels.

By November 11, Atlantis will be wrapped in a protective covering and then attached to steel support beams and leveling/lifting jacks, which will be used to raise Atlantis off the ground so her landing gear can be stowed for the final time.

Afterward, the beams and jacks will lift Atlantis about 36 feet into the air, her wings level with the ground.

Here, the complicated process of tilting Atlantis just over 43-degrees onto her side will begin.

The complicated process will see Atlantis attached to large support platforms that will bear her entire, off-balance, titled weight.

With tilting operations complete, construction of the building will be finished – with Atlantis cocooned for protection from building materials until late Spring 2013.

Once building construction is complete, Atlantis will be unwrapped and her payload bay doors opened through a completed process using payload bay door strong-backs and ceiling-mounted cables to counteract the force of gravity on the doors – which were designed for operation in the microgravity environment of Earth orbit, not the harsh gravity environment of Earth sea level.

When complete, Atlantis will be uniquely displayed as only astronauts have seen her – with her payload bay doors open, her robot arm extended, and her communications antenna deployed.

Backdropping Atlantis for the final display will be a giant LED television screen depicting the Earth, as seen from orbit, rotating slowly and peacefully below the Atlantis.

She will be displayed as she was meant to be – in orbit of Earth.

Atlantis - A lifetime of international success:

For over 25 years, Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis served as a backbone to the world’s space community. Conducting more internationally themed missions than any other launch and entry vehicle in human history, Atlantis was a pillar of international cooperation both in space and on the ground.

Delivered to the Kennedy Space Center on 13 April 1985, Atlantis was the fourth and final of the originally-planned Space Shuttle orbiters, though she ultimately became the fourth of five Shuttles when Endeavour joined the fleet in 1992.

The only Shuttle orbiter named for a contemporary, 20th century, still-operational ship of exploration, Atlantis took her name from the Earth-bound ship of exploration for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute of Massachusetts.

That sea-fairing Atlantis, since transferred from Woods Hole to Argentina’s CONICET and renamed twice, holds the record of being the most-traveled sea fairing vessel in the world – with more scientific research-based miles to her name than any other ship in history.

Like her namesake, Shuttle Atlantis holds the distinction of being the most international space launch and entry vehicle in history, with 25 of her 33 missions dedicated in some way to the pursuit for multi-national cooperation.

And it all began on 3 October 1985.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 of Atlantis’ History:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/ov-104atlantis-international-vehicle-changing-world/

Launching on her maiden voyage on the STS-51J mission, Atlantis became the first and only Space Shuttle orbiter to have her maiden voyage classified by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the first Space Shuttle orbiter to actually launch on the first attempt on a maiden voyage.

Following this first flight, Atlantis was quickly processed for her second mission, spending only 26 days in the OPF, a record-fast processing flow never again matched and never again attempted in the history of the Space Shuttle Program.

In fact, the total time between her first and second launches was just 54 days – a record low for the Space Shuttle Program.

Tragically, before Atlantis could take to the skies for her third mission, her sister Challenger was lost with all seven crewmembers.

Following the disaster, Atlantis was used in 1986 for launch pad countdown procedure certifications/tests and emergency egress/rescue training.

Returning to active service nearly three years after Challenger and after the incorporation of numerous safety upgrades and enhancements, Atlantis conducted her first post-Challenger flight on 2 December 1988.

During launch of this STS-27 classified DOD mission, ablative insulation on the right hand Solid Rocket Booster liberated and impacted the right hand side of the Atlantis, causing significant Thermal Protection System (TPS) damage.

From the images the crew were allowed to transmit because of the classified nature of the mission, it was determined that the damage was no more severe than on previous missions.

Upon landing, however, over 700 TPS tiles were found to be damage, and one tile was completely missing.

Luckily, perhaps the only thing that prevented a burn through at the area of the missing TPS tile and the loss of Atlantis and her flight crew was the fact that the missing tile was located over a dense aluminum mounting – which provided some degree of protection during atmospheric reentry.

Thus, Atlantis became the most-damaged launch/entry vehicle to successfully return to Earth – a distinction she still holds.

After being repaired at the Kennedy Space Center, Atlantis went on to launch the Magellan interplanetary probe to Venus and the Galileo interplanetary probe to Jupiter in 1989.

She followed this success in 1990 with the STS-36 and STS-38 missions, both dedicated to the Department of Defense.

In 1991, she took up her role in the Great Observatories program with the launch of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory on STS-37, followed by the STS-43 and STS-44 (her eighth and last solely domestic flight) missions later that year.

STS-45 and STS-46 followed in 1992 before Atlantis underwent her first Orbiter Modification Down Period to modify her for her upcoming role in the Shuttle-MIR Program.

Returning to service in November 1994, Atlantis flew her final solo flight – a flight that did not dock to a space station or rendezvous with an orbiting telescope – for the Space Shuttle Program with the ATLAS-3 mission.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 of Atlantis’ History:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/shuttle-atlantis-mir-realization-program-goal/

Seven months later, Atlantis launched on the STS-71 mission to the Russian space station MIR.

With this flight, Atlantis conducted the 100th, crewed U.S. spaceflight, became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to dock with a space station, became the first of only two Space Shuttle orbiters to be photographed from close proximity in space while docked to a space station, and became the first and only Space Shuttle orbiter to be photographed in that scenario while undocking from a space station.

STS-71 marked the first of seven straight voyages to MIR for Atlantis: STS-71, STS-74, STS-76 (first U.S. EVA around two mated spacecraft), STS-79, STS-81, STS-84, and STS-86 (the first joint U.S.-Russian spacewalk of a Space Shuttle mission).

After STS-86, Atlantis was removed from service and sent back to California for another Orbiter Modification Down Period of upgrades, enhancements, and modifications to prepare her for her support of construction of the International Space Station.

After two and a half years of down time, Atlantis returned to service with the STS-101 mission to the International Space Station. During this mission, Atlantis became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to fly with the new glass cockpit.

During STS-101′s reentry, however, Atlantis narrowly escaped another dangerous issue with her Thermal Protection System when a damaged tile seam on her left wing allowed super-heated gas to enter her wing. Thankfully, the gas did not penetrate too deeply, and Atlantis made it safely to the runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

Atlantis spent the next two years delivering supplies, labs, and truss segments to the International Space Station on the STS-106, STS-98 (delivery of the U.S. Destiny lab and the 100th U.S. EVA), STS-104 (delivery of the Quest Airlock), STS-110 (delivery of the backbone of the Station’s truss structure), and STS-112 missions.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3 of Atlantis’ History:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/reaching-end-atlantis-fight-against-retirement/

As with 1985, STS-112 was sadly the final voyage of Atlantis before the loss of another of her sisters: Columbia and her crew on 1 February 2003.

With both Challenger and Columbia, Atlantis performed the second-to-last successful mission before both losses.

In the intervening two and a half years, Atlantis was upgraded with all Columbia safety enhancements and handed the all-important role as vehicle chosen to fly the Return To Flight mission – an honor she eventual lost to Discovery because of a landing gear issue.

In all, Atlantis was grounded for nearly four years because of Columbia, finally returning to space on STS-115 in September 2006 on a mission that officially resumed construction of the International Space Station following Columbia.

STS-117 followed in June 2007 and marked Atlantis’s longest voyage at 13days, 20hours, 12minutes, and 44seconds and the 250th crewed orbital launch in human spaceflight.

Atlantis followed this with STS-122 in February 2008 – a mission that saw her deliver the European Space Agency’s lab Columbus to the Station. STS-122 marked the first of three penultimate flights for Atlantis, as only her STS-125 mission was manifested to follow this mission at the time it was flown.

However, encountering delays because of the telescope itself, Atlantis did not launch on what was arguably her most important mission, STS-125 to the Hubble Space Telescope, until 11 May 2009.

For her one-and-only mission to Hubble, Atlantis and her crew of seven delivered two new instruments to the iconic telescope, replaced six gyroscopes and two battery unit modules on Hubble, and replaced the Fine Guidance Sensor on the telescope.

After 37hours of spacewalks, Hubble was restored to full operating condition, its orbit raised, and then released by Atlantis back into a solitary orbit.

With this flight of Atlantis, all four operational Shuttle orbiters during Hubble tenure conducted servicing missions to the telescope.

Upon completion of STS-125 to Hubble, Atlantis had two more missions to her name: STS-129 and STS-132.

STS-129 saw Atlantis deliver tens of thousands of pounds of external spares to the Station. It was, again, at the time of flight, her penultimate mission.

Six months later, after a record low number of issues during a processing flow for any Space Shuttle orbiter, Atlantis was on the pad for her then-final flight: STS-132 to deliver the Russian Mini-Research Module 1 to the ISS.

Liftoff of the first-last flight of Atlantis occurred on time on 14 May 2010. Upon landing 12 days later, it was unclear whether she would ever fly again.

In January 2011, STS-132 officially became the third and actual penultimate flight of Atlantis with NASA’s announcement of the official manifestation of STS-135 and the handing of that emotionally-charged final flight of the program to Atlantis.

On 8 July 2011, in front of an in-person, emotional crowd of over one million, Atlantis flexed her muscles, stretched her wings one final time, and ascended to the heavens.

It was STS-135 – the 166th crewed U.S. spaceflight, 135th and final Space Shuttle mission, 110th post-Challenger launch, 100th day-time launch of the Space Shuttle, 37th flight of the Space Shuttle dedicated to the International Space Station, 33rd and final flight of orbiter Atlantis, and the 22nd post-Columbia mission.

It was the end of an era.

Final reflections on a legend:

At the time of her delivery to the Kennedy Space Center in April 1985, few could have predicted that Shuttle orbiter Atlantis would be the vehicle to fly the Program’s historic final flight.

Over the course of her career, Atlantis became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to dock to an orbiting space station, going on to perform the most dockings to a space station (19 total) of any launch and entry space vehicle in history.

She obtained the distinction of being the vehicle called upon to launch more scientific laboratory modules for the ISS than any other station construction vehicle, launching Destiny for the United States (STS-96), Columbus for the European Space Agency (STS-122), and the Mini-Research Module 1 for Russia (STS-132).

And she was the final Space Shuttle orbiter to visit the two most iconic symbols of success thus far in humankind’s exploration of space: the Hubble Space Telescope (STS-125) and the International Space Station (STS-135)

In all, 25 of Atlantis’s 33 flights were dedicated to international pursuits, making her the most international orbiter in the Space Shuttle Program and the most international launch and entry space vehicle of all time.

For the official record, Atlantis (OV-104) flew 33 missions; spent 305days 7hours 47minutes in space; completed 4,848 orbits of Earth; travelled 125.9 million miles;  deployed 12 satellites; launched two interplanetary probes; conducted 19 space station dockings (a world-wide record she will keep for decades to come); carried 207 crewmembers to space; and was the only Space Shuttle orbiter to never suffer a post-engine start launch pad abort.

Put simply: her service is one that could not have been done without and one that has paved the way for unprecedented international cooperation both now and for the future of space exploration.

To many, she held the most meaningful name of all the Space Shuttles: ATLANTIS – a long-standing name of perseverance and longing.

Like the mythical city before her, Atlantis’s name symbolized our collective desire to push forward despite the nay-sayers and the unbelievers and reach for and believe in something that wasn’t always tangible but we knew in our hearts was there.

In this way, it is fitting that Atlantis was the final Shuttle orbiter to fly – taking with her our hopes, beliefs, and desires on one final Shuttle mission to expand our scientific discoveries and endeavours on the International Space Station and beyond.

To her workforce and to those who had the privilege to work close by her, she was a member of the family – a sister we constantly asked too much of, but a sister who gave more than we ever asked her to.

The final vehicle of the originally-planned orbiter fleet, Atlantis is now the final ship we say good-bye to, her flying days cut short for political purposes.

But despite the road that led us here, we will never forget the missions, the discoveries, and the ship named Atlantis.

To her and all who worked and flew aboard her, from all of us at NASASpaceflight.com, we say THANK YOU for an awe-inspiring journey.

To the good ship Atlantis – farewell and thank you for the memories.

Sincerely,
The NASASpaceflight.com team.

(Article images via L2 Historical’s huge collection of Hi Res (larger than desktop size, average 3mb each, many scanned and restored from hard copies) images, videos, MER reports, etc. For nearly every mission – over 500 gigabytes an growing just for the historical database. Some images also via NASA.gov and Larry Sullivan and Nate Moeller, MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com

Click here to Join L2 http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2 ).

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Atlantis Leaves Her OPF One Last Time:

Riding on top of the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS), Atlantis looked at a distance like she was getting ready for another launch; however, the Shuttle integration cells in the VAB are now being dismantled, much as the veteran spaceship’s systems were decommissioned over the past fifteen months.

Atlantis’ move also marks the completion of major Transition and Retirement (T&R) processing and the vehicle is now ready for her move down the road to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center on November 2.

A large crowd of KSC employees and their families gathered outside the VAB as Atlantis became the last orbiter to be backed out of OPF-2 after a passing rainshower moved through the area.

The OTS was parked on the tow-way in front of OPF Bay 3 for a few hours as a part of an employee event to give time for the gathered employees to walk around the orbiter, take pictures, and eat ice-cream provided for the event.

“It was a little bit somber this morning during the pre-test briefing – some folks got to give their thanks to the team and talk about what a great ship Atlantis was and is and all the great things the team did to make that happen,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said in a media question and answer session.

“For us I think the saving grace is that we know she’s close by, so although we’re giving her away from the LC-39 Complex Area, she’s just going to be right down the road.

“I think that’s making it easier for everyone to accept.”

The roll to the VAB was one of the last in a long series for Atlantis this year, as all around the spaceship facilities have been decommissioned and retired and her sisterships have said goodbye to the Space Center.

Atlantis flew the last Space Shuttle flight, STS-135, in July of last year, returning to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at Kennedy before sunrise on July 21. A few hours later, the orbiter was towed from the runway to OPF-2 to begin T&R processing.

Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

As it turned out, the vehicle stayed in OPF-2 longer than originally planned, with the vehicle being powered down for the final time on December 22. Then, in what would be familiar scene this year, Atlantis was towed into the VAB for temporary storage, first into the Transfer Aisle on January 20, then around to VAB High Bay 4 on Groundhog Day.

While in the VAB in February, work got started to remove most of the Main Propulsion System (MPS) plumbing out of Atlantis’ aft compartment – to be preserved for possible use on the Space Launch System in development by NASA.

On March 9th, Atlantis traded places with soon-departing sistership Discovery, moving into OPF-1, where the balance of the MPS component removal work was completed over the next three months. Then on June 29, Atlantis retired OPF-1 from orbiter processing when she was towed back to VAB High Bay 4, becoming the last Shuttle orbiter in OPF-1.

Next, on August 16, Atlantis said goodbye to her other departing sistership Endeavour, trading places and moving into OPF-2 one final time.

In the last few months in OPF-2, work to configure Atlantis for museum display was completed. The vehicle’s payload bay doors were opened and a mockup external airlock and Orbiter Docking System (ODS) were installed, along with simulated payload bay cameras.

The aft compartment exterior was closed out, with the remaining closeouts around the Replica Shuttle Main Engines being completed and nozzles being attached to the hollowed-out Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) pods. The External Tank doors were also removed in September; in an earlier Q&A session, Stilson explained that the way the Visitor Complex plans to display Atlantis meant the doors had to be removed:

“They wanted those to come off because…they’re mounting (Atlantis) through those connection points and so the doors were going to be in the way. If you think about it, they’re trying to convey (the orbiter) being on-orbit – well, the doors would be closed if it was on-orbit, so we took off the actual flight doors (and) they will build some kind of mockup door around the connection point to make it look closed.”

In the last few days, measurements of the orbiter’s weight and CG were taken, Atlantis was placed on top of the OTS, and her landing gear was retracted for the final time. Stilson said that Atlantis tipped the scales at just under 153,000 pounds prior to the roll. In comparison, the last few orbiters that rolled from the OPF to the VAB for stacking and flight weighed in at around 195,000 pounds.

Now, just as her departed sisters did earlier in the year, Atlantis will spend a few weeks time waiting in the VAB for her museum ride.

Atlantis’ move closes the books on Kennedy Space Center Shuttle orbiter processing, which began with the delivery of Orbiter Columbia by piggyback ferry flight on 24 March 1979. The next day, Columbia was towed from the SLF to OPF Bay 1.

Retired from orbiter processing with Atlantis’ move, OPF Bay 2 was first used with the delivery of Orbiter Challenger to KSC in July, 1982. Now that it stands empty, NASA and USA will begin decommissioning work on OPF-2 that couldn’t be done while it was occupied.

While the move officially ended the Shuttle Program’s work on the vehicle (Stilson said there was about a week’s worth of paper closeouts still to complete), it was just the penultimate one for Atlantis; in a little over two weeks, the OTS will take the retired spaceship on a long, circuitous path around KSC to get to the Visitor Complex.

Just outside the OPF area, the OTS will turning south on Kennedy Parkway, carrying Atlantis down towards the KSC Industrial Area and turning east on NASA Parkway.

The transporter will turn into the Industrial Area and eventually make it down to the southern part of the area, where it will turn back west and go across Kennedy Parkway into the parking lot at Exploration Park, where the transporter will stop for a few hours to display Atlantis for local dignitaries, invited guests, and media.

Finally, the Atlantis will be moved out onto Space Commerce Way, heading around to NASA Parkway for a turn back to the east and the Visitor Complex, circumnavigating a security gate.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2, L2 Historical, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com and Larry Sullivan MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com)

(To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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Moving Endeavour - Safely and securely navigating Los Angeles city streets:

For months, engineers from NASA, the California Science Center (CSC), and the city of Los Angeles have been making preparations for the difficult task of maneuvering Endeavour safely through the streets of LA.

Of primary concern is not only Endeavour’s safety as she is moved through the open city streets, but also in preserving her condition as an intact icon of space program history.

Unlike the move of her test-article sister Enterprise, which was damage in a collision with a bridge during her transportation to the Intrepid Air, Sea, and Space Museum in New York City, countless efforts have been taken in Los Angeles to ensure that NASA’s youngest orbiter arrives at her final destination in pristine condition.

For the last several months, engineers have meticulously measured and re-measured street corners, light posts, electrical and telephone wires, and tree heights to obtain accurate clearance data for Endeavour’s wings and tail along a well-planned route spanning 12-miles from Los Angeles International Airport to the CSC.

Riding atop a specially-built, multi-wheeled vehicle capable of turning each wheel in a different direction (relative to the other wheels) to help make the tight turns that leave as little as six (6) inches of clearance at her wings, nose, and aft, Endeavour traversed the South LA landscape over the weekend.

During the journey, Endeavour served as the backdrop for several public events before arriving at the California Science Center on Sunday, 14 October.

Once at the CSC, Endeavour will be towed into her temporary pavilion on the north-west side of the science center where she will be placed on public display.

By 2017, the CSC hopes to have a permanent structure built for Endeavour, one that will allow her to be displayed in full-up launch configuration: mated to a mock External Tank and Solid Rocket Booster set.

Click here for T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

But it is at the California Science Center that she will forever remain. She will be a testament to a great age of spaceflight, a testament to a program and a workforce that never succumbed to adversity or hardship, and, as we all desire, a symbol of hope and inspiration to a new generation that endeavors to continue the dream and legacy set forth by Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Space Shuttle Endeavour (OV-105) - The baby with a big history:

Space Shuttle Endeavour is a monument to Human ingenuity – to our ability to look past tragedy and see the potential in ourselves to seek, to strive, to yearn for more.

For 19 years, Endeavour served her nation and the world community with dignity. She conducted 25 missions of scientific curiosity and discovery, strengthened the bonds of friendship between nations, built an ever-lasting legacy to science and engineering in Earth orbit, and inspired countless millions with her graceful launches to and ballets with the International Space Station.

Born from a national tragedy, Space Shuttle Endeavour set numerous records during her maiden voyage of exploration on STS-49.

Endeavour’s grand entrance to the world of spaceflight marked the first and only time a Space Shuttle vehicle conducted her maiden voyage from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center – a fitting, full-circle tribute to her sister Challenger which inaugurated the use of Pad-B for the Shuttle Program on what was her ill-fated STS-51L mission: the mission from which Endeavour was born.

Endeavour’s launch from Pad-B on STS-49 marked the first of nine firsts/records she set during her maiden voyage.

Click here for the full review of her early missions:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/04/space-shuttle-endeavour-a-new-beginning-part-i/

Tasked with capturing, repairing, and then re-releasing the stranded Intelsat VI satellite, a total of three EVAs (spacewalks) were required to actually capture the satellite.

During the third of these three satellite-capture attempts, Endeavour set her second, third, fourth, and fifth firsts/records of her mission: the first mission to require multiple (three in this case) rendezvous with an orbital spacecraft; the first and to date only time an EVA was conducted involving three people; the first and to date only time a live rocket kit was attached to a satellite in space during an EVA; and the longest single EVA in history to that point – a record which stood for nine years.

With yet another spacewalk the day after Intelsat VI’s capture, Endeavour set her sixth and seventh records of her maiden voyage: the first time a single Space Shuttle mission featured four EVAs – a record at the time – and the longest cumulative EVA time for a single Space Shuttle mission at the time.

To cap off her multiple record-setting maiden voyage, Endeavour returned to Earth on 16 May 1992 to Edwards Air Force Base, CA where she set two more records: the first use of a drag chute upon landing and longest maiden voyage of a Space Shuttle orbiter in Shuttle Program history.

Endeavour went on to fly the STS-47, STS-54, and STS-57 missions before taking up her role on what can arguably be considered the first of her two most important missions: STS-61 – the mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope.

During the course of the 11-day marathon mission in December 1993, Endeavour’s crew performed 5 back-to-back space walks (a feat that has only since been equaled, never broken) to bring Hubble back to life and correct its vision.

The mission was a smashing success, and Hubble began beaming back its iconic, awe-inspiring, and crystal-clear images of the cosmos a few months later.

Throughout the rest of the mid-1990s, Endeavour conducted the STS-59, STS-68, STS-67 (her longest mission at 16days 15hrs 8mins 48secs), STS-69, STS-72, STS-77, and STS-89 missions, the latter of which being her one and only trip to the Russian MIR space station.

And thus the stage was set for the beginning of Endeavour’s greatest feat: the International Space Station.

Tasked with the honor of being the vehicle to begin construction of humanity’s permanent Low Earth Orbit settlement, Endeavour lifted off on 4 December 1998 on the STS-88 mission.

During the 12-day mission, Endeavour’s crew mated the Unity module to the Shuttle’s Orbiter Docking System (ODS), rendezvoused with and grappled the Zarya module, mated the two modules together, and conducted two spacewalks.

After completing all mission priorities, Endeavour undocked from the newly formed International Space Station – becoming the first vehicle to undock from the ISS even though she never technically docked to the Station on this mission.

Endeavour went on to deliver the ISS’s first set of power generating solar arrays on STS-97, a mission that saw her become the final launch and entry space vehicle to fly in the 20th Century.

Beyond this, Endeavour also holds the distinction of being the first American crewed spaceship to fly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (STS-108) as well as the last Space Shuttle orbiter to successfully complete a mission (STS-113) before the tragic in-flight breakup and loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and her STS-107 crew.

In the aftermath of Columbia, Endeavour was upgraded with the same safety modifications as her remaining two sisters, Discovery and Atlantis.

Launching for the first time after Columbia on STS-118, Space Shuttle Endeavour – Shuttle orbiter Challenger’s replacement – carried Barbara Morgan to space. Morgan had previously served as Christa McAuliffe’s backup to the ill-fated Challenger/STS-51L mission.  Thus, with Endeavour, NASA finally realized the goal of placing a teacher in space.

Click here to review her later missions:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/04/ov-105-endeavour-a-long-standing-dream-realized/

In the post-Columbia era, Endeavour became the first Space Shuttle orbiter to make use of the SSPTS (Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System) and the first Shuttle to use a functional, three-string GPS positioning system in a non-Detailed Test Objective scenario for real-time, in-flight use.

She set the record for longest-stay of a Space Shuttle orbiter at the International Space Station, became the only Shuttle orbiter to land on the shorter, narrower, temporary Runway 4 at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, and served as the potential rescue ship for her sister Atlantis’s STS-125 crew when they launched in May 2009 to the Hubble Space Telescope.

She further became the final Shuttle orbiter to suffer a weather-related launch delay in the 30 plus year history of the Program during her STS-130 launch campaign.

And then, the end:

Just like her maiden voyage, Endeavour’s final flight was a long, complex, and awe-inspiring flight. Launching into history on 16 May 2011 – exactly 19 years to the day after she landed to conclude her maiden voyage – Endeavour departed the Kennedy Space Center to deliver the final round of external spares as well as the premiere scientific experiment to ISS: the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer -02 (AMS-02).

STS-134/Endeavour was the 165th crewed U.S. spaceflight, the 134th Space Shuttle mission, the 109th post-Challenger flight, the 36th Shuttle flight to the ISS (Endeavour’s 12th), the 25th and final flight of Endeavour, the 21st post-Columbia flight, and the first and only Shuttle flight during which a Space Shuttle orbiter was photographed from space while docked to the International Space Station.

STS-134/Endeavour further marked the final spacewalk to be conducted by a Space Shuttle crew,  the final time an international astronaut flew on the Space Shuttle, and the use of the final External Tank to be delivered to the Kennedy Space Center from the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

It was also the final all-male crew of a Space Shuttle mission and the only all-male final flight crew of a Space Shuttle orbiter (Challenger and Columbia included); the final flight of a major European Space Agency payload element on the Space Shuttle; and the delivery of the final major payloads to the ISS by the Space Shuttle.

Click here for STS-134 Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/sts-134/

But more importantly, delivery of AMS-02, the spares on ELC-3 (Express Logistics Carrier 3), and the attachment of Endeavour’s Orbiter Boom Sensor System to the ISS marked U.S. Assembly Complete on the International Space Station – making Endeavour the vehicle that both began (STS-88) and finished (STS-134) construction of the ISS.

And just as her maiden voyage was the longest first flight of a Space Shuttle orbiter, so too was her final voyage the longest, final planned flight of a Space Shuttle orbiter.

On 1 June 2011, after 19 years 24 days 6 hours and 55 minutes of service, the British-named Endeavour eased to a stop on the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center.

Her voyages were complete.

Like her sailing ship namesake of the 18th century, the Space Shuttle Endeavour never faltered in her mission to expand our understanding of the scientific frontier.

From saving the Hubble Space Telescope, to broadening our knowledge of maneuverability in space, to her innumerable scientific studies and experiments, to the knowledge she gave us about the contours of our home planet, and to the International Space Station (which will be one of her longest-lasting legacies), Endeavour constantly took us to new and unprecedented territories.

Over 25 missions, Endeavour spent 299days 3hrs 19mins in space; completed 4,671 orbits of Earth; traveled 122.8 million miles; deployed 3 satellites; performed 12 space station dockings (11 to ISS and 1 to MIR); performed one space station module rendezvous and grapple; and safely carried 148 crewmembers to the shores of the final frontier.

She was, and will be for countless generations to come, a ship that inspires pride, awe, the quest for knowledge, and the determination to pick ourselves up and continue forward when adversity would rather us surrender.

Endeavour, in simplest terms, was our hope for a new tomorrow. an era when humans regularly explore the space beyond the confines of our home world and push our boundaries of scientific knowledge and our quest of exploration.

To paraphrase the words of Endeavour’s final Commander, spoken in the minutes before she took to the skies one last time, “We endeavor to build a better life than the generation before, and we endeavor to be” united nations. “It is in our DNA to reach for the stars and explore. We must not stop.”

To Space Shuttle Endeavour’s engineers, her technicians, her launch teams, and her mission controllers – to all of the NASA engineers, all of the astronauts, the entire NASA workforce (including those contractually employed by Pratt & Whitney, Boeing, ATK, Lockheed, USA), and all those whose names we never heard but nonetheless worked silently and many times without recognition in support of a vehicle you whole-heartedly believed in – we THANK YOU for your unparalleled service, integrity, and work ethic.

As Barbara Morgan remarked upon the completion of the STS-118/Endeavour mission, “there’s a great sense of pride to be able to be involved in a human endeavor that takes us all a little bit farther.”

No words better describe the Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour – the baby of NASA’s fleet.

What she has done will always be remembered and honored.

To the good ship Endeavour, we give you our heartfelt thanks and gratitude. It is the last time we write about you. But we will never forget your accomplishments, or above all, what you represent.

Sincerely,
The NASASpaceflight.com team.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2, L2 Historical and NASA. Lead image by @MGradyPIO)

(To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Shuttle orbiter fleet heading into their final months ahead of exhibitionWith Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday...
2. Capture the Flag: Endeavour leaves her mark during Texas stayDuring last week’s farewell tour, thousands of people turned out...
3. Endeavour rollaround moved forward to Thursday – FRR concludesThe unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from...

Endeavour Closing In On Final Resting Place:

The NASA/USA workforce spent the last several days following Endeavour’s arrival at LAX reconfiguring the veteran spaceship from her recent ferry flight to how she will be displayed at the California Science Center beginning on October 30.

“We’ve already transferred title to California Science Center…so we’re doing this work for them, they’re paying us to do this work,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said just before Endeavour left Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for Los Angeles.

Endeavour was delivered to Los Angeles on September 21, at the conclusion of the final cross-country Shuttle ferry.

NASA 905, the first of two 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), landed at LAX after leaving Edwards Air Force Base in California after sunrise and conducting the final set of flyovers of major cities and landmarks in Northern California and the greater Los Angeles area.

After touchdown and roll out at LAX, the 747 taxied to a nearby United Airlines hangar where a ceremony was held to commemorate the arrival of the youngest Shuttle orbiter and the start of final preparations to transport the veteran spaceship to her new home in downtown Los Angeles beginning on October 12.

The start of the ferry flight was delayed two days by a strong, pre-Autumnal cold front that swept through the Southeastern part of the United States, bringing heavy rain and turbulent air conditions all along the first part of the planned ferry route.

With the weather behind them, the ferry team, including the SCA flight crew on-board the 747 and the support team flying ahead of them on a NASA C-9 Pathfinder aircraft, embarked from KSC shortly after sunrise on September 19.

With Endeavour riding on top, the 747 circled the Cape Canaveral and KSC area several times, giving the Shuttle workforce, former Shuttle workers who were laid off after the program ended, local residents, and visiting spectators a chance to say goodbye to the Shuttle.

From Central Florida the ferry headed up and around the Gulf of Mexico, flying over some of the NASA and contractor facilities that supported the Shuttle Program during its 40 years of development and operations.

The first leg of the flight concluded with a flyover of the area around the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, before landing at nearby Ellington Field for the first overnight stop.

At Ellington, the past and present JSC workforce were given a final opportunity to come out and see Endeavour, much as they greeted the spaceship when she was brand new and headed to Florida for the first time in May, 1991.

Due to the two-day delay getting started, Endeavour and the SCA only stayed at Ellington for one night rather than the two originally planned.

At daybreak on September 20, the ferry group left Ellington Field and made the long trip across Texas before stopping to refuel at Biggs Army Air Base in El Paso.

From Biggs in West Texas, the ferry first made another low-altitude flyover of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and then later flew over Tucson, Arizona, before continuing on to the high desert of California and Edwards.

A NASA F/A-18 aircraft took off from Edwards to rendezvous with the ferry in the vicinity of the area and to take imagery as Endeavour and the 747 circled over Edwards and Dryden before landing on the familiar concrete Runway 22L, where dozens of Shuttle missions landed.

The ferry parked overnight at the adjoining Shuttle facilities at Dryden Flight Research Center, where the SCAs were based for most of their operational life, marking a final return for a Space Shuttle to Edwards and Dryden, where 54 Shuttle missions concluded during the 30 years of flight operations that ended last year.

As in Houston, Dryden and Edwards employees, military personnel, and families came out to see a Shuttle orbiter there one final time.

Endeavour’s first landing was at Edwards in May, 1992, to complete her maiden flight and also marking the debut of the orbiter drag chute.

Her most recent visit to Dryden and her last Shuttle landing at Edwards was at the conclusion of STS-126 in November, 2008, when she landed with Commander Chris Ferguson at the controls on Runway 04L, a shorter, asphalt runway that was in use while the main runway was undergoing maintenance.

That landing gave Ferguson (who subsequently commanded the final Shuttle flight, STS-135, last year) the record for the shortest runway a Shuttle landed on, at a length of 12,000 feet.

“I do remember vividly, you’re at a higher altitude at Edwards and so your speed over the ground is actually faster due to the high altitude, so you carry a lot more momentum into your landing,” he said in an interview before STS-135.

“That’s saying a lot for a vehicle that already lands at 205 knots. I just remember touching down and derotating, and my habit is as soon as the nose gear touches the ground…I look over and I see what the remaining runway marks are, so I know how urgent the braking has to be.

“Typically at KSC you’re looking at 10,000 feet and I remember watching the 5,000 foot marker go by before the nose had touched the ground and I thought ‘oh my goodness, we really need to stop!’ The Shuttle has got a great braking system, but at that moment in time I was back in the Ames VMS – Vertical Motion Simulator that we use. It’s a testament to your training: when in doubt, you always refer back to your training and it usually gets you through.”

Click here for additional T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

The last Shuttle landing at Edwards was made by Orbiter Discovery to complete the STS-128 mission in September, 2009.

The ferry flight team met at Dryden after the landing and decided to delay the departure on September 21 by one hour, to allow more time for the marine layer along the California coast to burn off prior to arrival in the area.

A little before 8 am Pacific, the 747 began taxing from Dryden up the Edwards flight line to Runway 04R.

In a scene familiar to other recent Edwards ferry takeoffs, the F/A-18 chase plane took off just before the 747, flew a fast racetrack pattern to come back around and line up parallel with the runway capturing pictures and video while flying alongside the Endeavour and the 747 as they began the take off roll.

The SCA took off from Edwards at 8:17 am Pacific.

After a short loop over Rosamond to the west and back over Edwards, the ferry flew over the nearby Palmdale Airport and the adjacent Air Force Plant 42 facility where Endeavour and all the Shuttle orbiter vehicles were assembled, while the Pathfinder aircraft took off to join the group.

After saluting her Antelope Valley birthplace, the SCA took Endeavour north to Sacramento, circling the state capitol before continuing on to the Bay Area, where the ferry flew over landmarks in the Oakland/East Bay and San Francisco area, including a low flyover of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

From there, the ferry turned towards the South Bay, flying over Moffett Field and Ames Research Center, and then back out along the coast to the Monterey area before continuing back to Southern California.

On the way, the SCA carried Endeavour over Vandenberg Air Force Base, site of West Coast Shuttle facilities for launch, landing, and ground processing that were cancelled and abandoned in the late 1980s prior to completion.

With two jets flying chase alongside, the Shuttle-747 combination flew over several landmarks in the greater Los Angeles area, buzzing the southern LAX runways at around 200 feet altitude twice before entering the landing pattern and touching down on Runway 25R at 12:51 pm Pacific time.

Wasting little time following welcoming ceremonies, the NASA and USA team went to work to remove the orbiter from the back of the SCA the night of the landing.

Originally there was some consideration given to performing the operation during daylight hours, but before the ferry Stilson said that during site preparation at LAX, the decision was to do the demate overnight.

“We’re right next to an active runway and it was very loud…so we pulled the trigger and moved operations to third shift; it will be much quieter, we’ve done it at night, [and] we know for sure the winds will be better.”

As with Enterprise earlier in the year in New York, Endeavour was not lowered to the ground on her landing gear; instead, the cranes moved the orbiter directly from the 747 and placed her on the modified overland transporter that will carry the spaceship from LAX to her new home. The transporter was then moved inside the United Airlines hangar for the remainder of the museum configuration work.

Inside the hangar, the team lowered the body flap to allow for removal of the ferry tailcone from Endeavour. They also repositioned the Replica Shuttle Main Engines, closed the vent doors, and raised the body flap again. Engine nozzles were attached to the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods, the crew compartment was reconfigured, and covers were placed over Endeavour’s windows to protect them during the move to the museum.

While that work was going on, NASA 905 made the final SCA flight, returning to Edwards and retirement at Dryden with a short, half-hour flight on the morning of September 24.

The aircraft will join the other SCA, NASA 911, as a parts donor for NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) research aircraft, whose flight operations are based out of Dryden.

While NASA 911 was retired to a nearby Palmdale hangar in February, current plans call for NASA 905 to remain at Dryden.

The upcoming transport will be a first for Endeavour, which never made the approximately 40-mile overland trip from Palmdale to Edwards; when the Vandenberg Shuttle plans were cancelled in the post-Challenger accident period, the Orbiter Lifting Frame there was scavenged for use at Palmdale Airport, eliminating the need to transport orbiters to the previously nearest mating device at Dryden.

Now the California Science Center plans to end Endeavour’s career with an overland trip to get the retired spaceship from LAX to her new retirement home.

Rather than the newly-urbanized and not yet highly populated streets of the Antelope Valley in the early 1980s, Endeavour must be towed through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States, where clearances with urban infrastructure and historical landmarks will be much tighter than earlier overland transports.

And rather than sitting on a flatbed truck, the frame of the overland transporter is now attached to a system of four self-propelled modular transporters that will allow Endeavour to be moved much more precisely.

Early on the morning of October 12, Endeavour will begin a slow, twelve-mile long, two-day trip from the airport to the science center in Exposition Park.

“(With) regards to setting the path they’re going to take and all the things that have to happen in the community, they’ve had a lot of good support and help from the local communities in doing that, and that was a great task, a great undertaking because there are so many people involved, communities involved, and different parts of the government involved.” Stilson said.

“I think they’ve got everything laid out and I’m looking forward to seeing it move on the 12th.”

Ceremonies are planned along the way, with Endeavour’s arrival at her new home planned in the evening on October 13.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and NASASpaceFlight.com, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com, L2 Member “WheelsStop” for the in-air photos, L2 Historical and Nate Moeller, MaxQ Entertainment, NASASpaceflight.com. Additional via NASA and NASA TV)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Capture the Flag: Endeavour leaves her mark during Texas stayDuring last week’s farewell tour, thousands of people turned out...
2. Endeavour rollaround moved forward to Thursday – FRR concludesThe unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from...
3. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...

A Piece Of History:

Landing at Ellington Air Field in Texas, Moeller of MaxQ Entertainment – who work in association with NASASpaceFlight.com – was one of thousands who travelled to greet the baby of the fleet, as she proudly sat atop of the SCA.

Taxiing towards her overnight stop, the crew of the SCA opened the window and displayed the Texan flag, albeit upside down. For Moeller, that provided an opportunity to joke about the incident with one of the crew, who he had gotten to know over the internet. However, the response would prove to be no joke.

“I had the good fortune of connecting with a member of the crew, who, upon landing at Ellington with Endeavour, opened the hatch above the flight deck and proudly flew the Texas flag as the 747 and Endeavour taxied toward us,” said Moeller to NASASpaceFlight.com 

“Through an honest error, the flag had been mounted upside down, a sight at which we all had a good laugh, with my father even remarking ‘That’s a subtle protest – it wants to stay here and not go to L.A.’.  “I quickly texted my friend on board to let him know, to which he responded “That’s ur flag”.  Needless to say, I was stunned.”

Arriving pre-dawn the next morning, ahead of the SCA’s departure from Ellington, the crewmember who had responded kept his word and handed over the Texan flag – leaving Moeller speechless.

“The crewmember met me at the security gate and excitedly handed me the flag. I could think of nothing to say beyond extending my greatest thanks and wishing him a safe trip as the team continued to Los Angeles with their historic passenger, Endeavour,” added Moeller. “We said our goodbyes and he boarded the aircraft to prepare for departure.

“After snapping a couple of photos with the flag in hand, backdropped by the SCA/Endeavour duo, I proceeded to a nearby parking lot with a full view of the runway that would be used by the stack. I carefully hung the flag on the fence as a small salute and thank you to the crew, 747 and Endeavour as they lifted off right in front of us.

“Endeavour’s departure from Houston marked the conclusion of my shuttle-chasing adventure, which ended three years to the day after it began. Though I was sad to see her go, I’m thankful for the beautiful and thoughtful memento I have from the crew, as well as the story that will accompany it when visitors to my home ask about the Texas flag proudly displayed on my wall.”

The Texas public did not fail in showing their enthusiasm for Endeavour, turning out in large numbers. The response was so impressive, it reminded Moeller of the early days of Shuttle, something that has been repeated by numerous people throughout the farewell tour.

“The roads leading in and out of Ellington Field were jam-packed all day long, as Texans ventured in and out of the normally-quiet airport to be a part of this historic last journey of the SCA/orbiter stack,” he noted. 

“In a scene reminiscent of early shuttle launches and landings, grass fields and surrounding roadways were lined with cars, RVs and news vans. In all, some estimate that over 100,000 people came to see Endeavour throughout the day – a fitting send off if there ever was one!”

Although California also did themselves proud with the turnout to see Endeavour, it has been argued that Texas was unfairly overlooked when the decision was made as to where to place the orbiters for their retirement. Moeller, a proud Texan, understandably agrees with such comments, but wished California well in caring for the youngest orbiter in the fleet.

“There is a reason Houston bears the nickname “Space City”. The dedication of the people at Johnson Space Center is a large part of what made the thirty-year Space Shuttle Program possible. In that sense, I overwhelmingly believe that an orbiter should have landed here for good,” Moeller noted.

“That said, I do understand why it didn’t happen. A lack of proper funding and campaigning here in Houston drove the decision to not award an orbiter to Space City. But I’m thankful that we had the chance to give Endeavour a proper sendoff as she began the journey to her new home in Los Angeles, and I was thrilled by the welcome she received all over California.  It tells me that she’s in good hands and that’s what matters.”

Many people who attended the events, or simply caught a glimpse of the SCA/Endeavour duo, will all have their own stories about what the Shuttle means to them. For Moeller, it was an extra special moment, as the Endeavour completed his “set” of orbiters.

*Refer to the Live play-by-play Coverage Area with over 1,600 images of the tour – Click Here*

“Endeavour’s arrival brought an overwhelming sense of pride and joy for many reasons. She was the only bird I had not seen in person before, and now I can say I’ve seen all four orbiters (and the three spaceworthy birds in flight). 

“The occasion was made even more special by the fact that my father, who had never seen an orbiter at all, was on hand for the flybys and landing, as well as the eventual tour of the 747. My wife joined me later that day and was also able to see the shuttle for the first time. 

“Both were quite overwhelmed by the spectacle, and I dare say they have a new appreciation for what makes this business so special. Out of all the things to which I looked forward during the event, that is what I hoped for most. The departure, though somewhat sad, was still a proud and exciting moment. My final memory of an orbiter in motion is of Endeavour in flight. It is a fitting conclusion to an adventure that began exactly three years earlier.”

Another often-related note from those watching the orbiters head to their retirement homes was one of the future. Some people have the misconception the space program is all-but over. However, most – including Moeller – know there is more to come.

“Though the future programs lack the iconic image of the space shuttle, I look forward to seeing what comes of the ISS commercial crew initiatives as well as NASA’s plans for exploration beyond Earth orbit. I wish them all success and look forward to being a part of the next chapter of our space-borne endeavors. 

“Most importantly – I cherish the amazing stories of the shuttle fleet and my own personal encounters with them all. To Discovery, Atlantis, Enterprise and Endeavour – Thank you, and farewell.”

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via Nate Moeller – MaxQ Entertaiment/NASASpaceFlight.com and NASA)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Endeavour rollaround moved forward to Thursday – FRR concludesThe unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from...
2. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...
3. Shuttle orbiter fleet heading into their final months ahead of exhibitionWith Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday...

Endeavour’s Farewell:

The final leg saw the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) take the long taxi out of Dryden Flight Research Center, before taking off on what would become the last ever time an orbiter would be seen in the air.

Saluting Dryden and the Edwards Air Force Base, SCA Captain Jeff Moultrie continued to show his impressive piloting skills, looping over the expansive backdrop of military buildings and wind farms, before heading out into the distance over the mountains.

While the orbiter’s farewell to the facility – a place that had a proud history in hosting numerous shuttle landings – was an impressive sight, nothing could prepare those following for what was to come, as the SCA powered towards the Bay Area.

With NASA TV unable to cover the vast array of flyover locations, local TV stations picked up the baton, following Endeavour’s path over key cities and landmarks, providing amazing footage of the unique sight of a space shuttle orbiter piggybacking on a 747 for low altitude passes of Californian cities.

Although it has been often-argued Houston – the home of Mission Control – deserved to be the retirement location for one of the retired orbiters, California stepped up to the plate on Friday, with thousands of people lining office block roofs, school yards and park areas.

And while there was always the “fear” a political official would be quick to draw attention away from the sadness of shuttle retirement, in order to focus on the future, random members of the Californian public managed to find the correct balance, ranging from first-time shuttle viewers proclaiming how beautiful Endeavour looked, to others – notably children – saying the sight was inspiring and that they now wanted to become an astronaut.

*Refer to the Live play-by-play Coverage Area with over 1,600 images of the tour – Click Here*

The word “bitter-sweet” was somewhat overused by TV commentators during their coverage. However, the tone of the event became one of celebration, not just of Endeavour, but of the entire space program, and even the United States – as a spontaneous “U-S-A” chant broke out from the crowd during Endeavour’s ride into San Francisco.

The City by the Bay provided what was always expected to be a special backdrop, and it didn’t disappoint, as the SCA carried Endeavour on two passes of the Golden Gate bridge, accompanied by the sound of a roaring crowd and a near-overload on twitter as people rushed to post photos of the iconic sight.

A salute to NASA Ames and NASA JPL followed, notably responded to with photos of the SpaceX workforce standing on the roof and in the car lot of their Hawthorne facility, looking up in awe at the vehicle they are tasked with playing a role in partially replacing, at least from the standpoint of keeping the International Space Station operational.

Click here for additional T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

By now, Endeavour was in Los Angeles, the city’s latest famous resident as one newscaster put it.

However, before landing, the SCA provided Endeavour with a bird’s eye tour of her new home, riding over the skyscrapers in downtown, over the famous Hollywood sign, above the Queen Mary and again over school yards packed with screaming youngsters who were probably seeing an orbiter in the air for the first – and last – time.

Then came the time for the SCA to bring Endeavour back to terra firma, where she will spend the remainder of her days, as the duo landed in front of a vast amount of media at LAX.

Taxiing off the runway, and with an American flag waved from the flight deck of the SCA, the duo came to a stop in front of a large crowd of guests, next to the assortment of cranes that will lift the orbiter on to the tarmac.

A large amount of work was required to evaluate how to help her egress the modified 747, initially providing a template for Discovery’s removal from the SCA at Dulles Airport, ahead of her retirement trip to the Smithsonian, and followed up by New York’s receipt of Enterprise.

This planning was conducted under the guidance of the Management Integration & Planning T&R (Transition and Retirement) Readiness Reviews, which utilized on-site procedures with all the museums set to receive an orbiter. Simulations were also conducted at the SLF last year.

“The fly away kit is a wind restraint system for use with portable cranes and the 743 sling when demating the Orbiter from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at a location that does not have a Mate Demate Device (MDD),” added the T&R notes ahead of the Ferry trips (L2).

“This is the setup that will be used when the Orbiters are ferried for delivery to the museum locations. No flight hardware, SCA, or mockups were involved in this test. The Fly away kit demonstration was completed with two successful lift cycles.”

The process is elaborate, as shown in a Transition and Retirement presentation (acquired by L2 LINK), with cranes already staged next to the United Airlines hanger by the time the SCA and Endeavour landed at LAX.

Once removed from the SCA, Endeavour will take up residence in the United hanger, prior to being lifted on to a large flatbed truck for the road journey to the California Science Center (CSC).

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via CBS 2, CBS 5, ABC 7, L2 and NASA)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Endeavour rollaround moved forward to Thursday – FRR concludesThe unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from...
2. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...
3. Shuttle orbiter fleet heading into their final months ahead of exhibitionWith Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday...

Endeavour’s Farewell Tour:

Although departure was delayed by two days – due to poor weather – the end of Endeavour’s career at KSC was always coming, as she awaited departure atop of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) since the duo were mated over the weekend.

Departing at 7:22am, the flight path took Endeavour to the northwest, across the Florida panhandle and toward Houston after low-level passes over the Stennis Space Center in southwest Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), to the east of New Orleans.

Arriving in the Houston area at approximately 9 am CDT, the SCA crew initiated a series of 1,500 foot flyover of various areas of the city, including downtown Houston, before heading to the Clear Lake area – home of the Johnson Space Center (JSC).

The SCA and Endeavour landed at Ellington Field at about 10:45 am CDT, where the duo remained for one night, rather than the pre-planned two. A huge crowd was on hand to see the orbiter.

The SCA/Endeavour departed at dawn on Thursday and make a fueling stop at Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso before proceeding to Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

On Friday they will depart Dryden for a flyover of northern California and areas of the Los Angeles basin before landing at LAX between 11 am and noon PDT.

There preparations will be made for Endeavour’s move to the California Science Center in October.

*Refer to the Live Coverage Area for up-to-the-second updates – Click Here*

Endeavour Leaves With Honor:

OV-105 had big shoes to fill, as she replaced the fallen sister she never got to meet, Challenger.

Born out of the structural spares created during the construction flows for Discovery and Atlantis, and bearing the name of Captain James Cook’s British exploration ship, Endeavour was transported into KSC by the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in 1991.

Joining the rest of the fleet, Endeavour made her mission debut on May 7, 1992 – launching on the STS-49 mission from Pad 39B. It would be the first of 25 missions carried out by the the orbiter, successfully launching and returning 148 crewmembers, who enjoyed nearly 300 days and 4,671 orbits in space under the protection of their good ship.

Although 122 million miles on the clock may sound like Endeavour has enjoyed a full career as a spaceship, the orbiter was designed – and absolutely could have flown – for many more missions.

Her departure, farewell tour across the United States, and arrival in California will be rightly treated as a celebration, at least in the context of the vehicle’s achievements, along with the inspiration her presence will undoubtedly provide to her visitors at the California Science Center.

However, retired spaceships do little to change the misconception the general public have about NASA at present – as recently noted at a political hearing, where concerns were raised that a large section of Americans are of the opinion the space program ended with the fleet’s retirement, despite the obviousness of the International Space Station (ISS), along with recent success of flagship missions, such as Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).

The bottom line – it was suggested – is that the majority of the public view the launching of American astronauts on the Space Shuttle will forever be the icon of NASA for years to come, simply due to the fact that is what they have seen the Agency do for the past 30 years.

Sadly, the reality is the most powerful nation on Earth no longer holds that capability, for at least another three years – and even then it will not be on the iconic Space Shuttle, but more likely on small capsules, riding atop of commercial rockets.

The Efforts To Save Endeavour From Early Retirement:

Less publicized was the effort to extend the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) past STS-135 – itself an “extra” mission to help stockpile the ISS during the transition to Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions.

Multiple high level attempts were made to keep the orbiters flying over recent years, starting with the late Sally Ride’s effort at the Augustine Commission into the future of Human Space Flight – which took into consideration options for an extension to 2015, in tandem with the development of a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV). (L2 Link to documentation).

While the main Shuttle contractor – the United Space Alliance (USA) – also produced proposals, first via the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) drive, before then calling for a study to finalize the architecture for a Commercial Shuttle Transportation Service (CSTS) – (L2 Link).

The problem with the proposals was not technical, despite efforts from some bodies to claim safety concerns. The issue was – as always – was mainly related to funding, with NASA’s budget simply unable to bridge the gap between the end of Shuttle and the development of both the commercial crew development, along with the money required to build the exploration architecture involving the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion.

However, behind the scenes and held under embargo, a secret effort to keep Endeavour and Atlantis flying was worked, involving billions of dollars of private investment being pumped back into shuttle operations, saving the two orbiters for a return to flight operations no earlier than the end of 2014.

The plan – most of which remained private – would have resolved the problem of NASA funding constraints, worked around the issue of shuttle contractors being shut down over previous years and extended the role of Shuttle through the decade, in a staged return to flight involving one flight at the end of 2014, then two in 2015, three in 2016, and four a year beginning in 2017.

Details of the plan – and some of those involved with the effort – were revealed by NASASpaceFlight.com in December of 2011. However, the plan was only released for publication after the key meetings with NASA, meetings that ultimately ended the effort.

While the team was aware of the programmatic, technical and operational issues which required resolution before returning the orbiters to flight operations, the plan was to initially request NASA issued a “stop order” on further T&R work for Atlantis and Endeavour, allowing for a several month period to finalize solutions to all known challenges relating to restart.

Via the discussions with NASA, the main problem did not prove to be the technical ability to return the two orbiters to flight, nor the often-used dark cloud of crew safety.

The roadblock in the plan was the transition – or repurposing – of KSC to being able to host SLS, despite the Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) being classed as a system friendly to Shuttle extension at the Augustine Commission.

The team’s final communication confirmed the end of their effort, noting they were refocusing on evaluations into a next-generation, Shuttle-capable vehicle.

Follow on resources:
Public Forum Reaction To Restart Plan Thread.
L2 Q&A with team members on the Shuttle Restart Effort.
L2 Q&A and Updates on the Next Gen Vehicle Effort.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and NASASpaceFlight.com, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com. Additional via NASA and NASA TV)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Shuttle orbiter fleet heading into their final months ahead of exhibitionWith Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday...
2. Endeavour rollaround moved forward to Thursday – FRR concludesThe unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from...
3. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...

Endeavour Farewell Preparations:

NASA 905, the remaining operational Boeing 747 SCA, returned to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) on September 11 as work ramps up for the final cross-country ferry flight, which has been delayed to Tuesday, due to poor weather forecasts.

The SCA touched down on Runway 15 at the SLF late Tuesday afternoon after leaving Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base Flight in California earlier in the day.

As in April when they delivered orbiter Discovery to her Washington, D.C. retirement home, the 747 flight crew taxied the jumbo jet to the south end of the landing field where the Mate Demate Device (MDD) is located and parked for final preparations to get it ready for Endeavour to be mated to the aircraft over the weekend.

The area around NASA 905 wasn’t quite as busy as in April, since the aircraft remained largely in its orbiter ferry configuration; there’s still a few things left to do, though.

“We’ve got some work to do besides…refueling,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said during a question and answer session with the media in August.

“We’ll go up and we’ll inspect the attach points – right now there are some ferry struts that are on those attach points that you only use when you don’t have a vehicle on top. We’ll take those supportive struts off and inspect the forward and the aft attach points.”

Meanwhile, Endeavour was waiting in High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for her call to get ready to say goodbye to KSC. The retired spaceship had been on display in the VAB since vehicle processing was completed in mid-August.

Click here for additional T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

The final stay in the VAB is one element providing a symbolic bookend to Endeavour’s original homecoming to KSC in May, 1991.

Now, as Endeavour is transported to her place of retirement, the plan is for the spaceship to retrace many of the steps of that original trip, with the mated Shuttle-747 combo stopping in most of the same places as that original, “delivery ferry” twenty-one years ago.

Before that happens though, Endeavour is retracing her original moves after first arrival at KSC.

Endeavour was originally delivered to KSC on the back of the other Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 911.

Recently retired, NASA 911 entered Shuttle ferry service with Endeavour’s flight from the Rockwell International final assembly plant in Palmdale, California.

The duo arrived at the Shuttle Landing Facility on May 7, 1991, landing on Runway 15 less than 24 hours after Orbiter Discovery landed on the same runway to complete the STS-39 mission.

Endeavour’s arrival brought the brought the Shuttle fleet back to four orbiters, but there were no vacancies in the OPF.

Discovery was being deserviced in OPF-1 to be turned around for STS-48.

Meanwhile, Atlantis was getting ready for STS-43 in OPF-2, and OPF-3 was still a few months away from completing its transformation from the Orbiter Maintenance and Refurbishment Facility to a full OPF bay with repurposed equipment from the freshly abandoned Shuttle facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Meanwhile, Columbia was stacked out on Launch Pad 39B in the middle pad processing for the STS-40 mission.

This was a typical occurrence during this period of the Shuttle program, and Endeavour was first towed from the MDD to the VAB Transfer Aisle early on the morning of May 8, 1991, and then rolled around to VAB High Bay 2 on May 10.

There  she stayed for over two months while ferry flight hardware was removed, receiving inspections were performed, and some initial processing work was done.

With her first flight still several months away and the other three vehicles flying a busy flight manifest, Endeavour didn’t get the next shot at an OPF vacancy.

When Atlantis rolled over to the VAB for STS-43 on June 19th, OPF-2 stayed vacant for a few days until Columbia was ferried back to KSC from Edwards Air Force Base after STS-40.

It wasn’t until Discovery’s STS-48 OPF flow was complete that Endeavour was first transferred to the OPF.

Stacking and closeouts of the External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters for STS-48 weren’t yet complete, so somewhat unusually, Discovery was backed out of OPF-1 on the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS) like a typical rollover; however, instead of immediately rolling into the Transfer Aisle for stacking, Discovery and Endeavour traded places, with Discovery parking in VAB High Bay 2 on the OTS for a week until her boosters and tank were ready for orbiter mate.

Unlike recent swaps, the moves were made very late on July 25, 1991, with Endeavour rolling past Discovery and on into OPF Bay 1 at 11:40 pm, and then Discovery rolling into VAB High Bay 2 at 11:55 pm.

Just as Discovery was on hand to welcome Endeavour to the OPF twenty-one years ago, another one of her sisterships marked OV-105′s OPF farewell on August 16; Atlantis was parked in about the same spot on the tow-way in between OPF-3 and the VAB when Endeavour rolled by to be parked for most of her final month at KSC, as she was backed out of VAB High Bay 4 and towed to the SLF. There, she will be precisely lined up in the MDD and attached to the device’s lifting sling.

Next, the sling will lift Endeavour a few feet off the ground so her landing gear can be retracted – as Ms. Stilson noted, for perhaps the final time: “…once we suck up the gear at the Mate Demate Device, California Science Center does not have any intention of ever lowering the gear. Their final display is planned to be in the vertical, so they would not deploy the gear.”

Then Endeavour will be lifted up between the 40-foot and 60-foot levels of the MDD and the SCA will be towed in for the two to be mated. The mated duo will be pushed back out of the MDD on Sunday to get ready for departure from Kennedy near sunrise on Tuesday, September 18.

The two craft will both be wrapping up their flying careers together; after the SCA drops off Endeavour at LAX, it will make the short return trip back to Edwards Air Force Base, which will be the 747′s last flight.

“I’m not sure when it’s going to hit me the hardest: when we get to L.A. or when we take it back to Edwards and park it and say ‘that’s it, thirty-something years of flying and it’s done’,” Henry Taylor, SCA crew flight engineer said.

However, first will be the three day tour, opening with the flight making a couple of loops around the Cape Canaveral area to say goodbye, the flight crew will take Endeavour and the SCA around the Gulf Coast to Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in Texas.

After spending two nights at Ellington, the ferry will refuel at Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso, before heading to Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The planned flight path retraces in reverse much of that Eastbound delivery ferry in 1991, when Endeavour and NASA 911 stopped at Biggs and Ellington (with a stop in San Antonio in between) before reaching Kennedy.

This time, Endeavour and NASA 905 will stop at nearby Edwards on September 20 rather than Palmdale and they’ll still have one more stop to go: flying from Edwards to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on September 21.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and NASASpaceFlight.com, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com. Additional via NASA)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Endeavour rollaround moved forward to Thursday – FRR concludesThe unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from...
2. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...
3. Shuttle orbiter fleet heading into their final months ahead of exhibitionWith Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday...

SCA/Endeavour Tour:

The iconic 747 arrived at the spaceport after its journey from the Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) in California, swooping in on the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) just after 5pm local time.

NASA 905 is the only SCA in service, after NASA 911 made its final flight February 8, 2012. The latter’s final mission was a short flight lasting only about 20 minutes to the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility adjacent to Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.

The 747 four-engine intercontinental-range, swept-wing “jumbo jets” first flew in 1969, before entering commercial service in 1970, prior to being purchased by NASA to ferry orbiters cross-country.

The SCA sports three struts with associated interior structural strengthening protruding from the top of the fuselage (two aft, one forward) on which the orbiter is attached. They also have two additional vertical stabilizers, one on each end of the standard horizontal stabilizer, to enhance directional stability.

After NASA 905 completes its role with the orbiters – which will be marked by Endeavour’s trip to California – both SCAs will support NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP aircraft.

Parked near the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), the SCA will wait for Endeavour to be rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) – where she has been staying since departing Orbiter Processing Facility -2 (OPF-2) in mid-August – and towed to the SLF.

This event, scheduled for Friday, will involve preparations to attach Endeavour to the MDD, rising her off the ground, in order to allow the SCA to carefully roll beneath the lofted orbiter. Lowered on to the back of the SCA, mating operations will be carried out over the weekend, ahead of Monday’s final departure.

Due to security and variations in the weather over the flight path, the actual farewell tour destinations and timings may be subject to change. However, plan is for an ambitious and respectful farewell to the large team – based around the country – that helped Endeavour fly into the heavens.

The tour will be spread over three days, beginning at sunrise on Monday, as the SCA and Endeavour will depart the SLF and perform a flyover of various areas of the Space Coast, including the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base.

Click here for additional T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

This opening leg of the farewell to her home base will be similar to Discovery’s trip north on the SCA, when large crowds gathered to wave goodbye to the flagship.

The SCA will head west and conduct low flyovers of NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi – a key center for the testing of the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) that lofted Endeavour uphill during her 25 missions. Stennis has already transitioned to the future, highlighted by J-2X engine testing for the Space Launch System (SLS).

Next up on Endeavour’s list is the famous Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, home of the External Tanks that rode with her for the opening nine minutes of her missions. The facility lost most of its workforce after the retirement of the fleet, though some work is continuing with the Orion and SLS programs.

As the duo arrives over the Texas Gulf Coast area, the SCA will perform low flyovers above various areas of Houston, Clear Lake and Galveston before landing at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center – home of the Mission Control Center (MCC) that watched over the orbiters during their missions.

Weather permitting, the SCA and Endeavour will stay at the nearby Ellington Air Field for the remainder of September 17 and all day September 18, the same facility the duo flew over on the way back to Florida, following her landing in California to conclude STS-126.

At sunrise on Wednesday, September 19, the aircraft will depart Houston, make a refueling stop at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas, and conduct low-level flyovers of White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico, home to the only shuttle landing in the State – Columbia’s STS-3 return – and numerous orbiter hardware testing facilities, such as on the Reaction Control Systems (RCS).

From there, the duo will arrive at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, before landing around mid-day at Dryden.

On the morning of September 20, the SCA and Endeavour will take off from Dryden and perform a low-level flyover of northern California, passing near NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, along with taking in various landmarks in multiple cities, including San Francisco and Sacramento.

Endeavour and the SCA also will conduct a flyover of many Los Angeles sites before landing about 11 am local time at LAX.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and special photography provided by Larry Sullivan/MaxQ Entertainment, NASASpaceFlight.com, Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section covering all three orbiters – around 750 gbs in size. Additional via NASA and “BenWL“)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Shuttle orbiter fleet heading into their final months ahead of exhibitionWith Kennedy Space Center workers towing Orbiter Atlantis on Thursday...
2. Endeavour’s cross country ferry trip moved to at least WednesdayEngineers are continuing to prepare Endeavour for her trip back...

And now Endeavour has the left the building.  At the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), NASA and United Space Alliance (USA) workers backed Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour out of Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) for the last time on August 16th, ending over twenty years of processing work on the spaceship.

Shuttle Meeting:

The move also marks the conclusion of Transition and Retirement (T&R) processing for the youngest orbiter in the fleet. At the same time, Orbiter Atlantis was backed out of High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and in a familiar scene over the past year, the sisterships traded places. 

Before completing the swap, Endeavour and Atlantis were parked nose-to-nose in front of OPF Bay 3 for a few minutes, allowing a large crowd of space center workers a chance to soak in what is likely the last time two Shuttles will be out in public together.

“This is a very historical moment for us, to have these two vehicles together again,” Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, said during a question and answer session with the media.

Also known around KSC as Orbiter Vehicle-105 (OV-105), Endeavour was originally delivered to the Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 1991, and launched on the first of her twenty-five flights exactly one year later. Her last flight, STS-134, ended early on the morning of June 1 of last year. 

After standard down-mission processing and removal of major propulsion system elements, the orbiter was parked in the VAB from mid-August of last year until early February, while the remaining Shuttle workforce concentrated on the other two vehicles. 

Since February, all of Endeavour’s systems were decommissioned so that they are safe for museum display – fluids such as hypergolic propellant, ammonia, and freon, were drained and their systems were flushed.  Pyrotechnic systems that could have been used in an emergency were safed and removed.  The vehicle was powered down for the final time on May 11 and the payload bay doors were closed on June 19. 

Another significant area of work on the vehicle since she was rolled back into the OPF in February involved removing most of the Main Propulsion System (MPS) components from the aft compartment, including tanks, valves, propellant lines for possible future use by the Space Launch System (SLS) program. 

All of that SLS removal work is complete for both vehicles, Stilson noted during the move. 

Replica versions of Space Shuttle Main Engines – know as RSMEs – were installed on Endeavour in the middle of July, followed by installation of the dome-shaped eyelids and heat shields around the engines. Finally, the tailcone was attached on August 6th. 

In the meantime, other parts of the vehicle were being closed out for the upcoming ferry flight; the hatch to the orbiter’s crew module was closed for the final time at KSC on August 10th. The final major task was to weigh the orbiter early this week prior to rollover.

Click here for additional T&R Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/tr/

“It came out to be, with the tailcone, approximately 155 (155,000 pounds),” Stilson said. ”If you take off the (weight of the) tailcone it got down to 149, so we were all really surprised – that was much lighter than we expected. But that goes to show you – all the components that were removed, especially out of the aft – the big impact of that. This is the lightest vehicle so far – even lighter than Enterprise, by about 600 pounds I think.”

Atlantis had been in the VAB since June 29, after being the last Shuttle orbiter to occupy OPF Bay 1. With Atlantis now in OPF-2, the processing team will finish T&R work over the next two months. 

“The Visitor Center here at Kennedy wants to display (Atlantis) with the (payload bay) doors open, and therefore wanted it to look as if it were on STS-135, which had an airlock,” Stilson added. 

“They have contracted with a local company and are in the process of building a mockup airlock… we’ll install that in the Orbiter Processing Facility, we’ll also install some mockup cameras in the mid-body, we’ll finish reconfiguring the crew module, and (also finish) closing out (the areas) around the nozzles of the Replica Shuttle Main Engines.” 

The current plan when work on Atlantis is complete is for the vehicle to be placed on the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS) and moved back to the VAB in mid-October, where she’ll wait a few weeks for a drive on the OTS down the road to the Visitor Center complex.

Endeavour will spend her last month at KSC in the VAB, much as she spent her first when she was first delivered to KSC in 1991.  Back then, Endeavour’s delivery brought the Shuttle fleet back to four, and the orbiter spent her first two months in VAB High Bay 2 before a vacancy opened up in the OPF. 

Current plans call for Endeavour to stay in VAB High Bay 4 until September 14, when she will be towed out to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF).  The orbiter will be positioned in the Mate Demate Device (MDD), so that the lifting sling there can be attached.  Over the next day or so, Endeavour will be lifted up and placed on top of the NASA-905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. 

Weather permitting, the ferry will takeoff from the SLF on September 17, bound for the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); arrival at LAX is anticipated on September 20.

To read about the orbiters -  from birth, processing, every single mission, through to retirement, click here for the links:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25837.0

(Images: Via L2 and special photography provided by Philip Sloss/NASASpaceflight.com – many thousands of super hi-res image stock available on L2′s new Photo Section covering all three orbiters – around 750 gbs in size.)

(L2 and NSF are continuing to follow the orbiters through to their retirement. To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

Related posts:

1. Dual flow ballet for Endeavour and Atlantis – De-stack debatePreliminary milestone schedules have been created for the complex dual...
2. Endeavour rollaround moved forward to Thursday – FRR concludesThe unique transfer of Endeavour and the STS-126 stack from...
3. Atlantis to rollback to VAB on October 20 – Hubble troubleshooting latestAs NASA and the SSP (Space Shuttle Program) refine their...