Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Space Shuttle Columbia on LC-39A. |
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| Launch Site | Kennedy Space Center |
| Location | 28.608397°N 80.604345°W |
| Short name | LC-39 |
| Operator | NASA |
| Total launches | 133 |
| Launch pads | 2 |
| Minimum/Maximum orbital inclination |
28° - 57° |
| LC-39A Launch History | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Launches | 76 |
| First launch | Apollo 4, 9 November 1967 |
| Last launch | STS-107, 16 January 2003 |
| Associated rockets | Saturn V Saturn INT-21 Space Shuttle (current) Ares V (future) |
| LC-39B Launch History | |
| Status | Active |
| Launches | 57 |
| First launch | Apollo 10, 18 May 1969 |
| Last launch | STS-115, 9 September 2006 |
| Associated rockets | Saturn V Saturn IB Space Shuttle (current) Ares I (future) |
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Launch Complex 39 is a large site and a collection of facilities at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA, originally built for Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations.
[edit] History
Prior to the construction of the complex, State Road A1A ran east of the complex. Along this rural ocean road was the Chester Shoals Coast Guard Station.
The initial design of the launch complex contained 5 pads that were evenly spaced 8700 feet apart to avoid damage in the event of a pad explosion. 3 were scheduled for construction (shown), 2 reserved for future use (1 shown). The numbering of the pads at the time was from north to south, with the northern most being LC39A, and the southern being LC39C. LC39A was never built, and LC39C became LC39A in 1963. With today's numbering, LC39C would be north of LC39B. LC39D (visible as an outline on the plan to the right) would have been due west of LC39C. LC39E (not shown) would due north of the mid-distance between LC39C and LC39D, with LC39E forming the top of a triangle, and equidistant from LC39C and LC39D. Today, the crawler way stub that would lead to these pads is located 1 mile west of LC39A, and 1.5 south of LC39B. TerraServer Image The accompanying map also shows the unbuilt Nuclear Assembly Building (NAB).
The pads were previously used for launches of the Saturn V rocket for the Project Apollo moon missions. The original structure of the pads were remodeled for the needs of the shuttle, first starting with LC39A after the last Saturn V launch, which carried Skylab, in 1973, and in 1977 for LC39B after the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. LC39 during the Apollo era were just launchpads - the umblical/service towers were attached to the launch platform--the only modification made was the so-called "milkstool" which allowed the Saturn IB rocket (for all manned Skylab missions, the unlaunched Skylab Rescue, and ASTP) to use the Saturn V launch tower. For the Shuttle, the pad has a fixed tower (leftover from the Apollo-Saturn era) and a rotating service platform, used to protect the Shuttle Orbiter and to install vertically-handled payloads into the payload bay.
The first use of LC39 came in 1967 with the first Saturn V launch, carrying the unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft. The second unmanned launch, Apollo 6, also used LC39A. With the exception of Apollo 10, which used LC39B (due to the "all-up" testing resulting in a 2-month turnaround period), all manned Apollo-Saturn V launches, commencing with Apollo 8, used LC39A. After the launch of Skylab in 1974, using the Saturn INT-21 rocket (a two-stage variation of the Saturn V rocket originally intended for the Apollo Applications Program, LC39A was reconfigured for the Space Shuttle and was used for the first Shuttle launch (STS-1, using the Columbia in 1981. After Apollo 10, LC39B was kept as a backup launch facility in the case of the destruction of LC39A, but saw service for all three Skylab missions, the ASTP flight, as well as unlaunched Skylab Rescue flight. After ASTP, LC39B underwent the same reconfiguration as LC39A, but due to necessary modifications (mainly to allow the facility to service a modified Centaur-G upper stage), along with budgetary restraints, it was not ready until 1986, and the first Shuttle launch to use it was the ill-fated STS 51-L flight – the Challenger Disaster (Interestingly, LC39A was the launch pad for the first (STS-1) and last mission (STS-107) of Columbia).
[edit] Space shuttle usage
In order for the shuttle to reach orbit, it must have enough thrust to leave the pull of gravity from the earth. The thrust is provided by a combination of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs). The SRBs are full of solid propellant, hence their name. The SSMEs use a combination of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) from the External Tank (ET), as the shuttle does not have fuel tanks for the SSMEs. Months before launch, the 3 main components of the "stack" are brought together in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). All of the components are placed on a Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP). The SRBs arrive in segments via rail car from their manufacturing facility in Utah, the ET arrives from its manufacturing facility in Louisiana by barge and the space shuttle waits in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). The SRBs are first stacked and then the ET is mounted between them. Then using a massive crane, the Shuttle is lowered and connected to the ET. When entire stack integration is complete it is moved by the Crawler-Transporter 3-4 miles to the pad over eight hours.
At the pad, the MLP is lowered onto several pedestals, and the Crawler-Transporter moves off the pad to a staging area a safe distance away. Each pad contains a two-piece access tower system, the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The FSS permits access to the shuttle via a retractable arm and a "beanie cap" to capture vented LOX from a filled ET. The RSS contains a clean room, offers access to the orbiter's payload bay, protection from the elements and can protect the shuttle in winds up to 60 knots. Also at each pad are large cryogenic tanks that store the fuel liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) fuel for the SSMEs. The highly explosive nature of these chemicals results in numerous safety measures at the Launch Complex. NASA has calculated that the minimum safe distance in the event of a fully fueled space shuttle stack is three miles for personnel, and 8700 feet between pads. To prevent massive damage to the shuttle and the boosters, 300,000 gallons of water are dumped onto the launch platform to buffer the sound during launch. Due to the immense heating of the water, a great amount of steam is produced during launch. Before tanking operations begin and all the way through lift off, non-essential personnel are cleared out of this hazard area. The Launch Control facilities and VAB are almost exactly three miles away.
In the case of emergency, the launch complex has an emergency elevator system for quick shuttle personnel evacuation. Leaving the shuttle, the crew proceeds to an emergency elevator which drops the crew to the ground at speeds up to 60 miles per hour (mph). This is a basket on a cable which drops at a steep angle away from the site. From there, the crew board, and drive, a modified M113 Armored Personnel Carrier to a triangular helicopter pad located a couple hundred feet from the platform and are flown away from the complex to safety. It should be noted that as NASA safety rules require all non-crew members to be well away from the pad; the crew must do all this for themselves.
[edit] Future usage
With the planned retirement of the Shuttle in 2010, NASA will modify the two launch pads to accommodate the manned Ares I (formerly the Crew Launch Vehicle – CLV) and the unmanned Ares V (formerly the Cargo Launch Vehicle – CaLV) in support of Project Constellation. Prior to the announcement that Ares would use LC-39, officials in Florida were concerned by the possibility that the Space Shuttle's successor project may not have launched from Kennedy Space Center.
[edit] LC-39B (Post-Shuttle)
With the need to keep a Shuttle launch schedule, along with the need to start testing of the new Ares I rocket, NASA will deactivate LC39B, which will occur in 2007, after the launch of STS-116. During this phase, the RSS will be removed and a Shuttle MLP will be used to launch a four-segment solid rocket first stage with a dummy second stage attached to the rocket - Ares I-1). During the conversion period, NASA will, in keeping with the simplicity called for by the ESAS report, construct two of three new lightweight MLPs that will support both the Ares I and a new launch umbilical tower similar in design to the Shuttle FSS, but will have two swing arms – one for crew access (with an attached "white room" on one end) and the other for the Orion's service module. By the time the entire Ares I stack is finished being tested (in 2012), with both the solid-fueled first stage and liquid-fueled second stage, LC39B will have all traces of Space Shuttle hardware removed, and LC39B will become a "clean" pad for the first time since 1977. Only the LH2, LOX, and water tanks will be the only structures left over from the Shuttle era, with new lightning masts (similar to those used on the Atlas V and Delta IV pads) being installed to divert lightning strikes away from the Ares I launch service tower. The pad would later undergo additional modifications to be used as a spare Ares V launch facility in the case of the destruction of nearby LC39A. NASA may delay deactivation of this launch pad so it may serve as the launch pad for a rescue shuttle if the Space Shuttle Discovery were to become damaged during STS-125, the final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
[edit] LC-39A (Post-Shuttle)
Just like the first 24 shuttle flights, this pad will support the final shuttle operations starting with STS-117 and will undergo deactivation once the Shuttle is retired. Like that of LC39B, LC39A will have both the FSS and RSS removed to render the "clean" pad approach as required by the ESAS, but LC39A will be used primarily as the launch pad for the Ares V rocket, and as such, will undergo additional modifications to accommodate extra LH2 and LOX storage at the site, along with the lightning masts similar to those used on LC39B. Because of the in-line design of the Ares V, two new dedicated MLPs will be constructed along with the launch umbilical tower. Due to the age of the current Crawler-Transporters by the time Ares V flights will commence, NASA will replace the current Crawler-Transporters and replace them with two new state-of-the-art models that would be able to handle the the full weight of the Ares V on its MLP, as well as the lighter weight Ares I assembly. Although it would be dedicated for Ares V launches, LC39A would be able to accommodate the Ares I in the case LC39B is damaged or destroyed in a launch accident.
[edit] Other changes
The VAB is currently undergoing modifications to accommodate the simultaneous assembly operations for both the Shuttle and for the Ares I. Eventually, the VAB will undergo further modifications to allow for the assembly of both an Ares I and Ares V when lunar missions commence after 2018.
A possibility of the building of a LC39C to accommodate extra Ares I or Ares V launch capacity has also been floated, mainly in support of future Mars expeditions. The building of LC-39C would also give NASA some insurance against the loss of either LC-39A and LC-39B and allow manned flights to continue at the same flight rate while a pad is being rebuilt.
Another possible change may occur not with LC-39 itself, but at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). A possibility is to convert the mothballed Launch Complex 34 (LC-34), or building a new Launch Complex-37A (LC-37A) into an Ares I launch facility. Last used for the Apollo 7 launch in October, 1968, LC-34 was the site of the fatal Apollo 1 fire, and if NASA was to use LC-34, it would have to construct a new memorial to the astronauts at a new location, as the concrete exhaust pedestal would have to be demolished and replaced. LC-37A, which was originally built as a Saturn IB pad, was never used, although the nearby LC-37B pad was used for Apollo 5 and is now the Delta IV launch facility. As such, if either LC-34 or LC-37A were to be used for Ares I operations, the Ares I components would have to be stacked in place (similar to the stacking procedure used at Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6)), as there is no separate assembly building located at the launch sites.
[edit] Gallery
 Launch Complex 39A |
 Launch Complex 39B with Discovery shuttle |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
- Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
| Merritt Island launch sites |
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| Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (all except LC-39) Kennedy Space Center (LC-39) |
| LC-1 | LC-2 | LC-3 | LC-4 | LC-5 | LC-6 | LC-9 | LC-10 | LC-11 | LC-12 | LC-13 | LC-14 | LC-15 | LC-16 | LC-17 | LC-18 | LC-19 | LC-20 | LC-21 | LC-22 | LC-25 | LC-26 | LC-29 | LC-30 | LC-31 | LC-32 | LC-34 | LC-36 | LC-37 | LC-39 | LC-40 | LC-41 | LC-43 | LC-45 | LC-46 | LC-47
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Main Articles: Space Shuttle program | Space Shuttle |
| Components: Orbiter | SRB | External Tank | SSME | OMS | Crawler Transporter | |
| Orbiters: Enterprise | Columbia | Challenger | Discovery | Atlantis | Endeavour | |
| Launch Sites: Kennedy Space Center LC-39 | Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-6 | |
| Developments: Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle | Shuttle-C | Ares I | Ares V | |
| Mockup Shuttles: Pathfinder | Explorer | America | |
| Misc: Missions | Decision | Crews | Abort modes | In Fiction | |
