HOWTO launch-prep the Space Shuttle

Posted by Cory Doctorow, April 3, 2008 1:38 AM | permalink

Here's a kick-ass gallery of a NASA refurb/prep procedure for the Space Shuttle. KOMPRESSOR LIKE BIG MACHINES. Link (Thanks, Spider!)

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Discussion

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#1 posted by strider_mt2k

, April 3, 2008 5:20 AM

Good luck with finding that clue as well.
(Who posts in the comments section of a completely unrelated post to beg others to do research for them, honestly?) Wacky ass internet.

Anyhoo,
I envy these folks for the work they get to do.

I mean how many folks get to drop prepped engines into a working spacecraft?

Awesome stuff.

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#2 posted by haaz

, April 3, 2008 5:21 AM

KOMPRESSOR TAKE YOUR O-RING
KOMPRESSOR TAKE YOUR FUEL
KOMPRESSOR NEED NO OXYGEN BECAUSE
KOMPRESSOR IS IN SPACE!

(yaaaaH!)

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#3 posted by Blackwell , April 3, 2008 5:28 AM

Steampunk strap-on?

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#4 posted by Cefeida , April 3, 2008 5:28 AM

And only six minutes in between the spam :P. Well done.

Those pictures are amazing. I'll never wonder if sci-fi movies overdesign their spacecraft again.

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#5 posted by doublethink , April 3, 2008 5:39 AM

That crawler is crazy awesome. And look at how shabby Discovery looks in that one shot of it hanging in the sling. It looks like tiles are falling off and the whole thing looks scorched.

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#6 posted by wdoud , April 3, 2008 5:39 AM

Kick-ass?!?! This term is way overused on BB. Writers should have more adjectives at their disposal.

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#7 posted by bcdm , April 3, 2008 5:43 AM

Of course, Kompressor prefers vitamins. But big machines will do in a pinch.

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#8 posted by Jeff , April 3, 2008 6:12 AM

Wdoud: That would be awesome! Awesome to the Max!

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#9 posted by PukeBazooka , April 3, 2008 6:20 AM

Space travel is super sweet.

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#10 posted by Gursky , April 3, 2008 7:24 AM

I love that these are on the BMW sport touring forums. Feels very nineties net.

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#11 posted by airshowfan

, April 3, 2008 7:44 AM

Apparently Florida does not have laws requiring the use of hands-free headsets for talking on your cell phone while driving multi-ton liquid-fuel rocket engines into manned spacecraft... (Look closely at picture above) ;]

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#12 posted by hellhead , April 3, 2008 7:48 AM

Really gives you a sense of perspective the picture of her loading those engines.

They look a lot smaller next to the bigger rockets. Enormous.

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#13 posted by magista , April 3, 2008 7:58 AM

I got this passed around in an e-mail some time in late 2007. It really is an inspiring look at the scale of things.

My only real quibble is that it's not the Vertical Assembly Building, it's the Vehicle Assembly Building. Where they are assembled vertically, though...

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#14 posted by Anonymous , April 3, 2008 8:19 AM

It should be noted that all of these images may also be found at http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/

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#15 posted by eain , April 3, 2008 8:21 AM

Anyone notice the warning on the OMS engine in this pic?

"DANGER
DO NOT ENTER
O2 DEFICIENT AREA"

Seems like someone at NASA has a sense of humor...

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#16 posted by Neon Tooth , April 3, 2008 8:28 AM

Hey Melba whaddya up to?

Ehhh, you know, same old work stuff.

Do you and Chuck want to come by for dinner tomorrow.

Sure, sounds good.

Alright, see ya then...

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#17 posted by Anonymous , April 3, 2008 8:34 AM

@#14:
No shortage of silly humor throughout NASA. See for example this strut here:
http://space.balettie.com/PersonalSpacePix.html

The other strut reads "Lefty loosy, righty tighty" or some such. And no I'm not kidding.

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#18 posted by unbelievable , April 3, 2008 8:36 AM

@strider_mt2k

The reason I posted here is because I whilst I love BoingBoing I find it impossible to ever find anything that's been posted here using the search engine. So I'm sorry if I offended you. I did apologise. Twice.

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#19 posted by sabik

, April 3, 2008 8:56 AM

@eain, I suspect that's not a sense of humour but a real warning...

NASA has had two deaths in 1981 when a group of workers entered an area that was O2-deficient (namely, it was being purged with pure nitrogen).

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#20 posted by Elysianartist , April 3, 2008 9:52 AM

Yeeessshhhh..... When the orbiter is hanging from the cable/crane thingie it looks like it could just drop at any second and shatter into lots and lots of little spaceshippy bits.

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#21 posted by Anonymous , April 3, 2008 10:23 AM

wonderful..our space program hinges on a chick
with a ponytail and jeans riding a rocket engine
into place---this is the sort of stuff they should have on the tv news--

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#22 posted by Anonymous , April 3, 2008 11:32 AM

Speaking of hidden text that may or may not be a joke - stenciled on the side of the yellow rocket-cone forklift thingy is the word "ROCKETDYKE"

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#23 posted by Nato Welch

, April 3, 2008 12:59 PM

What do you do in your 501's?

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#24 posted by Anonymous , April 3, 2008 2:01 PM

There was a Discovery channel type documentary that went into many of these processes from the time it lands to back on the launch pad (most programs only go over the flight time) -- i wish i could find it.

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#25 posted by highjumpman , April 3, 2008 2:17 PM

Awesome! I used to love them shuttles when I was a kid! They were also kinda new back then...

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#26 posted by maoinhibitor , April 3, 2008 7:04 PM

The picture of the woman fitting the shuttle engine looks like it was taken out of a Love and Rockets Mechanix story! What a cool job!

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#27 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

, April 4, 2008 9:01 AM

Unbelievable, I sympathize, but you really couldn't have been more off-topic, and it sets a bad precedent. Fb, V qvfrzibjryyrq vg -- n qnl yngre.

Click on the eyeball next to your comment and send me email describing your problems with the search function. That'll give me something I can forward to the tech guys.

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#28 posted by dagoon86 , April 4, 2008 2:46 PM

Wow, those pics are amazing. I should check if there are some pics about space shuttle building in other countries.

Also, a more compact collection of those pictures: http://www.mahshelf.com/book/188

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#29 posted by dculberson , April 4, 2008 8:55 PM

@Anon 22: That says "Rocketdyne," the company that makes the engines. While that is a great name, Rocketdyke is very cool for a completely different reason.