Dear & I are onboard Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour now :

Here’s a Map of Kennedy Space Center Tour Destinations, & our first Stop shall be the Launch Complex 39 (or LC-39) Observation Gantry :

Once onboard the Bus Tour, the Driver introduces a little about Kennedy Space Center, & now we’re watching a Video on how the Crawler-Transporter works :

The Driver also tells us about places or Buildings that we see along our way, here below is NASA Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) – the largest 1-storey & 4th largest Building in the World by volumn, & the tallest Building in Florida till 1974 (& still the tallest Building in America outside a Urban area now) :

We’ve now arrived at Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour Stop 1 – Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) Observation Gantry :

We’re entering the Launch Complex 39 Theater for a short Video presentation now :

Here’s the Video on Launch Complex 39 which we’ve just seen - self-taken by ME – enjoy :

After watching the above Video, Dear & I enter the Exhibits Gallery next to the Launch Complex 39 Theater which features the following Space Shuttle Mate-Demate Model - a 1/144th scale Model of the Orbiter Columbia with the Boeing 747 Transport Aircraft, & the Mate-Demate Device, at NASA’s DryDen Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California :

The Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) is used to ferry Orbiters (or Space Shuttles) from Landing sites back to the Launch Complex at Kennedy Space Center, & to & from other Locations too distant for the Orbiters to be delivered by ground transport.

And the Mate-Demate Device is a large Gantry Steel Structure used to hoist the Orbiters off the ground during post-landing servicing operations, & during mating & demating operations with the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) :

This below pic shows the Orbiter riding piggyback on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) for transport, then landing on one of the longest runways in the world here at Kennedy Space Center :

When landing at a location other than Kennedy Sapce Center, the Mate-Demate Device is used to uncouple the Orbiter from the Shuttle Carrier Aircaft (SCA) back home at Kennedy Space Center :

Right in the center of the Launch Complex 39 Exhibits Gallery lies the following Model of a Space Transportation System (STS) & Crawler-Transporter :

Measuring 40m by 35m, the Crawler-Transporter weighs 2,400,000kg & has 8 tracks, 2 on each corner. Each track has 57 shoes, & each shoe weighs about 900kg. The Crawler uses a Laser Guidance System & a Leveling System to keep the Mobile Launcher Platform Level.

And a separate Laser Docking System provides pinpoint accuracy when the Crawler-Transporter & Mobule Launcher Platform are positioned in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad.

The Mobile Launcher Platform(or MLP) is a 2-storey Structure used by NASA, along with the Crawler-Transporter, to transport the Space Shuttle stack from the VAB to the Launch Pads at Kennedy Space Center.

A Space Transportation System (STS) consists of the rust-colord External Tanks (ETs), 2 white slender Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), & the Orbiter (or Space Shuttle).

The Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) contains the liquid hydrogen fuel & liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off & ascent, it supplies the fuel & oxidizer under pressure to the main 3 Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) in the Orbiter.

While on the Launch Pad, the 2 Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) carry the entire weight of the ETs & Orbiter & transmit the weight load through their Structure to the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP).

Each SRB weighs about 590,000kg at Launch, & the 2 SRBs provides about 60% of the total thrust needed for liftoff, to lift off the Space Shuttle at Launch Pad. The 2 SRBs are jettisoned 2 mins after Launch at a height of about 150,000ft, & then deploy parachutes & land in the ocean to be recovered, refurbished, reloaded with propellant, & reused for serveral missions – unlike the ETs which are non-reusable.

Dear & I soon watch a Video on how the STS & Crawler-Transporter work together to prepare for the Space Shuttle Launch but too bad I couldn’t capture the Video on time……..

Anyway, the following is a Model of NASA Vehical Assembly Building (VAB) :

Originally built to allow the vertical assembly of the Saturn V Rocket for the Apollo Program, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is now used for housing external fuel Tanks & Flight hardwares, & it’s the location of the Space Shuttle mating (stacking) with the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) & External Fuel Tanks (ETs) that make up the Space Transportation System or STS (or Space Shuttle).

Once assembled, the Space Transportation System (STS) is moved on the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) & Crawler-Transporter to Launch Complex 39.

Here’re descriptions of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) which is about the size of the Pentagon & the Chicago Merchandise Mart combined : 

Below are Space Shuttle Exhibits – America’s Space Shuttle is the only manned Flight vehicle in use by NASA today. Unique as it is, the Space Shuttle is the world’s first orbital Spacecraft designed for partial reusability. Every part of the Shuttle, except the large External Tanks (ETs), is serviced & reused after each Flight.

The Space Shuttle carries Payloads to low Earth orbit, provides crew rotation for the International Space Station (ISS), & performs servicing Missions. It can also recover Payloads (such as Satellites) from orbit & return them to Earth.  

Below are the Space Shuttle Payloads Exhibits -

Large enough to park a tour bus in, the Orbiter’s Cargo Bay is the main holding area for the Shuttle’s Payloads during Missions, at a capacity of 22,700kg. Payloads are packed either vertically or horizontally.

Vertical Payloads are generally Spacecraft to be deployed & left in Space – such as a Satellite, Planetary Probe, or the Hubble Space Telescope.

And Horizontal Payloads generally consists of Laboratories or Pallets containing Scientific Equipments, such as the Spacelab or Spacehab, in Space :

More Exhibits on the Crawler-Transporter which zips along at speeds of up to one mile per hour, & the journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to the Launch Pad can take all day (5 to 8 hours), & the device on the right at below pic shows the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor :

More interesting Exhibits on “How to Pack for a Trip to Outer Space” :

As the Launch date approaches, the Launch team & Flight crew conduct a terminal countdown demonstration test (like a Dress Rehearsal) which culiminates in a simulated Shuttle engine ignition :

The Space Shuttle System Exhibits :

Home to over 500 species of Birds, Mammals, Fish, Amphibians & Reptiles, as well as 25 endangered species, the Kennedy Space Center Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge offers a diversity of habitat from freshwater streams to brackish marshes – as shown below :

Kennedy Space Center Engineers & Scientists are working today with their colleagues to shape the future of our efforts to explore & develop the Space frontier. Through these efforts, Launch Complex 39 will become home to a new generation of Launch vehiciles, including those which will enable Human Exploration beyond Earth’s Orbit :

Dear & I are now walking out of the Launch Complex 39 Exhibitions Gallery to the outside Obseravtion Gantry :

Here it is the 60-foot tall steel-like Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) Observation Gantry :

And here’s a most interesting SPACE DOTS – Ice Cream of the Furture selling Space Ice Cream at the foot of the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry :

Dear & I have now climbed up to the topmost Level 4 of the Observation Gantry which provides a breathtaking 360-degree view of the Launch Complex 39 – a Rocket Launch Site at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida USA :

WOW WOW it’s so beautiful & windy up here with spectacular views – Dear & I just love it up here!!

Dear’s standing on Level 4 of the Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) Observation Gantry here :

There’re 2 giant Space Shuttle Launch Pads at the Launch Complex 39 – first of which is the East: Launch Complex 39-Pad A :

The following pics show Bird’s eye views of the East: Launch Complex 39-Pad A from where we’re standing at the Observation Gantry :

Descriptions of East: Launch Complex 39-Pad A :

Dear’s looking through the Telescope now………..& guess what he just spotted!?!??!

An Alligator hahah!!

Here’s the 2nd Space Shuttle Launch Pad – Northest: Launch Complex 39-Pad B (towards the left-side of Launch Complex 39-Pad A) behind Dear :

Close-up view of Northest: Launch Complex 39-Pad B :

Descriptions of Northest: Launch Complex 39-Pad B :

And here below are pics of Dear & Me standing still on Level 4 of the Launch Complex 29 Observation Gantry, beside Descriptions on the West: Launch Complex – Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) & Facilities :

The Launch Complex 39 Site & its collection of Facilities were originally built for the Apollo Program, & later modified to support Space Shuttle operations :

Launches from Launch Complex 39 are supervised from the Launch Control Center (LCC), located 3 miles from the Launch Complex Pads, as shown on the below pic.

Attached to the Southeast corner of the Vehicle Assemble Building (VAB), the 4-storey high Launch Control Center (LCC) handles all manned Spaceflights from kennedy Space Center. The LCC contains Offices; telemetry, tracking & instrumentation equipment such as the Launch Processing System, & 4 Firing Rooms, which are the heaquarters which monitor & control Shuttle Assembly, Checkout, & Launch operations.

Next, we see the massive Vehicle Assembly Buidling (VAB) at its 160m tall, 218.2m long & 157.9m wide, & covering 32,400 square metres & enclosing 3,665,000 cubic metres of space.

An indicator of the Building’s scale is that each of the Stars on the American Flag (at 63.7m high by 33.5m wide) painted on the Building is 1.83m across, the blue field is the size of a regular basketball court, & the stripes are as wide as a standard road lane :

Constructed specifically to support the approximately 18 million pound combined weight of the Crawler-Transporter, Mobile Launch Platform (MLP), & the Space Shuttle, the Crawlerway is as shown below lying between the above VAB & Facilities (located on the left-side), & the Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39-Pad A & Pad B located towards the right :

And well, one can actually take a Guided Tour of the Launch Facilities here at Kennedy Space Center as we read from our below Kennedy Space Center Information Guide -  too bad Dear & I have got no time for these luxuries :

Now, Dear & I are standing beside Descriptions of Launch Complex 39 – John F. Kennedy Space Center on Level 4 of the Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) Observation Gantry :

We’re now moving to Level 3 of the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry :

Self-portrait of very happy Dear & I – hahah we’re enjoying the beautiful views & best of all, the breezy Florida weather up here, so much so much heheh!!

Dear’s now looking through the Telescope again this time eyeing the East: Launch Complex 39-Pad A again :

We’re now going downstairs to Level 2 of the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry :

And here’s another self-portrait of joyful Dear & Me :

We’re now looking at a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) displayed on Level 2 :

This Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) flew on 3 different Orbiters over a period of 8 years, & retired after completing 15 manned Flights. First flown aboard Challenger’s maiden Flight in 1983, this SSME assisted in the successful launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Gamma Ray Observatory, the Spacelab laboratory, & 13 Communications Satellites.

The most complex propulsion unit ever developed to support Space Flight, the SSME is the first Rocket Engine ever designed to be used repeatedly :

Below pics show Dear & I standing infront of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) :

We’re now moving away from Level 2 of the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry :

Here’s a pic of the base of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) seen on Level 1 of the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry :

And of course it’s shopping time now for Dear & I at the Gantry Gifts – Souvenirs & Collectables Shop :

And these below are are our purchases from Gantry Gifts – Kennedy Space Center Souvenir Photo Frame :

Dear’s dye-colored Kennedy Space Center Launch Souvenir T-Shirt :

Close-up views of the T-shirt & its Labels :

Snack Pad & Ticket Booths beside the Launch Gifts – Souvenirs & Collectables Shop :

Here’re 2 more pics of the Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) Observation Gantry before Dear & I leave this place to hop on the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour for our next destination :

And till we meet again in our next Tour Stop, here’s my Travelling Slideshow which I hope you enjoy :