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FIELD JOURNAL

Columbia meets Discovery

by Brandt Secosh
April 14, l999

Tracking the progress of each orbiter is always an interesting process. Each orbiter completes required inspections, maintenance and upgrades in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) and the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. After the required work is complete, each orbiter will be moved to the next facility and, finally, to the launch pad. It is always a treat to see the orbiter being maneuvered between facilities, and it makes for some great photo opportunities! On Thursday, March 15, we were all fortunate to witness a real treat - two orbiters being rolled out in one day - at the same time! OV 102 (Columbia) had been in storage in the VAB, and it was time to move it to the OPF to prepare for the STS-93, Chandra X-ray Observatory mission, scheduled for launch on July 9, 1999 at 1:19 a.m. EST. Discovery (OV-103) was being moved to the VAB where it will be lifted into high bay 3 and then mated (joined) to the STS-96 external tank (ET) and solid rocket booster (SRB) stack. To find out more about this process, please join us for a live Learning Technologies Event on April 22 from 1:00 p.m to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. You will be able to ask questions about orbiter processing to Test Project Engineer (TPE) Michael Ciannilli during the event. Click this link to find out more. To explore these facilities using your web browser, please follow these links:

On to the photos!

Preparation for Rollout

In this photograph, you can see Columbia in the lower right bay with the doors open waiting to be rolled out. I wanted to show this picture to give you a relationship to the size of the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB). This is a fascinating building that was originally designed to support stacking of the Saturn Rocket. That is why the building is so tall (525 feet). Today the facility is used exclusively for Orbiter processing, which includes SRB (Solid Rocket Booster) stacking, External Tank (ET) checkout and storage and contingency storage for the orbiters. Columbia had been in contingency storage in high bay #2.
Here are some interesting comparisons of the VAB
Height: VAB - 160 meters (525 ft) <--> Statue of Liberty - 93 meters (305 ft)
Volume: VAB - 3,665,013 cu meters (129,428,000 cu ft) <--> Pentagon 2,181,117 cu meters (77,025,000 cu ft).
VAB equals 3.75 Empire State Buildings
For more detailed information visit http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/vab.html

This photograph shows the Orbiter Processing Facility with doors opened just prior to beginning the rollout of Discovery. This building is used to remove residual fuels and explosive ordnance items. Then the orbiter's previous mission payloads are removed and the vehicle is fully inspected, tested, and refurbished for its next mission. These functions require approximately two-thirds of the time between missions. The remainder is devoted to the installation and checkout of the payload for the next mission. Power-up testing of orbiter vehicles in the OPF is actually controlled from consoles in the Launch Control Complex (LCC). Notice the slotted door, which allows access to the orbiters vertical tail assembly.

The Rollout

Columbia begins the short but impressive journey to the OPF where it will begin preparation for the STS-93 mission scheduled for a July 9 launch date. Notice that Columbia is being pulled by a tug using its own landing gear.

As Columbia begins its journey to the OPF, Discovery was rolled out backwards and maneuvered into a position where it would proceed directly to the Vehicle Assembly in preparation of the STS-96 mission.

In this picture, Discovery has completed the backward roll and is now proceeding in the direction of the VAB. Notice that Discovery does not have its gear extended. That is because it is completely prepared for the mate to the SRB and ET stack, which will take place in the VAB high bay area. Just below the nose of Discovery is a small area in which the operator drives the mobile platform which Discovery is resting on. This may help give a relationship to the size of the orbiter. These orbiters are BIG!!!!!!

The Meeting

	Columbia is waiting at the crossroads for Discovery to pass so it can then continue to the OPF. Hey, that is me in the foreground - I love this picture! I would rather be inside the orbiter, but for now, this is great!
	Here it is!! Two orbiters in one photograph - I love it! I have never had the opportunity to capture two orbiters in one photograph at Kennedy Space Center before, so this was a real treat!

Destination

Discovery has now passed Columbia and continues to the VAB. Discovery will enter the north door of the VAB. After completing the stacking process, it will be on to the launch pad for its scheduled May 20 launch. We hope to bring you this launch live using RealMedia webcast technology through the Learning Technologies Channel. To find out more about how to attend these events please visit - http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/sto/iss

As Columbia passed by us, we were able to see it in great detail. For a description of the components of the orbiters please visit -
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/stsref-toc.html

Home for now! Columbia has arrived at the OPF and will reside where Discovery was 15 minutes earlier and will stay there until it is completely processed.

Here is a quick update on the mission status of each orbiter. For future mission status reports visit - http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/

Discovery Status

MISSION: STS-96 - 2nd U.S. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLIGHT
SPACEHAB DOUBLE MODULE
VEHICLE: Discovery/OV-103
LOCATION: VAB
TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: May 20, 1999 at 9:32 a.m. EST
TARGET LANDING DATE/TIME: May 30, 1999 at 5:27 a.m. EST
LAUNCH WINDOW: 10 minutes
ISS DOCKING DATE: May 22, 1999 at 4:01 a.m. EST
ISS UNDOCKING DATE: May 27, 1999 at 10:07 p.m. EST
MISSION DURATION: 9 days, 19 hours and 55 minutes
CREW: Rominger, Husband, Ochoa, Jernigan, Barry, Payette, Tokarev
ADDITIONAL PAYLOADS: ICC, STARSHINE, SVF and IVHM
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 173 nautical miles/51.6 degrees

Columbia OV102

STS-96 SCHEDULED OPERATIONAL MILESTONES (dates are target only):

Shuttle rolls to Launch Pad 39B (April 21)
Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (April 29)
MISSION: STS-93 - Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly AXAF)
VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
LOCATION: OPF bay 1
TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: July 9, 1999 at 1:19 a.m. EST
TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 14, 1999 at 12:20 a.m. EST
LAUNCH WINDOW: 46 minutes
MISSION DURATION: 4 days, 23 hours
CREW: Collins, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 153 nautical miles/28.45 degrees