STS-96 Rolls Out to Pad 39B

As most of you may know, last Friday, Shuttle Discovery rolled out to Launch Pad 39B. Barry Slack, our newest Space Team Online member, happened to have a new camera that he wanted to try out and got this great shot of Discovery and the MLP being transported by the crawler. Thanks for the photo Barry!

Over the weekend, workers conducted routine launch pad validations and Shuttle main-engine frequency response tests. The SPACEHAB payload is at the pad and will be installed in the payload changeout room later today. The payload will be installed in the orbiter tomorrow morning (April 29).

The STS-96 flight crew arrived at KSC yesterday in preparation for this week's Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The crew will conduct orbiter and payload familiarization activities over the next few days and then participate in a launch dress rehearsal on Thursday. To stay up with the progress of Discovery, visit and bookmark this web site: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-96/countdown.html

The Crawler -Transporter

Is this incredible or what? The two-tracked Crawler-Transporter was once used to move the assembled Apollo/Saturn from the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) to the launch pad. It is now used for transporting Shuttle vehicles. This vehicle weighs in at 2,721 metric tons (6 million pounds), is 131 feet wide and 114 feet long!

KSC has two crawler-transporters. The KSC crawlers are the largest known tracked vehicles in the world! Maximum speed is one mile per hour loaded, about 2 miles per hour unloaded. The trip from the VAB to the Launch Pad with the Mobile Launch Platform is about 5 hours. The crawler burns 568 liters (150 gallons) of diesel oil per mile.

The top of the orbiter is kept vertical within the diameter of a basketball during the journey. Once the crawler reaches the pad it must negotiate a ramp and keep the MLP and the Shuttle level. Leveling systems within the crawler keeps the platform level while negotiating the 5% ramp leading up to the pad surface.

The height of the crawler is adjustable from 20 feet to 26 feet. The top deck is flat and square, about the size of a baseball infield, 90 feet on a side. Two operator control cabs, one at each end of the chassis, are used to control all crawler systems.

The Mobile Launch Platforms (MLP)

Amazingly, once the MLP is delivered to the launch pad, it stays there and becomes the launch platform for the shuttle. Once the shuttle launches, it goes through a preparation phase for the next mission. The three Mobile Launcher Platforms that were once used for the Apollo/Saturn operations were modified for use in Shuttle operations. In place of one large opening in the platform that used to accommodate the Saturn main-engine, three smaller openings accommodate flames and hot exhaust gases from the solid rocket boosters and the orbiter engines. The MLP is a two-story steel structure that is 25 feet high, 160 feet long, and 135 ft wide. It weighs 9.25 million lbs. by itself; with unfueled Shuttle it weighs 12.02 million lbs. and with fueled Shuttle 13.72 million lbs.

Stay tuned to Space Team Online for future updates of events surrounding STS-96!