Orbiter Rolling to the OPF
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Once on the ground, the orbiter is then rolled into one of three bays of the Orbiter Processing Facility. The OPF is basically a very sophisticated aircraft hangar.
Once inside, the ferry tailcone (used if flown from EAFB) is removed and platforms are installed to provide access to every inch of the orbiter from inside the wings to the top of the vertical stabilizer. Once secure in the OPF, the process of preparing the Shuttle for its next launch begins. |
Orbiter Entering the OPF
Shuttle Access Platforms
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| Tile work is a never-ending process. The tile, part of the Thermal Protection System, protects the orbiter from the intense heat of re-entry. The orbiters originally had more than 30,900 unique tiles. Currently, this has been reduced to about 25,000 through the use of heat resistant blankets in low-heat areas. As you can imagine, upkeep of these tiles is a very labor-intensive process as each tile must be bonded individually. The tiles are made from a silica glass fiber which is very good at rejecting heat. If you have ever walked across a hot sandy beach around midday and then later close to sunset and felt how cool the sand feels, you begin to get an understanding for the properties of the materials used. |
Tile Work
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Space Shuttle Main Engines
Main Engine Block |
The Space Shuttle Main Engines are very sophisticated power plants that burn both liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Each engine can generate almost 400,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff. The engines are removed every flight and taken to a shop in the Vehicle Assembly Building for inspection and replacement of any necessary components.
The Space Shuttle's rocket engines are capable of operating at amazing temperature extremes. The liquid hydrogen fuel is stored at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit. However, when burned with liquid oxygen, the temperature in the combustion chamber reaches 6,000 degrees, higher than the boiling point (not the melting point) of iron. If the main engines pumped water instead of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, an average family-sized swimming pool could be drained in 25 seconds.
The orbiter has three main engines and 44 smaller rockets around the orbiter's surface, which are part of the Orbital Maneuvering and Reaction Control systems, used to provide steering, pointing, and attitude adjustment capability while on orbit. |
For each mission, the payload bay must be reconfigured for the new payloads. Reconfiguring includes special tie-downs, trunnions and electrical connections as well as cooling and gas lines designed uniquely for each particular payload. While processing of the Space Shuttle orbiter continues in the Orbiter Processing Facility, groups of space center workers are busy putting together the rest of the Space Shuttle system. |
Spacelab Payload
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 "Main Engine Block")
