Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEN : Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
Launch Complex 39 is a large site and a collection of facilities at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA, originally built for Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations.
History
Prior to the construction of the complex, State Road A1A ran east of the complex. Along this rural ocean road was the Chester Shoals Coast Guard Station.
The initial design of the launch complex contained 5 pads that were evenly spaced 8700 feet apart to avoid damage in the event of a pad explosion. 3 were scheduled for construction (shown), 2 reserved for future use (1 shown). The numbering of the pads at the time was from north to south, with the northern most being LC39A, and the southern being LC39C. LC39A was never built, and LC39C became LC39A in 1963. With today's numbering, LC39C would be north of LC39B. LC39D (visible as an outline on the photograph to the right) would have been due west of LC39C. LC39E (not shown) would due north of the mid-distance between LC39C and LC39D, with LC39E forming the top of a triangle, and equidistant from LC39C and LC39D. Today, crawler way stubs are visible that would lead to these pads. The stubs are located 1 mile west of LC39A, and 1.5 south of LC39B. [TerraServer Image] The accompanying map also shows the unbuilt Nuclear Assembly Building (NAB).
The pads were previously used for launches of the Saturn V rocket for the Project Apollo moon missions. The original structure of the pads were remodeled for the needs of the shuttle, first starting with LC39A after the last Saturn V launch, which carried Skylab, in 1973, and in 1977 for LC39B after the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. LC39 during the Apollo era were just launchpads - the umblical/service towers were attached to the launch platform--the only modification made was the so-called "milkstool" which allowed the Saturn IB rocket (for all manned Skylab missions, the unlaunched Skylab Rescue, and ASTP) to use the Saturn V launch tower. For the Shuttle, the pad has a fixed tower (leftover from the Apollo-Saturn era) and a rotating service platform, used to protect the Shuttle Orbiter and to install vertically-handled payloads into the payload bay.
The first use of LC39 came in 1967 with the first Saturn V launch, carrying the unmanned Apollo 4 spacecraft. The second unmanned launch, Apollo 6, also used LC39A. With the exception of Apollo 10, which used LC39B (due to the "all-up" testing resulting in a 2-month turnaround period), all manned Apollo-Saturn V launches, commencing with Apollo 8, used LC39A. After the Skylab-Saturn V launch in 1974, LC39A was reconfigured for the Space Shuttle and was used for the first Shuttle launch (STS-1, using the Columbia in 1981. After Apollo 10, LC39B was kept as a backup launch facility in the case of the destruction of LC39A, but saw service for all three Skylab missions, the ASTP flight, as well as unlaunched Skylab Rescue flight. After ASTP, LC39B underwent the same reconfiguration as LC39A, but due to necessary modifications, along with budgetary restraints, it was not ready until 1986, and the first Shuttle launch to use it was the ill-fated STS 51-L flight – the Challenger Disaster (Ironically, LC39A was the launch pad for the first (STS-1) and last mission (STS-107) of Columbia).
Space shuttle usage
At the pad, the MLP is lowered onto several pedestals, and the Crawler-Transporter moves off the pad to a staging area a safe distance away. Each pad contains a two-piece access tower system, the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The FSS permits access to the shuttle via a retractable arm and a "beanie cap" to capture vented LOX from a filled ET. The RSS contains a clean room, offers access to the orbiter's payload bay, protection from the elements and can protect the shuttle in winds up to 60 knots. Also at each pad are large cryogenic tanks that store the fuel liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LOX) fuel for the SSME's. The highly explosive nature of these chemicals results in numerous safety measures at the Launch Complex. NASA has calculated that the minimum safe distance in the event of a fully fueled space shuttle stack is three miles for personnel, and 8700 feet between pads. To prevent massive damage to the shuttle and the boosters, 6 feet of water is located below the launch platform to buffer the sound of the boosters during launch. Due to the immense heating of the water, a great amount of steam is produced during launch. Before tanking operations begin and all the way through lift off, non-essential personnel are cleared out of this hazard area. The Launch Control facilities and VAB are almost exactly three miles away.
In the case of emergency, the launch complex has an emergency elevator system for quick shuttle personnel evacuation. Leaving the shuttle, the crew proceeds to an emergency elevator which drops the crew to the ground at speeds up to 60 miles per hour (mph). This is a basket on a cable which drops at a steep angle away from the site. From there, the crew board, and drive, a modified M113 Armored Personnel Carrier to a triangular helicopter pad located a couple hundred feet from the platform and are flown away from the complex to safety. It should be noted that as NASA safety rules require all non-crew members to be well away from the pad, the crew must do all this for themselves.
Future usage
With the planned retirement of the Shuttle in 2010, NASA will modify the two launch pads to accommodate the manned Ares I (formerly the Crew Launch Vehicle – CLV) and the unmanned Ares V (formerly the Cargo Launch Vehicle – CaLV) in support of Project Constellation.
LC-39B (Post-Shuttle)
With the need to keep a Shuttle launch schedule, along with the need to start testing of the new Ares I rocket, NASA will deactivate LC39B as early as 2007. During this phase, the RSS will be removed and a Shuttle MLP will be used to launch the new five-segment solid rocket first stage with a dummy second stage attached to the rocket. During the conversion period, NASA will then dedicate another Shuttle MLP and will then convert it exclusively for Ares I operations. In keeping with the simplicity called for by the ESAS report, the Ares I will use a modified Shuttle MLP, with the first stage bolted over the exhaust port currently in use for the SSMEs (and was also the exhaust port for both the Saturn V and Saturn IB rockets) with a new umbilical tower being attached to the MLP. During this conversion, the existing holes for the Shuttle SRBs will be closed off, as they would not be needed, and modifications will be made to the acoustic suppression system. By the time the entire Ares I stack is finished being tested (by around 2010-2011), with both the solid-fueled first stage and liquid-fueled second stage, LC39B will have all traces of Space Shuttle hardware removed, and LC39B will become a "clean" pad for the first time since 1977. Only the LH2, LOX, and water tanks will be the only structures left over from the Shuttle era. The pad would later undergo additional modifications to be used as a spare Ares V launch facility in the case of the destruction of nearby LC39A.LC-39A (Post-Shuttle)
Just like the first 24 Shuttle Flights This pad will support the final shuttle Operations sometime after 2008 and will undergo deactivation in 2010-2011 once the Shuttle is retired. Like that of LC39B, LC39A will have both the FSS and RSS removed to render the "clean" pad approach as required by the ESAS, but LC39A will be used primarily as the launch pad for the Ares V rocket, and as such, will undergo additional modifications to accommodate extra LH2 and LOX storage at the site. Instead of using existing Shuttle MLPs for the Ares V, NASA will construct new MLPs that will incoporate side-by-side exhaust ports for the five RS-68 main engines and twin five-segment SRBs and a launch umbilical tower that will allow for the servicing of both the Ares V, the Earth Departure Stage, and the Lunar Surface Access Module. Like LC39B, LC39A would also be used as a backup launch pad for the Ares I in the case of the destruction of the latter's launchpad.Other Changes
The VAB will be required to undergo modifications starting after 2007 to accommodate the simultaneous assembly operations for both the Shuttle and for the Ares I. Eventually, the VAB will undergo further modifications to allow for the assembly of both a Ares I and Ares V when lunar missions commence after 2016.?A possibility of the building of a LC-39C to accommodate extra Ares I or Ares V launch capacity has also been floated, mainly in support of future Mars expeditions. The building of LC-39C would also give NASA some insurance against the loss of either LC-39A and LC-39B and allow manned flights to continue at the same flight rate while a pad is being rebuilt.
Another possible change may occur not with LC-39 itself, but at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). A possibility is to convert Launch Complex 34, a former Saturn IB facility and the site of the disastrous Apollo 1 fire (and the later successful Apollo 7 flight) may be used. Another idea is to use LC-37A, another Saturn IB pad (used for the unmanned Apollo 5 Lunar Module test flight) may also be used. Using either pad will allow NASA to use the facility for all unmanned Ares I/CEV flights, allowing NASA to convert LC39B as well as the existing Shuttle MLPs for Ares I use in a shorter period of time, as well as allowing NASA to use the pad for future unmanned Ares I missions. If a LC-34 or LC-37A Ares I facility is built, it would somewhat resemble Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, in which all elements of the CEV would be stacked together on-site as opposed to the stacking of the elements in the VAB and transporting them to either LC-39A or 39B.
Gallery
See also
External links
- * Satellite image from [WikiMapia], [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]
- * Street map from [MapQuest] or [Google Maps]
- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image from [TerraServer-USA]
| Merritt Island Launch Sites |
|---|
| Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (all except LC-39) John F. Kennedy Space Center>Kennedy Space Center (LC-39) |
| LC-1 | LC-2 | LC-3 | LC-4 | LC-5 | LC-6 | LC-9 | LC-10 | LC-11 | LC-12 | LC-13 | LC-14 | LC-15 | LC-16 | LC-17 | LC-18 | LC-19 | LC-20 | LC-21 | LC-22 | LC-25 | LC-26 | LC-29 | LC-30 | LC-31 | LC-32 | LC-34 | LC-36 | LC-37 | LC-39 | LC-40 | LC-41 | LC-43 | LC-45 | LC-46 | LC-47
Atlantic Missile Range drop zone | Grand Turk Island drop zone | Mobile Launch Area | SLBM Launch Area | Patrick AFB | Runway 15/33 | Runway 30/12 |
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